THE LONG HELLO

Haben sie melodien dabei?

The fourth The Long Hello album is the final one, and is yet again very different in nature from the previous ones in being more of a Jazz album than a Rock album. The album is credited to Guy Evans with Life of Riley & David Jackson. I do not know who (or what) Life of Riley is, but Volume Four is basically a Guy Evans solo project. Given that a drummer is the leader, the music is naturally very percussive. A lot of rhythms, but not much melody. This makes the music forgettable for me, and Volume Four is indeed the least good of the four Long Hello albums. It is even hard to sit through this album.

Not recommended

Range change

Only one year after the second Long Hello album came this third instalment in the series. Once again it is totally different from the previous one with David Jackson now taking up a leadership role. This is basically a Jackson solo album, which is hard to miss given photo of him on the sleeve with some of his favourite instruments and his name being written out in large letters while "The Long Hello Volume Three" is in smaller letters. Even though Guy Evans is still involved it is not clear why they continued the Long Hello moniker for this album at all.

While the first two Long Hello albums were entirely instrumental, several tracks on this one features vocals. Most of the vocals are done by Jakko Jakszyk, later of 21st Century Schizoid Band and King Crimson. Tracks with Jakszyk on vocals like Sogni d'Oro and The Honing of Homer work very well. Jakszyk also contributes some nice Allan Holdsworth- like guitar. I do not know who sings on Dr. Mop (is it Jackson himself perhaps?), but it works considerably less well. Peter Hammill is credited for playing keyboards, but he does not sing. Hugh Banton is not involved.

Awful drum machines ruin tracks like May Day, May Day and Range Change which sound like leftovers from Volume Two. Volume Three is definitely a better album, but it lacks cohesion, and despite some good moments it is not a strong album overall.

Hello 1980's

While the first Long Hello album was a collaboration between David Jackson, Hugh Banton, and Guy Evans, with Jackson penning the majority of the material, this second release under the moniker is instead driven by Evans and Nic Potter with Jackson relegated to a guest musician and Banton being absent altogether. Potter did appear on The Long Hello Volume 1, playing bass, but he did not have a prominent role there. Here, on the other hand, he seems to be the leader and most of the tracks are credited to him. Musically, there is not much connecting the two albums, and one may wonder why it was decided to use the Long Hello name.

Released in 1981, some seven years after the The Long Hello Volume 1, the sound is of its time, including some insipid drum machines and cheesy synths. The album features ten shorter tracks (plus three live bonus tracks on the CD reissue), some of which are meandering, ambient sound experiments.

Not entirely without value, but not recommended either.

You say goodbye, I say hello

I'm not a big fan on Van Der Graaf Generator, where some of these guys have played together. But I was very impressed by David Jackson's contributions on flute and sax to the albums of The Rome Pro(g)ject recently, so I became curious about what else he had done and came across The Long Hello.

As the title gives away, this is the group's first album, originally released in 1974. The album exists in two different versions with different covers. The one shown here is plain white with a band logo, and is quite dull. The other version features a fantasy landscape with hills and mountains and on the sleeve the album is credited to David Jackson, Guy Evans, Hugh Banton & friends, rather than to The Long Hello (which is just the title of the album). The running order of the tracks is different as well on the two different versions.

I found this a charming instrumental, folky, jazzy album with some light symphonic elements. At places, it actually reminds me a bit of Focus in their lighter moments. The album went rather unnoticed at the time, probably due to the overwhelming amount of great music to come out of the mid-70's. But it is rather pleasant, enjoyable stuff that might appeal to people beyond the followers of Van Der Graaf Generator.

Members of VdGG? Yes; Music like VdGG? No

The Long Hello comes to us as an instrumental side project of current and one-time Van der Graff Generator members David Jackson, Hugh Banton, Guy Evans and Nic Potter; however that is where the association with VdGG music stops. This is not a VdGG side project; the output bears no resemblance to the work of VdGG whatsoever; nor does it pretend to. Any expectations of a VdGG-style album based on knowing who the players are is all our own.

That said, what have we got with this project? Some pretty cool grooves often in a jazzy style, at other times the feel is very Canterbury, then for moments here and there a symphonic sound comes to the fore. The musicianship is excellent - exactly what you would expect from this calibre of musician - although you may feel this group of prog heavyweights is playing well within itself.

Overall the music is light and bright with very minimal dark soundscapes. Put simply 'The Long Hello' is very pleasant music. It is something that can be put on as a prog background to a dinner party where guests can enjoy the music or their conversation as takes their fancy, or equally enjoyable to break the silence while beavering away on the computer or reading a book.

Is 'The Long Hello' essential to a collection? No. Am I happy to have this album in my collection? Yes. Is this an excellent addition to a collection? Yes, as long as you are not buying this album on the premise it as a VdGG wannabe. Four stars from me.

The name Nick Graham (ATOMIC ROOSTER, SKIN ALLEY) was brought to my attention recently and I thought I'd review an album to which he contributed to; Volume 3 of the 'Long Hello' series. The 'Long Hello' project was conceived back in 1973, where ex-VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR members could get together and have a bash and contribute some compositions which were otherwise overlooked by visionary PETER HAMMILL. It is a somewhat overlooked recording, not that it's a particularly bad one, but it's not the holy grail either. Actually, it's sax player DAVID JACKSON's project more than anything. 'Jaxon', as he is known to many, was also a crucial part of, not only one of the most incredible progressive bands known to humankind - VDGG, but also contributed to several side-projects including Hammill's solo work, 4 Long Hello volumes, Magic Mushroom Band's sensational 'Spaced Out' album, and even hooking up with R.P.I. legends OSANNA. The saxophonist is truly gifted, one of those amazing musicians who could play multiple saxes simultaneously along with The Blockhead's Davey Payne, a trick that only (to my limited knowledge) jazzer Roland Kirk had mastered. Options were open..... Recording took place between September '79 - November '81 and the resultant music reflected a good dose of experimental jazz-prog and New-Wave influences. Amongst the 'big names' we find Graham, Hammill, drummer Guy Evans, bassist Dave Anderson, and guitarist/vocalist Jakko Jakszyk (and others). Opening tune, 'Jacko and the Polar Bear', we find a folksy tune with vocalisings from Jaxon and his then baby son Jacob, leading into an odd-metred riff with Graham on bass and Evans on drums, and Hammill eventually joining in on some atonal organ stabs. Jaxon's whistles and sax work are superb. 'Dr. Mop' is a rather catchy tune featuring Graham on rhythm-box, Anderson on bass, Brian Evans on vox and Jaxon's usual grating sax work. The melody is simple, and it's in- keeping with the new-wave vibe of the time. 'Mayday Mayday' is the instrumental equivalent of the previous track, this time with Jaxon on rhythm-box (and you can't tell the difference ......!!). 'Sogni D'oro' is a longer piece, credited to Jaxon (saxes & keys) & Jakszyk (vox, guitars and bass), along with John Clarke on a Simmons electronic drum kit keeping a steady 4/4 beat. Again more new-wave inclinations along with some ethereal instrumental stretches. Flipside we get another instrumental, 'Stonewall Stands with Thomas Davies' - a more playful tune showcasing saxes and whistles, and rhythm- box. 'Sometimes I Do, Sometimes I Don't' is a cool, melodic tune with Jaxon's saxes leading the way and tasteful bass from Graham. 'Range Change' has some cheezy sounding keys, along with that bloomin' cheap-sounding rhythm-box and bass from Anderson. The saxes are the highlight. The finale of the album is 'The Honing Of Homer', a composition credited to Jackson and Hammill, even if the latter does not appear on the recording itself. Possibly the most exciting piece of the album. Sung by Jakszyk, the tune twists around from new-wave to distinctively weird, and back again. It isn't too far away to what one may find on Hammill's solo albums PH7 or A Black Box. Overall, a good-to-very good album, more of an obscurity for VDGG obsessives..........3.5 stars from me.

Volume 4 of the 'Long Hello' series has always been my favourite. What Guy Evans does here with his drumming and various percussion is very interesting. Starring some members of Mother Gong's alumni, we have an amazing array of experimental pieces, sometimes jazzy and sometimes spacey. Too many tunes here for track-by-track breakdown, but highlights are : 'Der Traum von Julius' - a strange piece full of mysterious tones, courtesy of Mr Jaxon's sax playing, 'Martha's Express Wishes' - complete with fast paced drumming and nice bass-playing, 'The Finger Points' - a whimsical percussive arrangement with amusing guitaring and 'Haben Sie Waffen Oder Funk Dabei ?' - which reprises Martha's E.W. but this time around with Glissando guitar. Never a dull moment on this record, and whilst sounding different from Van Der Graaf Generator, the ghost of that spirit is still to be found here.

-Historical Information

After Van der graaf generator's fourth studio release "Pawn hearts" the band toured extensively in Italy from 1970 to 1972 (they did three Italian tours in six months). Pawn hearts, which among fans is considered to be the best Vdgg release, was really popular in Italy and held number 1 for 12 weeks in 1972. However, many factors such as the bad financial condition of the members, the lack of support from the record company as well as rioting audiences by different extremist organisations, from Red Brigade to neo-fascists lead Hammill to leave the band and continue his solo career.

The other Vdgg members (Guy Evans, David Jackson and Hugh Banton) would appear as session musicians in his solo records before Vdgg's reunion in 1975. Moreover drummer Guy Evans, organist Hugh Banton and saxophonist David Jackson started a project named "The long hello". They released an album in1974 featuring among other musicians the ex-Vdgg member, bassist Nic Potter. The project was put on hold when Vdgg reunited and was resumed when Vdgg split again in 1978.

-The music

The music is nothing great really. It's an instrumental album that can be listened when you invite people to your house. Most characteristics that made Vdgg such an amazing band are missing here like first of all Peter Hammill himself. Moreover the music is not like what Vdgg where doing. The dark dominant compositions are missing here and are replaced with meaningless compositions which are not that bad but compared with Vdgg's they seem weak, unemotional and uninspiring. Compared to Vdgg releases this one is very easy to digest. It's like jazzy-rock improvisations. Not that bad overall but nothing really worth listening many times. If you are a Vdgg fan and find this somewhere (I don't really think you will anyway) buy it! Good but not even close to Vdgg or even Peter Hammill's solo work. 3 stars!

Being an avid Long hello collectors , I'd been looking for this CD for over 10 years . I can only say it is not as conceptual or elaborated as Vol 1 . rather , it leads the way to what long hello would become later on , striving on short , instrumental , experimental pieces .But alas , without ambient sounds recordings , nor musical virtuosity. The sound is rather early 80's , which in this case means it sounds old and graceless .

I am sad to say , I expeted much more , and this is the one I listen to the least .

Vol 1,3 and 4 are all much better

This is the group/project created by VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR members when Hammill was busy with his own solo carreer . Jackson, Potter and Evans being the pillars of this and Banton joining here and there. Unfortunately , do not expect this to sound anything like VDGG. The first number gives you hope and although the following numbers are not bad , your interest is not to be maintained . The Banton number being , if my memory serves me right (last listen : 8 years ago) is the worst track on here. The album ( CD ) I had seemed to have a diiferent track listing and a plain white cover. VDGG amateurs , beware of this. I don't know how the other album sound , but beware of this.