Charlie Parker Complete Studio Recordings 2 CD - Import

The Hyperion CircleVortexReview by Gary HillMusic Street Journalmusicstreetjournal The Hyperion Circle is not really a band, but actually one guy, Orlando Blanco. He's created a CD here that's very heavy on the keyboards. .......... For the most part this music (the album is completely instrumental) is along the lines of a conglomeration of Pink Floyd, Kraftwerk and Alan Parsons Project. Perhaps the most interesting thing, though (besides the fact that this is quite a strong disc) is that it never really feels boring or repetitive. That's really to Blanco's credit. There is little guitar on the disc and the album is essentially a keyboard solo CD with some other elements put in here and there. That's a hard sell - especially when you want to keep each piece feeling unique. Blanco pulls it off. So, he's given us a CD that's very good... " Track by Track Review Vortex Part 1The first two and a half minutes of this are based on atmospheric keyboards. Then a droning musical structure rises and the piece feels like it might explode out. Instead, though, this just intensifies the layers of keyboard sounds. Comparisons to Pink Floyd here are well deserved as bits of sound rise and fall, languidly circling one another. Every couple of minutes this seems to get a new energy and vitality, but still it remains a keyboard dominated instrumental venture. Every time we get a shift it feels like it might be ready to turn the corner into real "rocking" soundscapes - and yet we don't feel robbed. Around the nine and a half minute mark it shifts towards the mysterious and some Eastern musical elements emerge here and there. It really feels at this point like it could be the music to a horror film. Still, there is a dark beauty to be found here. Vortex Part 2A pounding keyboard sound starts this and makes me think of Pink Floyd's "Dogs of War." Rather than continue like that, this is changed to something like a keyboard based marching band sound for a time. Then it shifts out to music ...

Brian was raised in Arizona and grew up with a deep love of Western music - and all American folk music styles such as country blues, blues, soul, bluegrass, country-folk, honky-tonk, Western Swing, rockabilly, country-rock, etc. After being lucky enough to attend Arizona State University as an undergraduate and participate in the 80's heyday of the Tempe music scene, ...