5 October 2010: Unwritten Pages - Noah & Jean-Pierre Alarcen

Unwritten Pages - Noah
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA – 13 July 2010 – Unwritten Pages' Noah is an album born out of a passion for progressive, driving music, concept albums and 80's science-fiction films. It combines the broad musical taste of its creator Frederic Epe and the stylistic and unique musical backgrounds of each project member, reaching from rock and metal to Latin influences and more classical/score-oriented arrangements. The album features soaring guitars, fat organs and bone-breaking drums, as well as a healthy dose of retro. But most of all, it never loses its focus on unique and melody-driven song-writing. And it comes in the form of an ambitious story, told through the eyes of the vocalists and musicians. This double album features the talents of Damian Wilson (Threshold, Ayreon, Les Misérables), Karl Groom (Threshold, Shadowland), Davy Mickers (Stream of Passion, Ayreon), Alejandro Millán (Hello Madness, Stream of Passion) and many others.

Jean-Pierre Alarcen's classic Tableaux Number 1 from 1979 will be featured in the second half of tonight's show.  In 1979, he released his next album, "Tableau No. 1". This work in three movements has more ambient (somewhat The ENIDish) and symphy qualities, but also has jazz and Zeuhlish elements. It's more in the romantic "classical" (to mix my eras in a poor turn of phrase) with melodic rock styled camp than before, but with dramatic contrast. Soft ambient music turns into jazzy guitar driven rock. Allan Holdsworth springs to mind as a possible influence on his guitar work here, as well as McLaughlin. The third movement in particular has exciting funky bass guitar-driven work. It ends with music that rather reminds me of Toto's "Dune" soundtrack.  (from ProgArchives)