“Getting some serious ELP vibes from this”
“Powerful song! Love it!”
“Great! Love the drumming section from the 2:58 mark”
Intercontinental Man is an eclectic blend of musical styles, cultures and genres.
This music was originally written many years ago for my debut solo album. As such, I did release my debut in 2014 but none of this music made it onto the album. This is because of a change of direction which subsequently morphed into ‘Bach to Me’ – a musical acknowledgement to classical composer and musician Johan Sebastian Bach.
Differing elements
The concept behind Intercontinental Man as an album title delves into the notion that I’ve always felt I have my feet firmly planted in two different continents. I grew up in Africa, South Africa in particular, but in a very European home because my immigrant parents could not speak English. So whilst I was living in an English-speaking African country, I was speaking Hungarian at home and firmly embedded in European culture. This in itself created a disparity that at times could be quite unsettling with the two different cultures often pulling against each other.
This is reflected in the music.
The concept behind Intercontinental Man as an album title delves into the notion that I’ve always felt I have my feet firmly planted in two different continents. I grew up in Africa, South Africa in particular, but in a very European home because my immigrant parents could not speak English. So whilst I was living in an English-speaking African country, I was speaking Hungarian at home and firmly embedded in European culture. This in itself created a disparity that at times could be quite unsettling with the two different cultures often pulling against each other.
This is reflected in the music.
A nice quote, outtake or something similar can go here.
An unfolding process
I don’t tend to write in one genre because I enjoy many styles of music. Some are favoured over others, but all are equally important for the final result. This is also reflected in the approach to ‘The Voros Collective’. Bringing together musicians from differing backgrounds to play varying and different styles of music, all connected by a common thread.
Three of the tracks on Intercontinental Man were written as part of a collection of recordings I made many years ago. Fresh recordings were added by the fantastic musicians featured on this album to make it what it is now.
This 4-track EP is also representative of what is to come in the future. A varied mix of Jazz, Rock, World, African, Classical, Funk styles… and then some. All blended together to produce an identifiable sound, even though there are so many different genres at play here.
I mixed and mastered the album. The initial plan was to outsource this, but as the album developed, it just felt right for this to be done in-house as I had lived with this music for so long. This proved to be a massive and at times hairy learning curve!
I don’t tend to write in one genre because I enjoy many styles of music. Some are favoured over others, but all are equally important for the final result. This is also reflected in the approach to ‘The Voros Collective’. Bringing together musicians from differing backgrounds to play varying and different styles of music, all connected by a common thread.
Three of the tracks on Intercontinental Man were written as part of a collection of recordings I made many years ago. Fresh recordings were added by the fantastic musicians featured on this album to make it what it is now.
This 4-track EP is also representative of what is to come in the future. A varied mix of Jazz, Rock, World, African, Classical, Funk styles… and then some. All blended together to produce an identifiable sound, even though there are so many different genres at play here.
I mixed and mastered the album. The initial plan was to outsource this, but as the album developed, it just felt right for this to be done in-house as I had lived with this music for so long. This proved to be a massive and at times hairy learning curve!
The Collective
I would like to express my deepest thanks to the great musicians who have given their time to play on this album: Keith Hutchinson, Michael Bester, Andy Roberston, Andy Lewis, Myles Shannon and Bradley Wiseman. I’ve struggled to track down some of the other musicians who played on the track ‘Walking In The City’. All I recall is that the excellent sax player was called Roger and with great apology can’t remember who the guitarist was. Great performances all round! Thank you guys!
On the individual musical pieces:
Cool Mountain Waters
Cool Mountain Waters is the oldest track and was written when I first started to consider developing music with the intention of releasing albums. This was over 20 years ago.
The melody came quite easily and developed into what you hear today. The middle brass orientated section was actually influenced by Grace Jones’ track “Slave To The Rhythm.” This is apparent with the 80s kind of dance floor theme and groove. Andy Robertson plays bass on this track and does a wonderful job of nailing down the groove and feel.
The way that I have written all these songs is by playing everything on a midi keyboard – in other words programming the music. I did this with every single musical part. Then once done, I’d give musicians a complete track that acts as a guide or blueprint to work from. I always encourage (in fact insist) that they add their individual and personal touch to each part they contribute.
This is human music. Composed and played by humans. Something I’m very proud of.
This Playful Corner
The second track on the album is This Playful Corner. Written later on it was originally called ‘Magyar Shuffle’. The word Magyar literally means Hungarian.
Now when listening to the music you might note that it doesn’t really sound Hungarian at all. The reason I came up with this title is because my ancestry is Hungarian and I grew up in a European home. So, for some unexplained reason I thought Magyar Shuffle was the way to go. Sometimes the best things in life don’t make sense…
‘This Playful Corner’ features a spirited penny flute motif (melody) running through it, with a complimentary melodic answer phrase featuring piano and voice. When I asked some people to have a listen to this track for feedback one person cursed me, saying they couldn’t get the main melody out of their head. A music earworm. I took this as a compliment.
The melodic interplay lays down the foundation for quite disparate sounding solos. The piano solo played by master keys player Keith Huthchinson leans towards progressive rock and would not sound out of place on an Emerson, Lake & Palmer album. Miles Shannon’s inventive guitar work provides a Rockier edge and backdrop to this piece, and when I first heard it reminded me of Jan Akkerman formerly of Focus.
Walking in the City
Walking in the City leans towards Jazz, but with a definite South African feel and influence. The track was influenced by Abdullah Ibrahim’s ‘Mannenberg’ and has a similar drum rhythm. The sax melody is completely original and melodically representative of the genre.
Andy Lewis’ piano solo is one of my favourite moments on the album. His thoughtful and beautifully constructed solo truly reflects and captures the essence of this track. It transports me to a New York street scene complete with yellow cabs.
And then, there’s another eclectic twist. Andy’s gentle solo is immediately followed by a contrasting Rockier, almost jarring element. The influence here is the middle section of Sting’s ‘Englishman in New York’ with that big gated drum sound. This song follows a similar path before returning to the main theme and feel of the music.
This World
The final track This World was written and played completely by myself.
Intercontinental Man is The Voros Collective – a collective of musicians responsible for the sound of the music. However, on this occasion I wanted to include one track on the album where everything was played by myself. This was inspired by Phil Collins and particularly his song ‘Roof is Leaking from his first solo album “Face Value.” Even though ‘This World’ may not sound at all like Phil’s track, what is reflected typically is the structure and approach.
I had great fun coming up with the melody and the lyrics to this track. And even though it might appear to lean towards a dark theme, the message is one of hope and trusting that the future is hopeful.
The core influence of this track leans towards a Progressive Rock vein, which neatly rounds off and completes Intercontinental Man.
I hope you enjoy Intercontinental Man as much as I enjoyed writing, performing and putting it together.
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