ER. J. ORCHESTRA

This Ukranian ensemble was established in 1989 in Kiev by its main composer Alexei Alexandrov.By 1992 he had managed to come up with a core of musicians to help him perform his compositions live as well as recording the first album of Er. J. Orchestra.The instrumental armour of the band included traditional percussions, saxes, accordion, marimba among the usual rock instrumentation.The debut ''Gabrielius'' from 1995 was recorded at the ArkadiA Studio in Kiev in 1994/95, released privately in 1998.

The soundscapes created by the Ukranian ensemble are always built around ethnic orientations and delivered either through Fusion-like arrangements or cinematic textures.The opening piece ''The Tea Ceremony Kiev-Paris'' gives hope for a nice album.This is pretty nice Acoustic Ethnic/Fusion with a lovely romantic atmosphere, highlighted by Alexandrov's work on piano and the light interplays with saxes and accordion.The rest of the album doesn't hold up on the same level.While there is always a jazzy atmosphere in the air, blending some delicate string sections and archaic sounds in a good amalgam, the musicianship lacks dynamics and the arrangements sometimes sound a bit loose.Additionally parts of the album have a very Ambient/Chill-out mood, that becomes really hypnotic for the listener, while individual instrumental performances start to pop out in a more minimalistic mood.Most of the tracks though are quite long and among these weak moments one can find also some interesting material, the smooth jazzy interplays and some elegant melodies being the more decent ones.Few parts of the album contain also wordless vocals in order to make the music richer and more energetic, while no electric instruments are used in an album of totally acoustic nature.

The concept idea of this instrumental band was rather good, the execution though becomes a little boring along the way.A pair of good instrumentals and a few sporadic peaks are the best moments of an effort, that works better as nice background music.For fans of World Music or light Folk/Fusion...2.5 stars.

Good news though! Finally Caravan Records issued Er.J.Orchestra's very limited special edition On The Hill Again CD+DVD album. Previously released in 2002 by Rostok Records as a single audio CD it did not contain two LIVE tracks on it: Dawn and AyO Valley. Rejected by Oakman and Alexei Alexandrov those tracks got shelved for several years, but now they are on and sound even better!. In this reissue on audio album (disc one) Dawn is given as a short introduction to AyO Valley. And it is given in a full length on DVD (disc two) in Extras as a sound track to a short film Blissful Island. Not long ago there were overdubbed Oakman's vocals and drumming to AyO Valley and now it sounds just great! Besides, the rest of the tracks went through some Oakman's re-editing, so now they are a bit shorter but sound more dynamic. DVD contains LIVE show dedicated to the first On The Hill Again issue plus Extras. The audio tracks on DVD sound absolutely fantastic! Besides, there's a brand new track Fanteas Magor on it, composed at that period of time, but never performed LIVE before. The whole DVD Menu Set is provided by new soundtracks from Oakman, and on the top of that, DVD contains new Oakman's titled On The Hill Again soundtrack version recorded LIVE specially for DVD credits in the end of 2005 (short version of it you can download at mp3 page: www.oakman.kiev.ua/in1.html).

Really great and highly recommended edition featuring Oakman. It reveals him not only as a musician or composer, but shows his arranging and producing skills. But don't get confused with the other two Er.J.Orchestra's albums - they sound absolutely different from On The Hill Again, as if it was a different band though.

Please note! Beware of Italian pirate version of this album issued by Mauro Moroni's Mellow Records. AyO Valley on that one is recorded without drums and it is issued only as an audio album (no DVD disc!) with horrible graphic design! The original Caravan Records release is done as a magnificently designed triple folded Digi-Pack containing fabulous book in it. Ask for this Caravan Records issue right here, on this website: www.oakman.kiev.ua

Track-list: Disk one ER.J.ORCHESTRA ON THE HILL AGAIN (FULL CD VERSION) 1. DAWN improvisation (Er.J.Orchestra) 2:06 2. AyO VALLEY (A.Alexandrov-A.Pozdin) 7:07 3. TOWARDS A DREAM (Oakman-A.Alexandrov-G.Nemirovsky) 1:25 4. CASTLE OF ELVES (A.Pozdin-A.Alexandrov) 7:28 5. JASPER GARDEN (Er.J.Orchestra) 1:58 6. TEA CEREMONY (A.Pozdin-A.Alexandrov-Oakman) 9:02 7. CAVE OF DELUSION improvisation (Er.J.Orchestra) 3:18 8. KNIGHTMARE (G.Nemirovsky-Oakman) 4:54 9. PIGRIMS (A.Pozdin) 8:36 10. ON THE HILL AGAIN (Oakman) 7:38

Disk two ER.J.ORCHESTRA ON THE HILL AGAIN YEARS (DVD) 1. FANTEAS MAGOR (MAGOR THE MAGICIAN) 16:23 (A.Alexandrov-S.Khmelev-Oakman) 2. JASPER GARDEN / TEA CEREMONY 12:36 (A.Pozdin-A.Alexandrov-Oakman) 3. PILGRIMS (A.Pozdin) 10:20 4. ON THE HILL AGAIN CREDITS (Oakman) 4:31

Extras: Blissful Island The Third Angel Interviews Photo Gallery

The copyright in this recording is owned by Er.J.Orchestra. All Rights Reserved c2002-2006 ER J ORCHESTRA www.erjorchestra.kiev.ua (p) 2006 Caravan Records, Kiev, Ukraine [email protected]

Produced by A.Alexandrov, Oakman and A.Vikhorev DVD produced by A.Dirdovsky and A.Alexandrov

Finally Caravan Records issued Er.J.Orchestra's very limited special edition On The Hill Again CD+DVD album. Previously released in 2002 by Rostok Records as a single audio CD it did not contain two LIVE tracks on it: Dawn and AyO Valley. Rejected by Oakman and Alexei Alexandrov those tracks got shelved for several years, but now they are on and sound even better!. In this reissue on audio album (disc one) Dawn is given as a short introduction to AyO Valley. And it is given in a full length on DVD (disc two) in Extras as a sound track to a short film Blissful Island. Not long ago there were overdubbed Oakman's vocals and drumming to AyO Valley and now it sounds just great! Besides, the rest of the tracks went through some Oakman's re-editing, so now they are a bit shorter but sound more dynamic. DVD contains LIVE show dedicated to the first On The Hill Again issue plus Extras. The audio tracks on DVD sound absolutely fantastic! Besides, there's a brand new track Fanteas Magor on it, composed at that period of time, but never performed LIVE before. The whole DVD Menu Set is provided by new soundtracks from Oakman, and on the top of that, DVD contains new Oakman's titled On The Hill Again soundtrack version recorded LIVE specially for DVD credits in the end of 2005 (short version of it you can download at mp3 page). Really great and highly recommended edition featuring Oakman. It reveals him not only as a musician or composer, but shows his arranging and producing skills. But don't get confused with the other two Er.J.Orchestra's albums - they sound absolutely different from On The Hill Again, as if it was a different band though.

Please note! Beware of Italian pirate version of this album issued by Mauro Moroni's Mellow Records. AyO Valley on that one is recorded without drums and it is issued only as an audio album (no DVD disc!) with horrible graphic design! The original Caravan Records release is done as a magnificently designed triple folded Digi-Pack containing fabulous book in it. Ask for this Caravan Records issue right here, on this website: www.oakman.kiev.ua

Track-list: Disk one ER.J.ORCHESTRA ON THE HILL AGAIN (FULL CD VERSION) 1. DAWN improvisation (Er.J.Orchestra) 2:06 2. AyO VALLEY (A.Alexandrov-A.Pozdin) 7:07 3. TOWARDS A DREAM (Oakman-A.Alexandrov-G.Nemirovsky) 1:25 4. CASTLE OF ELVES (A.Pozdin-A.Alexandrov) 7:28 5. JASPER GARDEN (Er.J.Orchestra) 1:58 6. TEA CEREMONY (A.Pozdin-A.Alexandrov-Oakman) 9:02 7. CAVE OF DELUSION improvisation (Er.J.Orchestra) 3:18 8. KNIGHTMARE (G.Nemirovsky-Oakman) 4:54 9. PIGRIMS (A.Pozdin) 8:36 10. ON THE HILL AGAIN (Oakman) 7:38

Disk two ER.J.ORCHESTRA ON THE HILL AGAIN YEARS (DVD) 1. FANTEAS MAGOR (MAGOR THE MAGICIAN) 16:23 (A.Alexandrov-S.Khmelev-Oakman) 2. JASPER GARDEN / TEA CEREMONY 12:36 (A.Pozdin-A.Alexandrov-Oakman) 3. PILGRIMS (A.Pozdin) 10:20 4. ON THE HILL AGAIN CREDITS (Oakman) 4:31

Extras: Blissful Island The Third Angel Interviews Photo Gallery

The copyright in this recording is owned by Er.J.Orchestra. All Rights Reserved c2002-2006 ER J ORCHESTRA www.erjorchestra.kiev.ua (p) 2006 Caravan Records, Kiev, Ukraine [email protected]

Produced by A.Alexandrov, Oakman and A.Vikhorev DVD produced by A.Dirdovsky and A.Alexandrov

crossover Orchestra for unicorns ...

Chamber and symphonic - Folk - Jazz - Fusion - a strong melancholic ethníc flavour - this release is a melting point of genres and styles. First of all Adular's wandering is to mention. This song is a very good example for that and five stars worth. So it is my favourite - various and so much feeling! Excellent piano, harmonika and vibraphon playing - wow!

It's not a wrong promise - without a doubt an orchestra with a huge amount of different instruments as you can also see in the line-up. Don't expect rock songs - this is relaxed Easy Listening Music in the majority. The Unicorn is following - a collection of five separated songs. Magic Woods is also very relaxed with horns and sparkling piano, the next is Madrigal as a short melancholic jazzy interlude and after this the orchestra gives strength and power a little bit with The battle-hunt - remembers me at Tarkus from ELP. No problem for them to combine this also with indian roots singing.

Afterwards the unicorn gets a little bit lame with The coming-home pastoral and Dance with the unicorn. IMO this songs are lacking of new and fresh ideas as could have heard before. But then Eljazo follows - so crazy, very mysterious with a lot of suspense and surprises. The song ends with greetings to Pat Metheney - great! Where do the angels go? - they go to bed. The best way to sleep with calm and in harmony is to listen to the last song - so long!

'The Unicorn' is not rock music but nevertheless progressive - recommended to aficionados of Easy Listening Music with transitions to chamber and fusion.

There are many reasons why "Gabrielus" is a hard album to review without being unfair with a band like ER. J. ORCHESTRA that is formed by such talented musicians and presents an impeccable production, but if we have to be absolutely honest, the material is bland and boring in comparison with the very good "The Unicorn".

It's was evident from the start that being "Gabrielus" their first effort, most probably would not be in the level of later and more developed releases, if we add the fact that they play with 9 musicians instead of 21 plus a complete chorus as in "The Unicorn", we can't expect a grandiose sound, but I insist, the major problem is in the compositional area because the music is very close to Muzak.

"Gabrielus" is opened by "The Tea Ceremony Kiev-Paris" a pompous name for a soft jazzy track based in synth, bayan (Russian accordeon) Sax and a couple extra instruments, reminds me a lot of Kenny G, but of course with better arrangements and musicianship, the central melody is the same along the song, so after a couple of minutes it begins to bore, not a bad song if you want to relax after a hard day at the work but nothing more.

The second song is "Gabrielus", which starts with an interesting cacophony of percussion, violin and flute that makes us think this time they will try something more challenging, sadly the first impression starts to fade when suddenly turns into an almost oriental folksy track with marimba and that boring Kenny G styled Saxophone, despite the song ends being a long and soft Sax track with no surprises, the presence of the domra (four stringed Ukrainian mandolin) and some brilliant violin solos make this tedious song barely worth to listen.

"A Letter to Jana" started, is a slight improvement, the arrangements are much better, we can listen a bit of percussion and a couple of changes plus a very nice chorus, Viktor Krisko in the violin is outstanding, despite that elevator music atmosphere "A Letter to Jana" is by far the best song of the album at this point.

"The Bamboo Forest Temple" is even better than the previous, much more rhythmic and with a nice folk oriental flavor that reminds a bit of some Spacey tracks of the late 60's but without the strength, still it's also worth to listen, around the middle a jazzy piano section by Alexei Alexandrov is simply delightful, the song ends with a bongo and violin tandem, very solid track.

"Chanson d'Automne" is a weird track with several changes but the interesting experimentation done by ER. J. OPRCHESTRA is killed by the soft Jazz sections and the boring chorus, the idea is good but they never succeeded.

The album ends with "Syringa" a sort of soft Jean-Luc Ponty soft Fusion track, as usual no surprises but the performance is outstanding, the only thing that really turns me is the horrendous marimba that makes us feel inside an elevator or at the dentist office, despite this bad choice of instrument, some good moments and vocals a la Focus and outstanding piano performance.

Some people may ask why I added this band if I was going to be so hard with my review, the truth is that if "Gabrielus" was their only release I would never had added ER. J. ORCHESTRA to Prog Archives but "On the Hill Again" and specially "The Unicorn" are a great improvement and despite it's not their finest moment, I believe it's has some interesting Prog moments that make it worth a try if you don't need to be challenged.

I would give 2.5 stars to "Gabrielus" but being that this is not an option in Prog Archives and its isn't remotely in the level of "The Unicorn" (Which I already rated with 3), I can't go with more than two stars.

If you like music for relaxation or you are a fan of the band and want to complete your collection then get it, but if you haven't heard ER. J. ORCHESTRA before, avoid it and go with any of the two later albums.

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Eastern Europe countries opened to a musical market that was limited during the years of the cold war, as a consequence of this events, the musicians of this countries started to create music inspired in the 70's icons but added something special and unique, their own ethnic identity, creating in many cases a delicate blend between soft Symphonic and their native Folk.

ER. J. ORCHESTRA from Ukraine is one of this cases, being that the former Soviet Union placed emphasis in Classical Music formation of the young (Give to Cesar what belongs to Cesar), it was not hard for the keyboardist Alexei Alexandrov to gather a group of competent musicians in order to create a small orchestra with Prog leanings.

I managed to get "The Unicorn" (their third release), because of a request for their inclusion in our site, and from the start it was a huge problem. This good album is clearly Prog Archives material but it blends so many styles and genres that is very hard to classify.

As in any orchestra it's easy to find Symphonic elements but too light even for Neo Prog, maybe closer to Neo Classical, but the cocktail is not ready. you must add a clear Jazz/Fusion influence, Slavic and oriental ethnic sounds, too soft for Prog Folk and too elaborate for World Music plus a bit of New Age and Ambient.

A very interesting blend of flavors and sounds that after long debate lead to ER. J. ORCHESTRA'S inclusion in Prog Related, at least until they release one or more extra albums that could lead to their inclusion in another sub-genre.

The album starts with "Adular's Wondering", incredibly the introduction is a collision of sounds that seems closer to a hard form of Avant Prog, but as a mirage this first impression changes radically, the violin first and the orchestra later join creating a jazzy melody sweetly surrounded by accordion or Argentinean bandoneon (Maybe synthesized) and some kind of flute or dulcimer, vaguely resembles the style of Mike Oldfield but much more diluted, the vocals mainly sounds in the style of the softer songs of Focus helps to get into the atmosphere, the track goes on with few surprises, relaxing, nice but not spectacular.

The second song is a five part epic called "The Unicorn". The first section "Magic Woods" starts with a French Horn as lead instrument that creates the atmosphere of a dark forest, more than a first section, "Magic Woods" works as an introduction and fulfills it's role, maintains the listener interested as expecting something else, very beautiful.

"Madrigal" as it name implies is a pastoral track leaded by the flute and perfectly backup by the rest of the Orchestra, specially the piano that keeps the tempo and adds a jazzy atmosphere, at this point I listen the first soft Rock sounds with a subtle percussion and the band in crescendo the best track up to his moment .

The third part of "The Unicorn" is "Battle-Hunt", now we're talking about Prog Rock, a beautiful and well elaborated crash of sounds at last this guys seem to let themselves go further and allow a controlled cacophony that has more than casual reminiscences of "Relayer", an excellent song, the climax of the epic.

Now we are reaching the end of their epic, the fourths section "The Coming Home - Pastoral" is another soft gentle track that flows gently toward the closing section, but don't believe it's useless, by no means it's a bridge to the coda and works perfectly as that with their oriental kind sounds.

"The Unicorn" ends with "Dance of the Unicorn", starts as a recapitulation of the past sections but suddenly the orchestra explodes with unusual (in them) Symphonic strange that again in a fraction of second turns in a jazzy tune, but that's not all, for a hoird time they change the track in a Folksy tune with Oriental-Arabic flavors, as if they were taking us in a tour through all the styles they are able to play.

"The Dance of the Unicorn" ends with the orchestra hitting us with all they have mixing now all the past sounds, perfect arrangements and well developed structure, it's more than evident that we are in front of real musicians, all I can say is brilliant.

When I received the mail asking for the inclusion of ER. J. ORCHESTRA I was asked to pay special attention to the third song "Eljzao", I did as indicated and was the introduction was my first disappointment, a soft orchestral piece that limits with muzak, around the seventh minute the band seems to have reached the climax, but is another mirage, again they fall in the same repetitive and boring melody. Due the fact that the songs also goes in crescendo they gather more strange while advancing but I'm sorry to say it, I can only listen slight variations on same melody. The only weak track in the album.

The album ends with "Where do the Angels Go?", because of the title I was ready for another semi muzak track as the previous but in this case there's a difference, still soft and dreamy but the arrangements that surround the piano are brilliant, the atmosphere is darker and a bit Baroque with the chords and soft organ, but still with hat slight New Age aroma that didn't allowed us to include ER. J. ORCHESTRA in another sub-genre. Good but not the best they are able to give.

This review may seem hard by parts and too enthusiastic in others, but that's the reality of the album, in the compositional area the material is a bit uneven, there's at least a weak track and it lasts 14 minutes, but the brilliant parts are outstanding

If we talk about musicianship, performance, arrangements and production I must say all are perfect (maybe too flawless for their sake), everything fits exactly but music and specially Rock is a dirty business, sometimes musicians must sacrifice aseptic quality for brilliance, in many the beauty relies in an overblown song that impress the listener, ER. J. ORCHESTRA is almost always in absolute control of everything and that's beautiful but unreal.

I encourage fans of good music to get the album, it's nice to listen real musicians playing brilliantly and encourage them to keep releasing albums, much more in the case of ER. J. ORCHESTRA who have enough skills to surprise us with a masterpiece in any moment, it's just a matter of time and confidence, they need to let themselves go, to avoid creating so perfect structures and give a bit of space for improvisation.

My rating is 3.5 stars but because this option doesn't exist in Prog Archives, I will be moderate this time and stay with 3 stars.

I would love to rate a 5 stars album by ER. J. ORCHESTRA and I feel they are able to release it, sadly this moment has not reached yet, hope they also believe in themselves.

"THE UNICORN" is their latest effort up to date and it contains almost 30-minutes long title track split into few movements and my favourite ER.J.'s instrumental - "El Jazo",the 14-minute epic which starts with "cinematic" memorable and even catchy but melancholic theme and later turns into almost RIO rumble in the middle! And then again Symphonic Prog/Fusion join in and it all comes to an end...

ER.J.'s style is very hard to describe because it has almost everything - Symphonic Prog/ Fusion as a basis, elements of Ethnic and Folk music, avant/chamber moments and even easy-listening approach! Don't think it's impossible to combine - ER.J.ORCHESTRA does it and supplies the result with awesome and memorable melodies, amazing masterity and character. A Must for every Instrumental Prog lover - there are no vain ambitions,only Pure Art. Enjoy!

ER.J.ORCHESTRA is unique Ukrainian band which mixes the Symphonic Prog attitude with Folk, New Age and even Chamber elements. These guys sound very much orchestra-like indeed, and their pieces are sometimes more a symphonic music than prog rock. They push the boundaries - and in the same time they're managing to stay very enjoyable and even easy-listening sometimes! Excellent background music you may think - hell no, they'll MAKE you listen attentively! The best tracks here are "The Tea Ceremony"Kievv-Paris" and "The Bamboo Forest Temple", each 10 minutes long, but also title track and soft "A Letter to Jana" must be mentioned. Shifting moods and tempo changes, excellent musicinaship, instrumental Prog without overambitiousness - a Must for every Prog fan who is not afraid of solving the mysterious Slavic soul ;) Highly recommended!