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GILGAMESH

Canterbury Scene • United Kingdom


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Gilgamesh biography
Formed in 1972 - Disbanded in 1975 - Reformed between 1977-1978

One of the premier bands to feature on the Canterbury scene, GILGAMESH was led by the extraordinary keyboardist Alan Gowen, before his premature death. The music is very intricate, and of course keyboard oriented. The first album is quite an excellent fusion prog effort with lots of great synth work from Gowan. recommended to fans of NATIONAL HEALTH or HATFIELD AND THE NORTH.

See also:
- GOWEN - MILLER - SINCLAIR - TOMKINS
- CALYX

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GILGAMESH discography


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GILGAMESH top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.87 | 207 ratings
Gilgamesh
1975
3.49 | 115 ratings
Another Fine Tune You've Got Me Into
1978

GILGAMESH Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

GILGAMESH Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

GILGAMESH Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.87 | 80 ratings
Arriving Twice
2000

GILGAMESH Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

GILGAMESH Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Another Fine Tune You've Got Me Into by GILGAMESH album cover Studio Album, 1978
3.49 | 115 ratings

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Another Fine Tune You've Got Me Into
Gilgamesh Canterbury Scene

Review by CygnusX-1

5 stars Its hard to imagine that something as obscure as Gilgamesh could produce a 5-star masterpiece. One would assume that if they had created such good music, they wouldn't be so obscure. However, clearly, Another Fine Tune You've Got Me Into is the exception that proves the rule. Yes, its weird. Yes, it is obscure. But when actually listening to the music itself, one can discover how truly incredible this album is. The album features the quiet but complicated "Darker Brighter," the brilliant "Bobberty / Theme For Something Else," the acoustic "Waiting," as well as many other gems. Definitely a surprising masterpiece of progressive rock, and essential to any collection.
 Another Fine Tune You've Got Me Into by GILGAMESH album cover Studio Album, 1978
3.49 | 115 ratings

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Another Fine Tune You've Got Me Into
Gilgamesh Canterbury Scene

Review by DangHeck
Prog Reviewer

4 stars To fans of Canterbury Scene, as I myself am, a 5-star certified essential.

And within the scene, a latter day example of more Jazz Fusion inflected music. I was just thinking, as I'm showing this to my girlfriend, a very important album I discovered in my college days (and listened to frequently), stylistically similar perhaps to Pat Metheny, but unlike him (with all very due respect) ever more consistently interesting, holding the ears of the listener despite being soft and reflective. It's a magical sort of album to me in this way.

From the playful and light (and unmistakably Kentish) "Darker Brighter", "Play Time" and "T.N.T.F.X." to the epic and emotive "Bobberty: Theme from Something Else" to the acoustic Winter-welcome beauty of Lee's solo "Waiting": A great album of great music by exemplary and most worthy British master musicians.

This should appeal to those fans of (both inimitable and essential) contemporaries and collaborators Phil Miller (Machine Mole, Hatfield and the North, National Health) and Dave Stewart (Egg, Khan, Hatfield, National Health, Bruford), masters of feeling and masters of their respective instruments. Of a comparable deserved status are Gilgamesh's own Alan Gowen and Phil Lee. Masterful students of Bop and Jazz at large, they know their way around composition (and each other).

True Rate: 4.5/5.0

 Gilgamesh by GILGAMESH album cover Studio Album, 1975
3.87 | 207 ratings

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Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh Canterbury Scene

Review by Psychedelic Paul

3 stars GILGAMESH (named after a legendary Sumerian king of Mesopotamia) were a two-album Canterbury Scene band led by keyboard player Alan Gowen. Gilgamesh are closely associated with two other Canterbury Scene bands from the proggy 1970's era: Hatfield & the North and National Health, with various band members migrating from one band to another. Gilgamesh recorded two mostly instrumental albums of complex Jazz Fusion:- "Gilgamesh" (1975) and the comically- titled "Another Fine Tune You've Got Me Into" (1978), the album title no doubt inspired by the comic duo Laurel & Hardy. There was also a much later compilation album "Arriving Twice" which arrived once in the year 2000. It's time now to delve into the not-so-ancient musical legend of Gilgamesh and check out their first self-titled album.

The Gilgamesh album opens with the three-piece-suite: "One End More / Phil's Little Dance - For Phil Miller's Trousers / Worlds Of Zin". With a total running time of over ten minutes in this opening number, there's plenty of time for a wild excursion into typical experimental Canterbury Scene territory. It's mostly laid-back instrumental Jazzy music, focusing mainly on keyboards, electric guitar and delicate understated percussion, with occasional harmonising vocals courtesy of Amanda Parsons. This dynamic and ever-changing style of inventive Jazz Fusion will be instantly recognisable to fans of Hatfield & the North and National Health, so even if you've never heard this particular Gilgamesh album before, listening to this album on the record player will sound as comfortably familiar as wearing a comfy woolly sweater or donning a pair of fluffy carpet slippers that have been warmed-up by the fire. Having been introduced to the album, it's now time to meet "Lady and Friend", which opens as a tranquil keyboard piece to put one in a relaxed frame of mind, but be prepared for the occasional outburst of strident electric guitar when you least expect it. This is like the kind of cool Jazz you might hear played in a cocktail lounge, only this endlessly entertaining music comes shaken and stirred with a slice of lemon and a cherry on top. Notwithstanding the fact that the complex instrumental Jazz on this album has so far been as enigmatic as the mysterious legend of Gilgamesh, "Notwithstanding" takes us into even wilder exotic realms of musical experimentation, which will no doubt leave fans of the Canterbury Scene sound awestruck in amazement at the musical proficiency on display here. For the uninitiated though, this may be one step beyond what is enjoyable or even listenable.

Arriving at Side Two now comes "Arriving Twice", a short and sweet, pleasant stroll along the mellow Canterbury Scene trail. We come to the second of the three extended three-piece-suites on the album now with "Island Of Rhodes / Paper Boat - For Doris / As If Your Eyes Were Open". It's a seven-minute pleasure cruise opening in calm waters, but with occasional large waves in the shape of dynamic keyboard and guitar runs. This is music that should come supplied with a windbreaker and a sou'wester hat, as it's a constantly changing fusion of Jazz and Rock, charting an unpredictable course through some choppy windswept waters. It's time now to spare a thought "For Absent Friends", a gentle acoustic guitar diversion running at just over one minute long, and we're all at sea again with the final three-piece suite "We Are All / Someone Else's Food / Jamo And Other Boating Disasters - From The Holiday Of The Same Name." There are no real surprises in store here. It's a very familiar 8-minute-long pleasure trip aboard the good ship Canterbury for another weird and wonderful excursion into the outer reaches of complex Jazz Fusion. To play us out now comes "Just C", a 45-second-long gentle tinkling of the keyboards to put one in a relaxed and mellow frame of mind.

This Canterbury Scene album of experimental Jazz Fusion will almost certainly appeal to fans of Hatfield & the North and National Health, so even if you've never heard this album before, you'll know exactly what to expect from Gilgamesh if you're at all familiar with those two legendary bands of the Canterbury Scene. If you've already headed up the Great North Road to the sound of Hatfield & the North and picked up a prescription for National Health on the way, then Gilgamesh would make an ideal third stop-off point on the musical journey along the Canterbury Scene trail.

 Gilgamesh by GILGAMESH album cover Studio Album, 1975
3.87 | 207 ratings

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Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh Canterbury Scene

Review by siLLy puPPy
Special Collaborator PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic

4 stars One of the band's that emerged after the Canterbury's heyday nevertheless responsible for tethering together two prominent acts in the Scene, namely the extraordinarily larger-than-life supergroup Hatfield and the North and the also late to the scene but equally relevant National Health. GILGAMESH, named after a historical Sumerian king of the city-state, Uruk, was formed in 1972 by Alan Gowen, who entered the music world through the Afrobeat fusion band Assagai in 1971 before joining the ranks of the Canterbury jazz club.

After three years of various lineups including such Canterbury stalwarts as Richard Sinclair and a veritable who's who cast in the Canterbury world, a self-titled debut finally emerged in the final year of first run with the lineup of Gowen (piano, synthesizers, mellotrons), MikeTravis (drums), Jeff Clyne (bass) and Phil Lee (guitars). There are a few brief appearances by Amanda Parsons whose angelic ethereal siren effects clearly bring the Hatfield and the North connections to the forefront.

What comes off as a more straight forward jazz-fusion album than contemporary Canterbury music of the early 70s with a more orchestral sort of flow to the album, GILGAMESH still contains an ample dosage of angular harmonic complexities laced with subtle self-deprecating humorous effects most obvious in the track titles as well as on the album cover that depicts the game Chutes And Ladders depicted in a life on the road, the musician's guide approach.

Musically this debut is more airy with a floaty feather in the clouds sort of feel with the harshness emerging in the free-for-all compositional twists and turns that are presented in the three tracks that contain mini-suites however even tracks like "Notwithstanding" present some challenging jazz workouts that implement that indescribable Canterbury warmth that separates it from the rest of the jazz-rock world.

While clearly derived from the Hatfield and the North projects with Dave Stewart even joining in for vocal arrangements and co- production, GILGAMESH not only eschews the pure copy and paste approach by adding different stylistic meanderings but in retrospect provides the bridge between H&theN to the more dynamic complexities that Gowen would fully come to master on the National Health albums.

While tracks like the lengthy cumbersomely titled "One End More / Phil's Little Dance - For Phil Miller's Trousers / Worlds Of Zin" are quite exciting with all the unexpected twists and turns through dynamic, tempos and angular jitteriness the Canterbury Scene presupposes, there are lazy lackluster tracks such as the piano ballad "Lady And Friend," which sort of lollygag in a linear direction and provide nothing more than nice dinner music for an ear sensitive date.

GILGAMESH may not have released the most memorable slice of Canterbury with their eponymous debut but there is still a lot to love here with unexpected frenetic outbursts of creativity emerging between longer bouts of placidity. This album is also an important bridge between the two more important supergroups that rank amongst the best the Scene offered. The band would break up after this debut only to scatter and rejoin other groups but Gowen would reform the band with yet another lineup for the 1979 followup "Another Fine Tune You've Got Me Into." In short, not the best Canterbury album but well worth the time.

3.5 but rounded up for the excellent musicianship on board

 Gilgamesh by GILGAMESH album cover Studio Album, 1975
3.87 | 207 ratings

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Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh Canterbury Scene

Review by Warthur
Prog Reviewer

4 stars Alan Gowen's Canterbury crowd form the other half of the puzzle which came together with Hatfield and the North to form National Health. This is the sole album they put out before National Health (their second album would emerge after Gowen dropped out of National Health), and it's a rather mellow affair, showcasing where the gentler side of National Health's sound came from. Never quite getting into the sort of madcap soundscapes that, say, Hatfield and the North, Caravan, or early Soft Machine would sometimes visit, this is Canterbury for a gentle afternoon snoozing on the sofa. Some may find it a bit too sedate, polite, and overpolished, but in the right mood I find this an interesting different side of the late 1970s Canterbury house style.
 Gilgamesh by GILGAMESH album cover Studio Album, 1975
3.87 | 207 ratings

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Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh Canterbury Scene

Review by ALotOfBottle
Prog Reviewer

3 stars In 1972, a keyboardist Alan Gowen, previously of the afro-beat band Assagai, Sunship (with King Crimson's Jamie Muir and Allan Holdsworth) and (one year later of) Hatfield And The North teamed up with a guitarist Rick Morcombe, saxophonist Alan Wakeman (the cousin of Rick Wakeman), bassist Jeff Clyne of Nucleus and Isotope and drummer Mike Travis to create Gilgamesh. After various personel changes, Wakeman left and Morcombe was replaced by a guitarist Phil Lee. In 1975, the quartet signed a record contract with Caroline to record their self-titled debut album.

Gilgamesh always remained fairly obscure, breaking up after recording two albums. Their sound is clearly shaped by their contemporaries, mainly Hatfield And The North. The band's sound however does not have the goofiness and the English sense of humor. As much as we could debate whether Hatfield And The North or National Health are fusion of progressive rock, Gilgamesh is a bit like Soft Machine - it's pretty much just straight-up jazz fusion. Unlike Soft Machine though, the quartet does not use jazz instrumentation like saxophones, but rather typical prog rock instrumentation of keyboards, a guitar, a bass and drums. The musicians are definitely very good at their craft. Alan Gowen's sound is dominated by an electric piano and a clavinet as well as a Chick Corea-like synthesizer. His style is inspired by previously mentioned Chick Corea as well as Dave Stewart and Mike Ratledge. Phil Lee's guitar work reminds of that of Phil Miller with pastel-like fuzz guitar. Mike Travis is a very decent drummer, capable of pulling off fantastic grooves, while Jeff Clyne's style is inspired by upright bass.

The album consists of eight tunes, three of which could be called "mini-epics" and two one minute-long piece. All the other tracks are kept between three and six minutes. Despite having a great dynamic variety between them and drawing dreamy soundscapes, they are very forgettable. And so is the whole album for that matter. The dry improvisation-based fusion style is quite boring, monotonous, ho-hum, and "too consistent". Despite the great instrumentalist abilities, every track (maybe with an exception of "Notwithstanding" and "We Are All / Someone Else's Food / Jamo And Other Boating Disasters - From The Holiday Of The Same Name") ask to get skipped. And it's a shame, because the band definitely could do much better than that! Just listen to the follow-up of this one!

In conclusion, the self-titled debut album of Gilgamesh presents phenomenal musicianship. However, it is overshaded by rather repetitive compositions, that lead to nowhere. This album is well suited for Canterbury fans and collectors, but not recommended for newcomers and those trying to get a taste of Canterbury scene. Much better things were to come from Gilgamesh. I am struggling between rating this album for two or three stars. Composition would get two stars, while playing would get four. So, the most adequate rating would be three stars!

 Gilgamesh by GILGAMESH album cover Studio Album, 1975
3.87 | 207 ratings

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Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh Canterbury Scene

Review by BrufordFreak
Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

4 stars keyboard whiz Alan GOWEN's own project in the 70s, Gilgamesh is an obvious attempt to make a late stab at the Canterbury sound though none of the players are from any of the original bands from the Sixties. This album is produced, however, by none other than Dave Stewart--late of Hatfield and the North--whose sound this quite resembles.

1. "One End More / Phil's Little Dance - For Phil Miller's Trousers / Worlds Of Zin" (10:20) collects several sounds and styles being used in the then current jazz world including the clavinet, Eric Gale/John Tropea-like guitar play (think Deodato's "Also Sprach Zarathustra") and some more laid back drumming with tight, quiet fills and lots of quirky accessory (cymbals, etc.) play. The finale, "Worlds Of Zin," is the suite's shining moment in which a bluesy Santana-like guitar solos over some absolutely gorgeous support from the rest of the band--keyboards, bass, and drums. This one gets a (9/10) from me for its memorable melodic hooks and nice compositional organization--though the final section is a full 10/10. 2. "Lady and Friend" (3:44) opens with an acoustic guitar and Fender Rhodes playing off their gentle play to establish a melody. Then a rather dynamic section interrupts for a few seconds before we return to a very nice, gentle keyboard and bass interplay--which is later joined by gentle jazz electric guitar in a kind of Jan AKKERMAN style. The final 45 seconds shifts into a definite FOCUS sound and structure. Nice piece! (10/10)

3. "Notwithstanding" (4:45) is a bit more Herbie Hancock-like in its keyboard sounds and with some rather weak drumming and an Eric GALE-like guitar sound and style feeling as if it is detracting from the high caliber of skill required of the composition. (8/10)

4. "Arriving Twice" (1:36) revives the melodic theme from the album's opening song only in a slightly different arrangement and with a variation in the instruments used. (9/10)

5. "Island Of Rhodes / Paper Boat - For Doris / As If Your Eyes Were Open" (6:39) The opening section, "Island Of Rhodes," uses a repeated bass line as its rather simple foundation, but then the second section, "Paper Boat - For Doris" builds over this with the drums mixed quite a bit behind the dominant multiple keyboards and bass. The final section, "As If Your Eyes Were Open," allows the guitarist to so his chops (not bad!) over a bouncy clavinet and fast-paced drum play. Nice development and composition! (Especially considering its rather weak start.) (9/10)

6. "For Absent Friends" (1:11) is a pleasant acoustic guitar solo of the pseudo-classical vein.

7. "We Are All / Someone Else's Food / Jamo And Other Boating Disasters - From The Holiday Of The Same Name" (7:48) opens with the electric guitar establishing the melody and tempo in the first section, "We Are All." I really enjoy the jazz rhythm guitar play beneath the Fender Rhodes electric piano solo toward the end of the movement. The bass play is a little simplistic but it does a nice job of holding the song together in terms of pace. And I LOVE the drum and guitar play at the end of the fourth minute--just before the transition into the brief countrified second section, "Someone Else's Food." The third section, "Jamo And Other Boating Disasters - From The Holiday Of The Same Name," is an odd piece in which the keyboard goes from clavinet to piano and then Aarp-like synth while in this last part, being accompanied by layers of vocals as done by future 'Northette' Amanda Parsons. Overall, this is probably the piece in which the band shines most instrumentally and compositionally--when they are at their most original and most technically proficient as well as tightest as a band. This is a song well worth repeated listens. (9/10)

8. "Just C (0:45) is a brief piano solo to close out the album.

This is a very nice album full-on representative of the quirky jazz being produced in the style of the Canterbury masters at this point (1975) in the evolution of the music of the Scene. A 3.5 star album rated up for its consistency and its compositional maturity. Alan Gowan can play keyboards! Many!

 Another Fine Tune You've Got Me Into by GILGAMESH album cover Studio Album, 1978
3.49 | 115 ratings

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Another Fine Tune You've Got Me Into
Gilgamesh Canterbury Scene

Review by Matti
Prog Reviewer

3 stars Gilgamesh was among those Canterbury bands that never really made the grade in terms of popularity. Considering the band history, it would have been a miracle if they had. Led by keyboardist Alan Gowen (who had played jazz piano since the 60's, and a participant in the history of NATIONAL HEALTH as well), a gifted keyboardist and composer but who clearly lacked both certain leadership and a will to succeed commercially, it seems. Three years after the forming of Gilgamesh appeared the self-titled debut (1975), produced by Dave Stewart (Hatfield and the North) but the line-up broke even before the album reached the shops. Together with e.g. Stewart, Gowen founded National Health - and left them before finishing the debut album (1977). Then he started to write music for the next Gilgamesh album before he had a band at all.

Only guitarist Phil Lee plays on both albums besides Gowen himself. Drummer Trevor Tomkins was a jazz veteran, and Hugh Hopper is known as a SOFT MACHINE bassist. Gowen tells in the foreword of Another Tune that he prefers to compose for certain musicians and that all the musicians had shaped the final results. Also he informs us that he tries to write music where one cannot really tell the difference between composed and improvised parts. OK, you have already figured out that the music is more jazz than rock, haven't you?

The music bears some complexity but the overall nature is light and airy. Gowen often plays Moog. His keyboards don't steal the show: the emphasis is in the well-crafted band play. 'Waiting', however, is a solo piece for acoustic guitar (written by Lee, naturally). The music is unmistakably Canterbury but surely on its jazziest and the least rocky side. It perhaps lacks the wit and good humour you get in Caravan or Hatfield, instead there's a slight amount of melancholy even with the lightness of it all. The whole album is pretty enjoyable if you like jazz7fusion, but from the prog's point of view it's nothing spectacular. Both Hatfield and National Health have more to offer. Anyway, there has never been too much good British instrumental fusion and this is one of the finest albums in that area. 3½ stars.

 Another Fine Tune You've Got Me Into by GILGAMESH album cover Studio Album, 1978
3.49 | 115 ratings

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Another Fine Tune You've Got Me Into
Gilgamesh Canterbury Scene

Review by stefro
Prog Reviewer

4 stars The tragic death of Alan Gowen at the age of just 33 would rob the progressive rock world of one of it's more refined talents and ultimately overshadow a career that both promised and delivered much. A highly-skilled keyboardist and composer, Gowen's career would start with brief stints in both Afro-rock outfit Assegai and his own, short-lived jazz group Sunship, before joining the blossoming Canterbury movement during the early part of the 1970's. Like many of his peers, Gowen's membership with groups such as National Health and Gilgamesh was fluid - he would move between both several times for both artistic and financial reasons - yet the best of him would be seen in Gilgamesh, a complex, instrumental jazz-prog outfit that released two excellent albums of delicately-wrought music that, although retrospectively popular with both fans and critics, failed to make any serious commercial headway. Featuring guitarist Phil Lee, Soft Machine alumni Hugh Hopper on bass and drummer Trevor Tomkins, this 1978 release would be the second-and-final Gilgamesh album - and undoubtedly their most impressive - yet in truth it probably arrived far too late in the day to make any real impact on the then rapidly-developing music scene. The light jazz touch prevalent here is beautifully- executed, streaking through a series of lushly-realised compositions, yet with punk barking away it seemed that Gilgamesh were fighting a losing battle that no-one was really watching. The complexity of the music and the poverty of the musicians involved also made touring unrealistic, and Gilgamesh would dissolve before really getting the chance to shine. It's a sad tale as this was a band who deserved so much more, particularly as they were just as good as any of their fellow Canterbury contemporaries, groups such asCaravan, Soft Machine, National Health & Hatfield & The North. However, despite the lack of success you shouldn't be put off. 'Another Fine Tune You've Got Me Into' is a dazzling jazz odyssey, and an album that should definitely be investigated by all classic prog lovers. Here's to you Alan. You deserved so much more.

STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012

 Another Fine Tune You've Got Me Into by GILGAMESH album cover Studio Album, 1978
3.49 | 115 ratings

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Another Fine Tune You've Got Me Into
Gilgamesh Canterbury Scene

Review by Warthur
Prog Reviewer

2 stars Like Gilgamesh's first album, Another Fine Tune presents a version of Canterbury that is technically proficient and competently composed, but lacks sparkle, emotion or energy - it's very well-mannered music that doesn't really accomplish much beyond being pretty. Alan Gowen's keyboard work is probably the big draw, though National Health fans may find this somewhat tame compared to that band's debut. Hugh Hopper's presence sets the groundwork for his further collaboration with Gowen on Two Rainbows Daily, but the presence of him on bass here doesn't really change the band's sound that much compared to the previous album.

Apparently, Gilgamesh were only reassembled at this point in time as a rehearsals group rather than a band seriously intending to perform for audiences, and this rather joyless release kind of exemplifies that - this is music produced for the sake of producing music, rather than music produced for the enjoyment of listeners.

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