I am listening to an advance tape copy of Steve's new acoustic live album "There are Many Sides to the Night". This is really good, even better than I expected. The opening performance of "Horizons" is absolutely epic. In fact, almost every track sounds epic. The acoustics of the hall in Palermo where it was recorded are fantastic. No amount of equipment could ever equal the acoustic nuances of this place. The notes just sort of hang in the air for a while, not really reverb, not really echo. It reminds me of a couple of those Paul Horn albums where he played in the Taj Mahal, or the pyramids. I am particularly taken with the performance of "Oh, how I Love You", followed by "The Journey" and the new piece "Bacchus" (a very spry piece that one).
Julian Colbeck plays some spacious string chords as a background in a few of the pieces, notably on "Kim" and he plays a very strong piano in an exceptional performance of "Ace of Wands". The album does include Steve's intros and comments between songs (often in Italian). The tape just finished "Walking Away From Rainbows" and at this point I think he has cut loose between tracks with at least 3 riffs from earlier work, both solo, and from the G- days. They sound flawless, but then he stops and makes a comment about how he has forgotten how to play those tunes.
