TOM KELLY

US composer and musician Tom KELLY had been involved with bands, playing music and creating music since the 1960's, but without ever becoming a well known entity. As I understand it he hadn't been in an active band environment for quite some time when he sadly passed away in 2017. Nickie Harte Kelly and David Hurst then decided to cater for the material Tom had recorded for himself over the years, and subsequently released this on three CD's. "Spinning Through Eternity" is the third of those three albums, and was officially released in 2018.

I will conclude about this album in just about the exact manner as I concluded the previous albums of this series: The very nature of the recordings on this album is one that will limit the overall reach somewhat. This isn't a polished creation given a stellar shining in a top notch recording studio, but recordings by a passionate composer and musician recording material at home or in a home studio. But those who can wrap their minds around this aspect of the album, as well as the material perhaps not always being perfected or completely developed, should find this album to be an interesting experience. And then in particular among those with a strong passion atmospheric laden progressive rock, in this case spanning from the delicate landscapes of artists such as Mike Oldfield to the more Wagnerian, classical music oriented soundscapes produced by artists such as ELP.

US composer and musician Tom KELLY had been involved with bands, playing music and creating music since the 1960's, but without ever becoming a well known entity. As I understand it he hadn't been in an active band environment for quite some time when he sadly passed away in 2017. Nickie Harte Kelly and David Hurst then decided to cater for the material Tom had recorded for himself over the years, and subsequently released this on three CD's. "Burnt Peas / The Tolling of St. John's Bells" is the first of those three albums, and was officially released in 2018.

I will conclude this album in just about the exact manner as I concluded the second album of this series: The very nature of the recordings on this album is one that will limit the overall reach somewhat. This isn't a polished creation given a stellar shining in a top notch recording studio, but recordings by a passionate composer and musician recording material at home or in a home studio. But those who can wrap their minds around this aspect of the album, as well as the material perhaps not always being perfected or completely developed, should find this album to be an interesting experience. And then in particular among those with a strong passion for classic era progressive rock that use a liberal amount of details from classical music as well as various kinds of more or less traditional folk music.

US composer and musician Tom KELLY had been involved with bands, playing music and creating music since the 1960's, but without ever becoming a well known entity. As I understand it he hadn't been in an active band environment for quite some time when he sadly passed away in 2017. Nickie Harte Kelly and David Hurst then decided to cater for the material Tom had recorded for himself over the years, and subsequently released this on three CD's. "A Quail's House" is the second of those three albums, and was officially released in 2018.

The very nature of the recordings on this album is one that will limit the overall reach somewhat. This isn't a polished creation given a stellar shining in a top notch recording studio, but recordings by a passionate composer and musician presumably recording material at home or in a home studio. But those who can wrap their minds around this aspect of the album, as well as the material perhaps not always being perfected or completely developed, should find this album to be an interesting experience. And then in particular among those with a strong passion for classic era symphonic progressive rock that use a liberal amount of details from classical music as well as elements from jazz and, possibly, old world folk music.

Whereas the other two albums feature songs from 1978 to 2000, 'Spinning Through Eternity' features material from 2012 to 2015. The first song, "Remains of Childhood Lost" is the last entire piece Tom completed, and the next two songs, "Ma & Pa Kettle Go To Hell" and "Cows Appear Out of Nowhere" were what he was working on when he died, here presented and mixed how he wanted. "Catherine" is another stand-alone piece, while eth rest of the songs comprise "The Book Wife Suite" with the idea of a novel in music form, which ends with the title track. Perhaps unsurprisingly this album doesn't seem to have the focus of the other two, given that they were fully completed and were both concept albums so contained a continuous line of thought. However, all is forgiven with the majestic suite, as it shows that Tom really shines when he has the time and space to really spread out his ideas. Of all three albums this is the one where he moves more into Anthony Phillips's space as opposed Oldfield, with some of the piano melodies reminding me of Anthony's brilliant piano album 'Private Parts and Pieces X ? Soiree'. Here he allows himself to repeat melodies, bringing in additional layered synthesisers and different types of guitar to create a different sound. There is also the use of drums, and while it works in some instances it doesn't in others. The result is an album which is fascinating and always interesting but doesn't maintain the same consistency of the other two. There are flashes of brilliance within this as a whole, just that overall I think I would listen to the other two albums first and come to this one last. All credit to Tom's wife for making his music available to the world. It was only after making some of his music available to friends as 'A Ghost of Pablo Verdes' that she decided to work through his material and put together these albums. It cannot have been an easy task on any level, but now thanks to Nickie we can now uncover yet another of music's great unknowns. This may not be the album I would start with, but for any lover of Oldfield, Hackett and Phillips, there is much on here to enjoy.

The second of the three albums which have recently been released is in some ways the sibling album to 'Burnt Peas/The Tolling of St. John's Bells' in that it also contains music which was conceived, recorded and worked in between 1978 and 2000. Although broken into multiple songs and titles, this is in essence designed as one piece of music to be played from start to finish. Again, the artist which one would most associate with this style of music would be Mike Oldfield, but this time as well as Steve Hillage there are also touches of Rick Wakeman, particularly when the piano is being over-ridden by bombastic guitar. It is this combination of instruments which really makes this album what it is, as there is a real understanding of how to put everything together so we may feel we hear Anthony Phillips in one place, just for a few bars, as the guitar is treated in a different manner to before.

It is a very clean album, so very easy to listen to, with a wonderful use of space as an additional instrument, which comes through very clearly on linking pieces such as "The Wayfarer (Part 2)" which commences life just as a piano piece until the guitar takes over. There is again a singular lack of percussion, which gives the music a very distinct sound and feel, but when Tom lets loose on his hard rock solos there is enough structure and force behind it that drums just aren't needed. Choral keyboards work with piano, or rock guitar, or distortion, or mandolin or any combination thereof with the result being a complete piece of work which is a joy from start to end.

Musically this is very rooted in the Seventies in many ways, but there is an additional element of simplicity combined with the expected complexity which makes this such an inviting piece of work. It is strange to understand that for one reason or another this music wasn't shared more widely during Tom's lifetime, but thanks to his wife Nickie and bandmate David Hurst it is now available for all of us to enjoy.

This is the first of three albums which have been compiled by Tom's wife Nickie after his passing in 2017. Although Tom had been a member of bands such as Museum and Mistress Quickly, he had worked solo since the Seventies, dispensing with vocals and providing all the instrumentation himself. His first love was the guitar, having been fortunate enough to see Segovia in concert when he was only five, but he was also a very good keyboard player using both piano and multiple synths. What I am having a hard job understanding is why it has taken this long for this material to come out, and why wasn't it released during his lifetime? This is where I should start a rant on the state of the music business and the seeming virtue of style and looks over substance and ability, but if you are reading this then you are already very much aware and probably in agreement. But at least we can hear it now, thanks to Nickie and one of Tom's old bandmates, David Hurst, who worked to make these available.

The recording quality is excellent, and there are no sonic indicators that these were recorded without any record label support. One thing that is of note, and is wonderful to hear, is the lack of drums. Tom is a very good musician, and there is no need for a drum machine (which in my opinion always spoils music anyway), and I am not sure if a "real" drummer would have added anything anyway (although there are little bits and pieces where drums are used, but sparingly). In some ways this will be likened to Oldfield, especially when he brings in distorted guitar, but to my ears there are times when Tom is aggressive in a way that I can never imagine Oldfield being. Also, he is a better pianist (remember Oldfield often recorded keyboards in a lower tone at slow speed so it would sound correct when played at the correct speed), and there is a much stronger use of acoustic guitar. There is a lightness, and on songs such as "God & The Flatlanders" one can imagine Twice Bitten being involved.

Tom is a musical magpie, moving from one theme to another. Apart from the first song "The Tolling of St. John's Bells", which was his earliest solo piece written in 1978, the rest of the songs were designed as a single suite, "Burnt Peas" (hence the double name of the album itself). There are times when one is convinced the album is built around piano, at others it is the guitar, whereas he can also provide funky bass. He is a fine guitarist, and it is his hard rock approach to solos and melodies which makes this stand out so much from many multi-instrumentalists. This isn't music designed to be played gentle in the background as the musician meanders through, but instead this is music with direction and force which demands to be heard front and centre. Listening to "Staring It In The Face (Part 1)" there is a section where he blasts away as if he were Steve Vai, not something one would normally expect on an album of this type.

All this music was written and recorded between 1978 and 2000, and it is a real shame Tom didn't get to release it during his lifetime, as this is incredibly enjoyable and any fan of crossover or symphonic progressive rock should seek this out.