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When
Rudess and Dream Theater Unite
by Kara Phillips
Jordan
Rudess was first united with Dream Theater when Kevin Moore left the band
several years ago. In fact,
Moore had given the band his name as a possible replacement, since he
respected him as a fellow keyboard player.
That year all the other members of Dream Theater had won awards
from various musician magazines for being the best at their designated
instrument.
Ironically,
Rudess won the award for best new talent from Keyboard
Magazine and came in second for Best Overall Keyboard Player that year
as well, stacking the odds even more in his favor. However, Rudess only played one concert with Dream Theater
after his original audition. Instead
of joining Dream Theater, Rudess joined the Dixie Dregs on their Full
Circle Tour, and Derek Sherinian was elected as Moore’s replacement.
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ON
THE SIDE
RUDESS
MORGENSTEIN PROJECT
Shortly
after to touring together with the Dixie Dregs, Jordan Rudess and Rod
Morganstein ended up doing an album together, which was entitled the
Rudess Morgenstein Project. The
album was released on Domo Records in 1997.
The two are now shopping for a label and plan to release another
Rudess Morgenstein Project album after the Metropolis 2000 Tour is over.
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His
original connection with the Dregs was as a fan in the audience.
And after watching Dreg’s drummer Rod Morgenstein in awe, Rudess
was pleased to join the Dregs when the opportunity arose. He traveled with the band and became friends with Morgenstein,
while they developed a mutual respect for each other’s music.
Today,
many years after his initial encounter with the band, Rudess has not only
developed a musical friendship with the members of Dream Theater, but he
is also a full-fledged member of the band.
He actually headed right into the studio with them about a year
ago, after recording sessions for the second Liquid Tension Experiment
album (entitled Liquid Tension Experiment 2).
Rudess’
first album with Dream Theater was their latest release, entitled Scenes
from a Memory (Elektra Records). Prior
to entering the studio, the band had written some music for Scenes from a
Memory, but according to Rudess, the actually concept was written around
their studio time: the idea for the album came about at the beginning of
the sessions, and after the story was outlined and the music was laid out,
the lyrics were filled in at the end.
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MULMUZZLER – Keep it To Yourself
Vocalist
James LaBrie created his solo project, Mullmuzzler, in
the Zeppelin frame of mind. LaBrie co-wrote the album with several
talented songwriters, and a band that included guitarist Mike Keneally
(Beer for Dolphins, Vai, Zappa), bassist Bryan Beller (Beer for
Dolphins), and Mike Mangini (Extreme and Vai) on drums.
The album was released on Magna Carta Records last year.
More information about the band can be found at www.magnacarta.net.
Also, check out the TPRS interview with Keneally from our January
Newsletter.
Photo by Beth Hollingsworth
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Rudess
describes the album’s connection to the song “Metropolis 1” from
their commercial success Images & Words as more of a “light fun
thing to do than a commitment.” He
said that although the thought of a “Metropolis 2” was something that
played in the back of John Petrucci’s mind, the band did not plan on
connecting it to a concept album.
With
it being their first concept album and eluding to classic rock influences
and narratives reminiscent of The Wall by Pink Floyd, we asked Rudess if
the change was due to a growth from the band or due to his new member
status. He attributes the
change to both:
Rudess
said, “I think that in many ways they were just growing and ready to do
a different kind of record than they had done previously…trying to come
away from this whole kind of idea of trying to mold their style into the
main stream.” With one of the most active fan bases in the world,
Rudess added that he has seen first-hand what is going on with the
Internet. It seems that
though some fans retreated with the release of Falling into Infinity, they
have come back full force with the release of the new album.
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PLATYPUS-
When Pus Comes to Shove and Ice Cycles
Uniting
Ty Tabor (Kings X) on guitar and vocals, Derek Sherinian (ex-Dream
Theater, Planet X) on Keyboards, John Myung (Dream Theater) on bass, and
Rod Morgenstein (Dixie Dregs, Winger, Jazz is Dead) on drums, Platypus is one of many progressive rock supergroups.
The
release of their Ice Cycles album is this group’s sophomore effort, When
Pus Comes to Shove being their first.
More information about Platypus can be found at
www.insideoutmusic.com
or
www.dreamtheater.net/platypus/
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Rudess
also attributes his influence and background to really changing the whole
style of the album, musically. He
says that those who are familiar with his music should be able to easily
recognize his contributions to the album.
In
addition to influencing the band’s writing, Rudess also significantly
contributes to the band’s live performances, while remaining very
focused on his job. Unlike
the past two Dream Theater keyboard players (Sherinian and Moore), who had
used multiple keyboards to get the job done, Rudess only uses one.
He
says that the keyboards that he uses are kind of "special," and since they
are powerful, like a computer, he only uses one keyboard and one module.
His instruments of choice are Kurzweil Keyboards (models 2500 and
2600). He uses his equipment
to trigger all of the sounds from the band’s past albums and the images
that appear on the screens during their performance, in addition to
playing the keys. He also
utilizes a software package called Videodelic, which was created by
U&I Software.
The
Tour:
The
band has just finished the U.S. leg of their Metropolis World Tour 2000,
with special guests the classic 1979 line-up of the Dixie Dregs, which
includes Steve Morse (Deep Purple, Kansas)
and Rod Morgenstein (Winger, Jazz is Dead).
They were touring in support of a new live album that was released
on Zebra Records, which is called California Screamin and was recorded
live during a reunion last August at the Roxy in Los Angeles, California.
Dream
Theater will continue with dates in Europe, Japan, Korea, South America,
and more. Visit Web site www.dreamtheater.net
for the latest dates.
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TRANSATLANTIC
– SMPTe
This
is yet another supergroup. It
features Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, and is entitled
Transatlantic. (Not to be confused with the band Super TransAtlantic which
features member of Extreme and Saigon Kick.)
The SMPTe album was released by Metal Blade in the states on March
21 and by Inside Out in Europe. The
band also includes Neal Morse (Spock's Beard) on vocals, Roine Stolt (The
Flower Kings) on guitar, and Pete Trewavas (Marillion) on bass. They are scheduled to perform at ProgFest 2000 on September 1 and at NEARfest on June
18.
Visit the Dream Theater Web site or
http://www.btinternet.com/~archimedes/flower/
transatlantic.html for more information.
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LIQUID
TENSION EXPERIMENT –
LTE and LTE2
The
Liquid Tension Experiment (LTE) is an instrumental side project, and the
new album, Liquid Tension Experiment 2, is the band’s sophomore effort. Jordan Rudess worked
on this project with Dream Theater bandmates Mike Portnoy (drums) and John
Petrucci (guitar), as well as Tony Levin (bass). Both
albums are available on Magna Carta Records.
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EXPLORER’S
CLUB – Age of Impact
This
is a collaboration of progressive artists that perform on an album concept
and songs and lyrics created by Trent Gardner.
It features James LaBrie and John Petrucci as well as many other
talented musicians, including D.C. Cooper (Royal Hunt, Silent Force) and
Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big, Talas, David Lee Roth), among others.
This release is available worldwide from Magna Carta Records.
Visit www.magnacarta.net
for more information. Also,
be sure to check out our upcoming May Newsletter, featuring an interview
with vocalist D.C. Cooper.
If
we have left anything out, please forgive us.
The Dream Theater Web site is sure to have more information (www.dreamtheater.net). |
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All photos by Kara Phillips unless otherwise noted.
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