Jade Warrior - Now (2008)

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Jade Warrior - Now (2008)

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4.5 stars. Easily becoming one of my favourite Jad Warrior albums. I highly recommend this album to fans of Porcupine Tree, David Sylvian solo, Pink Floyd, Mike Oldfield, Flower Kings, Steve Morse-era Deep Purple, Djivan Gasparyan, Dead Can Dance, Elbow, old and modern King Crimson, David Gilmour solo, later period Talk Talk, Michael Brook and Rush(yes…Rush!). Also, throw in the kitchen sink with _world musics_ and the mid-period chamber rock/ambient works of '74-'78 Jade Warrior. Yet, this all sounds like Jade Warrior to me. Arguably their best album since 1978's _Way Of The Sun_ with a fusion of 1972's _Last Autumn's Dream_. Many surprises with volume, especially the guitar parts played by Tim Stone(like a cross between Robert Fripp and Jade Warrior's late guitarist Tony Duhig). This whole NOW is a roller coaster throughout the entire career of Jade Warrior. From the 26 second mark of the entire CD, you know instantly that this is Jade Warrior when the soaring Jon Field's flute appears. Other highlights include the saxophone playing of Theo Travis(Gong) where he sounds like a cross between Didier Malherbe(Gong) and Branford Marsalis. I was somewhat skeptical with a discriminatory outlook upon pressing play> since I'd some of Jade Warrior's later works - thinking that Jade Warrior were well past their due date. Glyn Havard is back in the fold on vocals from their early period. The whole Jade Warrior NOW is THE highlight of late 2008-2009 thus far. An almost Masterpiece, 4.5 stars really.
Other reviews I've come by on-line are here at amazon.com(I certainly hope they don't mind I include them here):

The Majestic Return of the Warrior, July 15, 2008 By Douglas Vencill Progressive Rock/Electronic … (San Diego, CA USA)

Jade Warrior, for unjustifiable reasons, have been and remain one of the Best Kept Secrets in the annals of Progressive Rock, World Music, Jazz Fusion, New Age, & Avant-Garde/Experimental Music. They deserve SO much more in the way of international exposure & accolades from the music community; and we who love their music can only hope that the world finally, eventually takes notice of their utterly unique, hypnotic hybrid of music that, to say the very least, has an other-worldly feel to it. I've sometimes wondered what distant, glowing green planet Jon Field, Glyn Havard, & the late GREAT Tony Duhig came from!

We who've followed their music over the years have been long anticipating the release of this, their newest recording…and speaking for myself, I can state with a definite degree of certainty that long- time fans of the Warrior will NOT BE DISAPPOINTED. I received the CD from their website in the mail yesterday, listened to it through headphones last night, and started an Email to my fellow Warriors. The transcript follows:

Hey guys… I am writing to let you know I am listening to the new Jade Warrior CD called NOW, for the first time, as I type this. I will give you my immediate impressions of the songs as I hear them. 1. FOOL AND HIS BRIDE: Jazzy! Acoustic bass, tenor sax, sultry vocals from Glyn, builds to a very cool climax. 7:36 2. JOURNEY: Beautiful! A little faster-paced, very new age sounding, some cool acoustic guitar, mellotron-sounding keyboards, soprano sax. 5:52 3. LOST BOYS: WAY cool! Shuffling beat, more cool keyboards, treated harmony vocals, some cool lead guitar. 7:05 4. TALL TREES: Starts with wind chimes, the sound of a LARGE insect buzzing, then fretless bass, Fender Rhodes, sampled cello, very interesting time signature–can't get a grip on it yet. VERY psychedelic sounding! 3:56 5. FLOATING MOON: Crosses over from previous track into this also psychedelic sounding instrumental with tanpura (the droning instrument heard in the background of sitar music), layered flutes, very trippy! 2:18 6. 3AM MELTDOWN: Crosses over from previous track, here they move into previous avant-garde-heavy metal territory in the style of Snake, Joanne, 3-Horned Dragon King, etc. Very other-worldly sounding with some cool distorted fuzz guitar, soprano sax, trippy keyboards, & very angry vocals from Glyn. 4:21 7. TRUE LOVE: Starts with odd percussion sounds, fretless bass harmonics, more sultry, multi-tracked vocals from Glyn, very cool 4/4 drum beat, slowly builds in intensity, adding some great electric guitar power chording, ends dramatically! 5:47 8. TALISMAN: Nice-sounding ballad in Glyn's old style, nice 3/4 drum beat, acoustic guitar, piano, Jon's triple-tracked flutes–the thought comes to mind that if they were wanting to reach a larger audience, they could do a cool video for this & maybe put it on VH-1. Accessible-sounding track without sounding like they sold out. 3:05 9. SCREAMING DREAMS: Opening vocal intro very similar to their Soldier's Song (<–I think that's the title) from the REFLECTIONS album. Fast- paced with tone-defeated vocals, Glyn doing rapid-style vocalizing…this almost sounds like it could have come from the RELEASED album. A very dissonant, angry-sounding song, a cross between jazz and more avant-garde heavy metal. 4:54 10. EVERYTHING MUST PASS: Soft-sounding beginning with Glyn's 3-part vocals and a Latin beat a la WAY OF THE SUN, leading into kind of a Latin big-band sound with layered keyboards & saxophones, finally fading into silence. 6:04

Personnel: JON FIELD: Flutes, percussion, keyboards GLYN HAVARD: Vocals, additional guitar DAVE STURT: Basses, percussion, keyboards Joined by: TIM STONE: Guitars THEO TRAVIS: Saxes CHRIS INGHAM: Piano JEFF DAVENPORT: Drums With additional help from: LOTTIE FIELD: Woodwinds SAM RYDE: Piano CAROL BELLINGHAM: Backing Vocals GOWAN TURNBULL: Layered Saxes, Contrabass Clarinet BRIAN IMIG: Remiclud*

*took me a minute to figure that one out. It's dulcimer spelled backwards.

51 MINUTES LATER…..

Well, color me impressed! My first impression is WOW, VERY good, Jade Warrior is back! This is an uber-cool, very well-produced & well-executed album & one that I think Tony Duhig would be very proud of…I can envision him in Heaven saying, Good job, chaps. The engineering is also top-notch–every instrument on here (especially the DRUMS) sounds great. I could not recommend this more highly–a VERY worthy addition to Jade Warrior's already impressive library of music. Is sure to appeal to fans of progrock, jazz, & lovers of avant-garde & experimental music.

When Glyn worked with Tony's brother, guitarist David Duhig a few years ago (under the moniker Dogstar Poets) speculation began as to whether a Jade Warrior reunion was in the works. This current version of the band is a fantastic answer to our prayers. The CD is a jewel in their crown, a work of art that anyone can tell was tended to lovingly before its release into the material world. The production & engineering is flawless, absolutely crystal clear. Jon's flute-isms are as wonderful as always; Glyn's voice, sounding obviously more mature these days, STILL comes across in its alternately lilting and powerfully-growling manner. We simply could not have hoped for a better album in the way of a Jade Warrior Of The New Millennium. God bless Jon & Glyn and their flawless coterie of supporting musicians for doing an impeccable job of carrying on with the true spirit of the Warrior.

5.0 out of 5 stars Must buy for Jade Warrior fans, December 2, 2008 By James A. Woronow

This review is from: Now (Audio CD) Very nice! For all those who felt that Jade Warrior was dead this is a resurrection of sorts. This CD is somewhere between Last Autumn's Dreams and Waves. The score is great and reminiscent of their musical albums. Words are sung by a more mature and spiritual voice of Glyn Havard. Jon Field's flutes are soft and buttery. If I have one critique it would be that this should have been a two CD set; one with lyrics and one without. Everyone who enjoyed the Jade Warrior of the 70's will be delighted by this effort. Much better than the Dogstar Poets IMHO.

by Gooner, progarchives

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Jade Warrior - Now (2008)

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Jade Warrior - Now (2008)

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