Keith Emerson dies
Keith
Emerson, founding member and keyboardist of Emerson, Lake and Palmer
and a prog rock legend, died Friday. He was 71. His bandmate Carl Palmer
and the trio's official Facebook confirmed Emerson's death. TMZ … 3
hours ago
Story from: Rolling Stone
|
USA Today
|
CNN
Gallery
Keith
Emerson, one of the founders of the progressive rock band Emerson, Lake
and Palmer, died on Thursday in Santa Monica, Calif.. He was …
FOX News · 6 hours ago
Keith
Emerson, legendary keyboardist of the prog-rock trio Emerson, Lake, and
Palmer has died at the age of 71 at his home in Santa Monica. …
The Inquisitr · 2 hours ago
Keith
Emerson, founder and keyboardist of the progressive-rock band Emerson,
Lake and Palmer, was found dead March 11 at his condominium in …
Washington Post · 2 hours ago
LOS ANGELES — Keith Emerson, founder and keyboardist of the progressive-rock band Emerson, Lake and Palmer, has died, his …
NBC News · 2 hours ago
NEW
YORK — Keith Emerson, the keyboardist of the English supergroup
Emerson, Lake & Palmer and one of the key figures of the progressive
…
The Boston Globe · 20 minutes ago
NEW
YORK (Reuters) - British-born keyboardist Keith Emerson of the 1970's
progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer died from a
self-inflicted single gunshot to his head, police said Friday. He was
71. Emerson's body was …
Yahoo Finance · 1 hour ago
LOS
ANGELES (CBSLA.com/AP) — Keith Emerson, founder and keyboardist of the
progressive-rock band Emerson, Lake and Palmer, has died, his …
CBS Local Media-Los Angeles · 1 hour ago
English
keyboardist and composer Keith Emerson — the artist who defined the
sound of Emerson, Lake & Palmer — died yesterday in Santa Monica, …
NPR News · 2 hours ago
Emerson,
Lake & Palmer keyboardist Keith Emerson has died at the age of 71.
The news was confirmed by on the band’s Facebook page and their …
liveleak.com · 4 hours ago
New
York (AFP) - Keith Emerson, the flamboyant yet accomplished keyboardist
who pioneered the use of synthesizers in rock music, …
Follow Yahoo News
Recommended Games
Rock keyboard pioneer Keith Emerson dead at 71
By Shaun Tandon
3 hours ago
Keith Emerson performs at Universal Amphitheatre on November 26, 2004 in Universal City, California (AFP Photo/Frazer Harrison)
"Keith was a gentle soul whose love for music and passion for his performance as a keyboard player will remain unmatched for many years to come," Carl Palmer, the group's percussionist, said in a statement.
"He was a pioneer and an innovator whose musical genius touched all of us in the worlds of rock, classical and jazz," he said.
Inspired by Jimi Hendrix's theatrics with the electric guitar, Emerson created a new showmanship with the keyboards as he would attack the keys with knives and play the organ upside down with the giant instrument suspended over him.
He became best known to the public in 1974 when Emerson, Lake and Palmer closed California Jam, considered the last in a generation of great rock festivals which drew some 250,000 people to a speedway and was broadcast on ABC television.
Emerson,
with his always flowing hair, ended the festival by strapping himself
to a grand piano and playing as it spun around some 15 meters (50 feet)
in the air.
Asked later about his attention-grabbing stage
performances, Emerson told the British publication Counterculture:
"Guitar players were the most mobile musicians on the stage and it's
very difficult to make a 350-pound (160-kilogram) Hammond part of you.""That part of the act was something that just felt natural to do; something that allowed me be more expressive," he said.
- Elaborate musical concepts -
Emerson studied classical piano as a child in England and eventually took up the Hammond organ as he became intrigued by jazz.
But Emerson's career -- and, to an extent, the trajectory of rock -- changed when he heard the influential 1968 album "Switched-On Bach" by the composer then known as Walter Carlos, who performed classical pieces on the Moog synthesizer.
The early-generation analog synthesizers -- whose creator, US engineer Robert Moog, would become a friend -- had gradually been finding their way into popular music, most notably appearing on The Beatles' 1969 album "Abbey Road."
But Emerson was considered the first to make the synthesizer a central rock instrument on its own, taking it on tour.
After his band The Nice disbanded in 1970, the keyboardist joined Palmer and singer and guitarist Greg Lake to form Emerson, Lake and Palmer, who became a force in 1970s progressive rock, a genre that emphasized advanced musical structure.
The
trio won a wide following around the world but especially in Japan and
Britain. Several albums including "Tarkus," "Trilogy" and "Brain Salad
Surgery" entered the top five on the British chart.
"Tarkus,"
released in 1971, was especially innovative with the first track
running more than 20 minutes long and inspired by the fictional Tarkus
character -- which would appear on stage -- that was half tank, half
armadillo.
The band also brought an experimental take to classical
music, releasing a live album of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an
Exhibition."In a tongue-in-cheek allusion to both his classical training and showmanship, Emerson entitled his memoir, "Pictures of an Exhibitionist."
- Tour planned next month -
Emerson eventually went solo and remained active in later years. He had a tour of Japan scheduled for next month.
But he was forced to call off a tour in 2010 due to abnormal growth in his colon. His bandmates did not reveal a cause of death.
His
last concert took place in July at the Barbican in London where he
performed a tribute to Moog on a synthesizer alongside the BBC Concert
Orchestra.
The concert summed
up the dichotomies of Emerson's career. An accomplished keyboardist in
the classical mold, the normally courtly Emerson said he was offended
that several orchestra members openly put in earplugs and two left the
stage.
"Just imagine that you are talking to me across a table and I have my fingers in my ears," he said.
Calling the minority of orchestra members unprofessional, he quipped: "Rock musicians don't behave like this."end quote from:
New
York (AFP) - Keith Emerson, the flamboyant yet accomplished keyboardist
who pioneered the use of synthesizers in rock music, …
No comments:
Post a Comment