I am a recent convert to the music of Colin Tench and like so many others, was deeply saddened to learn of his untimely passing this past December. I actually communicated with Colin via Facebook when the album was close to release and he was extremely excited about it. I waited anxiously after his passing for news that the album had become reality and I was not disappointed. The Colin Tench Project release of minor Masterpiece came to fruition recently and is now available for your prog rock enjoyment.
The album opens with See How She Runs, a melodic tune with top notes of latter day Genesis wading through, and perhaps a touch of Big Big Train. The guitar work hits in quick blasts, riding a wave of keyboards and percussion to a quiet landing on a piano. The Colin Tench Project is bold with a hint of mystique–just as you’d expect…
One of my personal faves on the album is Squeaky Door Time. A jazz fusion vibe quickly fills the headphones as Colin channels his inner Carlos Santana, and it sounds like he is having a grand time. The canvas has been splayed with a battery of color that would impress Peter Max. In my experience, very few prog albums were recorded with the dance floor in mind. However; Colin lays a groove here that would make Frank Zappa smile and strut majestically around the stage. The mood transforms like a kaleidoscope; from funky, to ska, to rockin’…and then changes into a jazzy velvet dinner jacket…smooth as Highland Park 18 year-old single malt…
Further down the disc is a darker piece with semi-ominous overtones, Waiting for Gordo. The tension mounts immediately as the piece opens. I am taken back to my youth and Saturday morning cartoons when my mind was bathed in classical music…I close my eyes and the child conductor on the album cover comes to life and just commands that baton. There is so much here; top notes of IQ and an earlier incarnation of King Crimson perhaps. This song leaps at you much like a moth emerging from a cocoon; slow and deliberate…and suddenly the majestic thrust of the wings allows it to break free. Gordo Bennett is stunning as he bounds about the orchestra pit hitting every note and breathing life into a vinyl disc…I can see Colin’s smile from headphone earpiece to headphone earpiece as he sits at the piano and caresses such beautiful sounds from those keys…
The final cut I chose to enlighten you about this album is called Now Get on Your Way. The opening is just majestic; Colin blends prog with classical in a way that enables the music to enter your pores and flow through your entire being…you don’t just listen to this album–you engage with it. I get a John Wetton in his Asia days vibe from this piece as the lyrics crash all around you like an unexpected thunderstorm. Gordo outdoes himself with the orchestrations, and Colin plays the guitar and synthesizer so fluidly it seems like he has four arms. This is an album to savor slowly…drink it in and let it the magic begin…
Colin put all he had into this album and the result is striking. The music transcends
to take you on that proverbial journey Timothy Leary was so fond of. Music tends to paint pictures for me and the canvas laid out for minor Masterpiece is bursting with colors and images that come alive. Listen for yourself and see if you get the urge to sip a single malt while melting into your headphones…
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