AN EVENING WITH JOHN PETRUCCI AND JORDAN RUDESS

Glad to see this album is featured here in this site. I got this album from the first release by Soundman Music (2000) with different track sequence and the number of tracks in my CD is showing 9 instead of 10. "State of Grace" and "Hang 11" are not in my CD track list, however my CD has "Hurglass" that is not available in the 2004 release. Both versions of CDs were recorded from their performance at the Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center in Nyack, NY on June 10th,2000.

The first time I got the CD I thought that these two gentlemen would play Dream Theater like music but performed unplugged, or sort of that. But when I spun the CD with "From Within" as the opening track, it was totally different kind of music than Dream Theater and it's so far away from being progressive metal. This opening track is flowing wonderfully and gives me peace of mind listening to the combination of keyboard and guitar work. The second track in my CD list sees "Furia Taurina" which has become my favorite track. I know why I like this track: it's basically due to my astonishment seeing Petrucci plays like Al Di Meola (I'm refering to the trio live performance album of Al Di Meola-John Mclaughlin-Paco De Lucia) with his acoustic guitar while Rudess gives improvised rhythm section with his grand piano / keyboard. But when piano solo of Rudess takes a chance, Petrucci gives his powerful rhythm using the acoustic guitar. Oh man .. it's really a fabulous music!

In "Black Ice" Petrucci gives his vintage with Dream Theater through electric guitar riffs while Rudess performs his piano solo. Wow! can you imagine Dream Theater music meets jazzy piano? Try this man! Really greeaaaatttt .!!! What makes so interesting is that this riffs-based music is performed without drum. "In The Moment" also features electric guitar riffs and solo while Rudess gives his long sustain keyboard work during the guitar solo. When piano takes part, the electric guitar provides background work with improvised electric guitar solo. There is also heavy influence of classical music.

I recommend this album to be in your music collection. John and Jordan have given their best compositions and performance through this album which is very enjoyable and rewarding. You should not miss this one. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Hello there, this is John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess' live 76 minute session plus a bonus track (The extremely fast and technical Bite of the Mosquito).

This live album starts off with the track Furina Taurina, an excellent starting song with of course acoustic and piano strokes. Jordan Rudess throughout this live album plays pianos and NOT ONCE, (I'm serious), Not Once does a keyboard or a synth solo. His piano playing on this live album especially on Fife and Drum, Furina Taurina are extremely tasteful and filled with great feeling. I would rate his playing on this album 5 stars alone and much better than what he does with his main band, Dream Theater and on his rather mediocre solo albums. A great live performance by the other-wise brilliant keyboardist/pianist/synth player.

However, John Petrucci is another story. John Petrucci on this album has two sides, one is the nice, brilliant Al-DiMeola like acoustic brilliance on a song like Furina Taurina or a song like Fife and Drum (My favorite song on this disc between) and the guitar virtuoso/shred/shredfest man or whatever you can call it. Some of his solo guitar on this album is relatively nice like the beautifully-made The Rena song, but however, he loses points on songs where he seems like he is going off into another dimension. Don't get me wrong, I really like John Petrucci's guitaring style, but I feel like this type of instrumentation will put off many especially the fast and furious shredding bonus track. So afterwards, I would give this rather great album 4 stars instead of 5 stars, due to JP's guitar playing on this album. Not that it is bad, but it is not for everyone.

On many occasions, John Petrucci disgusted me in Dream Theater, and quite often would dismiss his notable talent in the context that DT's music provided. Now I understand that putting Petrucci's licks over a different musical enviroment might had changed my perception of his playing. Never had, however, doubts that Rudess was a very special instrumentalist (as I could had heard from his work with LTE). This is not exactly a prog- metal album in a strict sense (though more than once you'll hear some metal trademarks); more it is a decent night-club jazz-metal music with overdriven guitar and good amount of electro-acoustic guitar; accompanied by mostly acoustic piano, perfectly executed by virtuoso Jordan Rudess. The songs often take from folk, spanish folk to bossa nova; at other sets, they rework on pieces from their Liquid Tension/Dream Theater sessions, without giving much clearance but sometimes cliched in the middle of the songs. What surprises me about Petrucci in this album is his ability with his guitar harmonics, and how he could give the latin feel when he plays the background guitar (specially on Hang 11); of course there's no surprise when I listen to his shreds, sometimes very "Di Meola" sounding (like Furia Taurina, which reminds me of "Mediterrean Dance-Rio Ancho" by Di Meola-Paco De Lucia) and sometimes just applying his usual metal licks. Jordan Rudess, apart from playing fast, provides the music not only with classical style, but also proves himself to be an amazing jazz pianist as well; "From Within" is an angelical solo spot where Rudess uses a synthetized harp-like sound on the keyboards, also exposing himself as a virtuoso classical pianist.

"Hang 11" and "Furia Taurina" are my favourites from this album; but I won't dismiss the rest because they do justice to this purchase as well, with it's certain lows and highs. 4 stars

First off, I'm a huge fan of instrumental music, but I'm not too fond of live music (at least when I'm not there in person). That being said, this is just a superb album for me. I think it will be for you too, if you are prepared for what to expect. In essence, this is two extraordinarily talented musicians who demonstrate excellent interplay. We all knew about Rudess' and Petrucci's dexterity from Dream Theater, but here they show a delicateness and flair that I don't hear in DT albums.

I won't go into each track, but suffice it to say that they all are quite excellent, though if you aren't into a guitar/piano duet, then they may seem incredibly similar to each other. I can't say enough about how Petrucci and Rudess are excellent musicians, and here they manage to show their virtuosity without jamming into your face, as in some DT albums. Petrucci moves effortlessly between guitar sustains and flamenco/shred style, and Rudess shows that he is an amazing pianist: just because you have the capability to play a synth lead (as in DT), you don't have to beat it to death. Keys are best as background most of the time, coming to the front for the occasional killer melody or refrain, as expertly demonstrated here.

Again, I'm not usually into live albums, as I think they usually represent a way for bands to make easy money; however, I'm thrilled to have a glimpse as to what Petrucci and Rudess attempted here. If you get irritated by the excesses of Dream Theater, but also wish to hear these two musicians cut loose (without fear of being drowned out by Portnoy or Labrie), then this is the album for you!

First off, just because this is Dream Theater related, please don't go into it automatically hating it because you hate Dream Theater, also don't automatically love it because you love Dream Theater. This is much different from a Dream Theater album. First off, it's a live album from a one off show featuring guitarist John Petrucci and keyboardist Jordan Rudess of the aforementioned Dream Theater. This contains none of the metal elements of said band, and is an interesting cross between jazz, latin, and classical music. Each member gets to show off his unique influences and style,although Rudess is quite a bit more restrained in his playing style here, instead letting Petrucci do most of the soloing while he provides piano and synths in the background. However, he does have a few exceptional solos. This album covers many different moods, from the slow and beautiful State of Grace, originally from the Liquid Tension Experiment album and Rena Song to extremely intense songs like the studio recording Bite of the Mosquito, which sounds a bit like Rimsky-Korsokov's Flight of the Bumblebee, which is why the names of the songs are probably similar. I'd recommend this for anyone open minded and into instrumental music. Again, don't compare it to Dream Theater and you should be all set.

John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess - 'An Evening with.' 4 stars

Anybody that listens to prog undeniably knows who these two musicians are and the band they are famous for. Dream Theater is one of the biggest love it or hate it bands around. Personally I like them quite a bit, but I respect other people's opinion about them. Some find that they lack true musicianship and songwriting abilities, which is plausible. Others would include having feeling implemented into the music and the disability to change sound. These arguments are again, plausible. With this album, it is safe to say true musicianship is projected from these two musicians. This is a live recording of John Petrucci on electric and acoustic guitar along with Jordan Rudess on the acoustic grand piano.

There are some nice reasons to own this impressive album.

First, this cd has nothing to do with Dream Theater's music in any sense. There are very few, if at all, showcases of metal. Most of the influence is taken from the Classical, Latin and Jazz realm. The material for the show was written in a very short period, leaving it open to improve, which was executed beautifully. John Petrucci had the only flaw on this show, which wasn't that big of a deal anyway. He was obviously 10 times more controlled then on his band's studio albums but there was still a few spots where he started to get a little over the top, but again, he maintained control mostly. His acoustic guitar consisted of some nice work influenced by the likes of Al Di Meola with the flamenco technique, which he has come to be a master of over the years. The classical influence was showed mostly when he played some chords and arpeggios, mostly when Jordan was at the forefront. While on topic, Jordan Rudess made this cd what it is. His performance was one of the best a listener can ask for. He was extremely controlled, partly because there were no synths or effects of the type. Everything Jordan did was on the acoustic grand piano, which was played flawlessly. Most of the music Jordan played was in a classical vein.

Secondly, I thought the improvisation was a nice touch to this album. Being able to improvise in front of a live audience is another thing in itself. The improv was great; every one that John and Jordan did was certainly fulfilling and done in a coherent matter, while still showing technical proficiency. John certainly can prove the people that criticize the fact that he cannot put emotion into his playing with the album. His guitar solos (except the few that he couldn't be zany with') all had some great bends and slides that made them tasteful and interesting.

Finally is just the overall sound of the album itself. The quality is excellent for a live album. This was not just a nice Classical/Jazz/Latin show by these two, they also kept the concert interesting by adding more to what they were limited to by adding some classic novice techniques like dynamic changes, tempo changes and crescendos. The limitations lied within the instruments, which is not a bad thing by any means. Remember that this was largely an acoustic concert, minus electric guitar, but that and the piano lacked any distortion or effects. Lastly, the guitar and piano complimented and worked together very well throughout this album.

So, why not? This is a great concert by these two gents. Highly recommended.

I always watched on Dream Theatre music as on secondary product, and their weakest point always been a lack of originality. But their pros (at least in my eyes) is their function as accessible prog-related music supplier to wide masses. Similar situation is with separate band musicians' solo works: being enough skilled and technical, they are never enough innovative or original.

This live semi-acoustic album contains original music ,played by two Dream Theatre members, and possibly is one of the best work, ever recorded by any of DT musician ( all together or solo).

Jordan Rudess plays acoustic piano and shows ability to play wide range of music with high level of ... musicality! No way classic or jazz, this music sounds at some steps higher level of musicality, than Jordan usually demonstrates when playing with DT. Petrucci's participation isn't so successful, but at least demonstrates his wish to play something more attractive, than stereotypic heavy metal. Part of the songs are played by him using unusual acoustic guitar. Not too much original, his acoustic sound is heavily influenced by acoustic works of Al Di Meola.

Compositions where he plays electric are less successful, whenever his guitar sound are always too metallic, never intelligent enough for Rudes' acoustic piano.

This album is interesting for DT funs with open years ( just to find the way to a bit wider world of progressive music), and for everyone who want to listen one of the most musical album from Dream Theatre team.

Around 3,5.

Ok. Looking forward to another review year and start with an album of two of the greatest musicians I know. And I know what I'm talking about because I saw them live at least 5 times by now with their band Dream Theater and never caught them on a poor or even lesser performance. Does this mean it's a guarentee for success with this live album ? Hmmm....

Well, I'll answer it right away: not quite I'm afraid. As was to be expected the musicianship is fabulous but where I was ready for some metal loaded material the boys decided for a different approach. Maybe they noticed they had a fancy audience or something but somehow they must have thought it was a better idea to play in an easy listening style I guess. And I'm being nice when I call this easy listening, this is almost cheesy at times with the audience clapping along ... Come on guys, what's this ?

Ok, it's ot the case for the entire album and the positive thing is: we've seen them in a different way with this live album and there is also some more energetic material to be consumed. But all in all it leaves me slightly disappointed and therefore can't give it the four stars I had in mind before giving it several listens. So three it is ...

One of the best performances by two musicians who do not conform themselves in just one thing

Back in the early and all through the late 2000's, Dream Theater was the hottest band around. Many would question that statement regarding that most of their albums from that time period are not among their most brilliant works (Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence excepted), but looking only to the band's studio output would be undermining all of their hard work, dedication and, most of all, pure and unadulterated talent and passion in playing music; you can see in any of their live recordings from that time the passion they have when playing, how they pour their souls into what they are doing, specially in the Live in Budokan and Score albums.

What does this all has to do with this album? Well, nevertheless all the band members were putting some of their most impressive efforts into Dream Theater's albums, that period in time was also fertile in successful side projects by all of the band members, either with other bands, such as Transatlantic, Jelly Jam and Liquid Tension Experiment, or with solo projects, much like did John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess in releasing solo material.

An Evening With John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess manages to merge both things that said era of Dream Theater had together: the side project and solo project. This live recording brings us an unique presentation by the band's guitarist and keyboardist, two of the band's main creative forces behind it all as well as two of the most gifted and talented musicians in current progressive rock.

This record, however, showcases them both in a place that we usually don't see: Petrucci stays (for the most part) outside of his heavy metal comfort zone of hurling countless notes at us and delivers an impressive, emotional and at times unexpected guitar lines that vary from jazz, classic guitar, blues and classic progressive rock, just to mention the most apparent styles he portrays in his guitar. Here, I believe, even the critics of his work at Dream Theater would agree that his performance is far from cold and heartless technical guitar lines he does at the famous progressive metal band.

As for Jordan Rudess, we do see a different side of him than we usually see at DT: the flamboyant, overly technical and multifaceted keyboard wizard. Nevertheless, for those who follow his solo work this kind of performance would not come to a surprise; the subtle and yet impressive ways he can twist and turn a single melody line into something incredibly good and unexpected without resorting to elaborate sounds or equipment can surprise even the most experienced of music listeners.

All songs from the live performance itself (excepting State of Grace, which was written in Liquid Tension Experiment) are original compositions for this presentation alone, or so I presume since I have never seen or heard they being played before or after, use extensive improvisation from both players for large parts of the performance, what give an even more impressive and fresh feel to each song. As mentioned before, the music's tone here is definitively not what one would expect from members of a progressive metal band; indeed the introspective and elated feel to the melodies played here accentuate the distance from their rather aggressive and powerful side, so often seen in Dream Theater. The extensive use of acoustic instruments (or, in Rudess's case, the sound of acoustic instruments like the piano or the harp) emphasize that tone, even though Petrucci does uses his electric guitar quite a lot (but not in a heavy metal manner or attitude, though) and Rudess sparsely uses synthesizers/synthetic sounds.

The only exception is the last song, Bite of the Mosquito, which is a studio version of the famous Rimsky-Korsakov song Flight of the Bumblebee. For me, it is only here to showcase the technical prowess of both instrumentalists, specially if you take into account how fast it is played, and serves to set a contrast from the rest of the album, all based on emotional and sensible playing by both Petrucci and Rudess; if that's the case, mission accomplished.

The moment captured in this album, almost an hour and a half of pure musical bliss, testifies the inventiveness and quality of both this musicians amazing compositional and playing abilities. Indeed, John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess show to all that they definitively not bound to the realms of progressive metal that made them famous, as well as that they are incredibly skillful outside that field of music. For that, I believe that the most honest rating would be 5 stars.