05-09-2019, 20:54
Roine Stolt (who is also sometimes referred to as Don Azzaro and/or Dexter Frank Jr. for various instrument and production credits) was born on this day in 1956, in Uppsala, Sweden.
He is probably best known as the head honcho and founder of The Flower Kings although prior to that he was with another Swedish prog rock band in the 70’s, Kaipa, after which he formed a shortlived outfit named Fantasia before going on to release a few solo albums, one of which was titled The Flower King and which basically seeded the band of the same name plus ‘s’.
He draws inspiration from Yes and has released a collaborative album with Jon Anderson. I have never got around to listening to The Flower Kings despite knowing of them, so thought it might be a good time to rectify that particular oversight! Have to say – it’s difficult to get through 31 solid minutes of proggy busyness – or maybe I’m just not in the headspace. By the time it gets to two thirds of the way through a track that length, I can’t remember how it started and have difficulty tying it all together again, lol! Too much for me, but I did enjoy his album with Anderson, and he is a good, emotive vocalist and guitar player; the subject of much adulation and respect, especially in his home country, which is fair enough. Perhaps I will pick a different album next time. Recommendations anyone??
As a trivial aside, Stolt and his wife named their sons after two of his musical idols ... Johan Sebastian and Peter Gabriel.
From The Flower King … a short and sweet sung track …. “Close Your Eyes” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl8zqcSl3lU
I also dipped into Hydrophonia – a solo effort – this is from that … clearly not a whole lot of other people are taken with this track which has one lonely view at the time of posting!! Instrumental …
He is probably best known as the head honcho and founder of The Flower Kings although prior to that he was with another Swedish prog rock band in the 70’s, Kaipa, after which he formed a shortlived outfit named Fantasia before going on to release a few solo albums, one of which was titled The Flower King and which basically seeded the band of the same name plus ‘s’.
He draws inspiration from Yes and has released a collaborative album with Jon Anderson. I have never got around to listening to The Flower Kings despite knowing of them, so thought it might be a good time to rectify that particular oversight! Have to say – it’s difficult to get through 31 solid minutes of proggy busyness – or maybe I’m just not in the headspace. By the time it gets to two thirds of the way through a track that length, I can’t remember how it started and have difficulty tying it all together again, lol! Too much for me, but I did enjoy his album with Anderson, and he is a good, emotive vocalist and guitar player; the subject of much adulation and respect, especially in his home country, which is fair enough. Perhaps I will pick a different album next time. Recommendations anyone??
As a trivial aside, Stolt and his wife named their sons after two of his musical idols ... Johan Sebastian and Peter Gabriel.
From The Flower King … a short and sweet sung track …. “Close Your Eyes” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl8zqcSl3lU
I also dipped into Hydrophonia – a solo effort – this is from that … clearly not a whole lot of other people are taken with this track which has one lonely view at the time of posting!! Instrumental …
"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us." ~ Bill Watterson