Kurt Rongey
BOOK IN HAND (cd)
Released on Kurt's label, Long, Dark Music in 1991, this is the first widely
distributed album (indeed, the first fully realized album) to come out of the
pool of bands involving Kurt and Bill during the late 80s and early 90s.
Recording for this was begun in 1989 and continued while Kurt was attending
the London Royal College of Music in 1990. All keyboards, drumming and
vocals are by Kurt with Bill playing guitar on "Long, Dark
Corridor". Some of the drum tracks were originally intended to be tracks
for a demo by Crunchy Frog, the band that Kurt, Bill and Dave Bagsby had at
the time. When nothing was done with the drum tracks Kurt had laid down, he
just wrote new music to go on top of them. If you're interested in purchasing
a copy write Kurt. The initial pressing is long gone, but he might be able to
dig one up.
THAT WAS PROPAGANDA
(cd)
Kurt started writing and recording this
as early as 1991, but the album wasn't finished until 1998 after which it was
released by Mellow Records of Italy. Massive and sweeping in scope, the subject is
Soviet Russia and its underlying creed of self-denial and
collectivism. This is a milestone in Kurt's life as a composer and musician.
Bill plays guitar throughout. This album is available from Mellow Records.
For those who have wondered what Kurt Rongey’s solo albums are like, he has made _Book In Hand_ (1991) and _That
Was Propaganda_ (1998) available for digital download at www.mindawn.com. Both are available in true
CD quality "FLAC"
format. Full tracks can be auditioned up to three times free of charge to see
if you really like them or not.
Book in Hand - "...highly recommended to those who want to know what
real progressive music sounds like...one of the best albums of the last six
months..." - Background, 1991
That Was Propaganda - "It's easily one of the best progressive releases
of the year, maybe of all time. No kidding.... If you like complex symphonic
keyboard work, I think you'll agree with me that this is the greatest."
- Fred Trafton, Gibraltar Encyclopedia of
Progressive Rock
www.mindawn.com/artists/KurtRongey
Xen
XEN Named after 20th century composer
Iannis Xenakis, Kurt teamed up with former bandmate Dave Bagsby for a series
of recordings released on Bagsby's Esotericity label. The music is completely
electronic and was composed using, among other things, mathematical formulas
to determine pitch and rhythmic values. Taking the artwork of Max Ernst as
inspiration, and in fact, composing soundtracks for the drawings, the two
came up with some truly captivating prog. "the
Demi-fecund Ram Dilates its Abdomen at Will and Becomes a Yew" is a
standout piece. XEN did a few gigs in 1992 and '93. Their last gig, opening
for The Legendary Pink Dots, included Bill Pohl. Esotericity Music released
two cds, XEN and Master of Night which are still available.
The Bill Pohl Trio / The Bill Pohl Band
SOLID EARTH-Bill Pohl (cd)
Bill's first album was released on L,DM in 1992 and distributed worldwide by
the same means that Book in Hand was. John Livingston drums on this album.
Solid Earth popped up on a couple college radio charts during 1993. The
material includes material that Bill had been playing live during 1989 with
Crunchy Frog, a band that included Kurt Rongey and David Bagsby, and later
John Livingston. During 1993 and 1994 Bill gigged in the Dallas/Ft. Worth
area playing this material. Initially, the Bill Pohl Trio included Scott
Fowler on keys and Jimmy Stevens on drums. Fowler and Pohl split bass parts
between keys and Moog Taurus pedals.
In late 1993 the trio opened for Anglagard
in Houston.
Bassist David Haley joined eventually, as did Kurt. The 5-piece
lasted a few months before Haley, Rongey and Pohl broke it up to form Anne
Hand with drummer Nathan Brown. The album is available directly from Bill.
Anne Hand
This group practiced and wrote like
mad, played three gigs and imploded, but during the short period between the
fall of 1994 and spring of '95 the guys were inspired and highly focused.
Gigs were mostly improvised with about four composed pieces being featured
throughout the continous set. An early version of "Through and Through" was among the music. A fine and ambitious
piece called "Dead Language" was a high point of the band's short life. No recordings were
finished, but all three gigs were video taped.
Last Chapter
LAST CHAPTER-The Living
Waters (cd)
This Arlington, Texas
doom-metal band drew heavily from Black Sabbath. Drummer Jason Spradlin, a friend of Pohl's,
became more interested in progressive rock during the early 90s and was soon
devouring massive amounts of Genesis
and King Crimson. Last Chapter's first and only release on Pavement Records
shows the band during this period. Spradlin asked Pohl to help compose a
couple instrumental tracks and to play guitar synth. The album enjoyed great
reviews in many prominent metal magazines and is still available from Amazon.com and Bestbuy.com.
Covenant
COVENANT-Nature's Divine
Reflection (cd)
This is drummer-cum-keyboardist Dave
Gryder's successful 1993 release on Greg Walker's Synphonic label. Dave wrote and performed
all keys and drums. The songs are long, intricate and feature his amazing
drumming as well as his then newfound keyboard chops. Many chord changes give
a nod to Kerry Livgren. Bill Pohl plays
a couple short guitar solos and bass on one track. Synphonic may still have copies of this
one.
Dog Bite Hand
This was an improvisation quartet
consisting of Bill Pohl on guitar, Dave Haley on bass, Chris Forrest on
clarinet and bass clarinet and Eddie Dunlap on drums. During 1999 several
hours of music were recorded over a period of months and edited down to one
hour long "album" by Forrest and Pohl. The finished piece consists
of four movements each taken from a different session. The songs are available
in the form of three mp3 files (zipped),
and may be dowloaded from this page.
MadJack McMad
You'll have to visit this
page for the lowdown on all the Mad Jacks. And there's even a link to an
mp3 file on it.
Yells at Eels
This is a trio fronted by jazz
trumpeter Dennis Gonzalez and backed by his sons, Stefan and Aaron. Dennis
has made albums with the likes of Elton Dean and Keith
Tippett. Their album Pictogram features Bill Pohl on a few tracks. When
Yells at Eels play gigs they usually call Bill to sit in.
Visit Yells at Eels' homepage.
Cds are for sale.
To Canterbury and Beyond
various artists (cd)
This Canterbury tribute was
the first release to feature The Underground Railroad. The band recorded their version of Egg's
"Wring Out the Ground Loosely Now". Mellow Records released this in 1999.
It should still be available at Mellow
Records.
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