Search - Shadowfax :: Shadowfax Live

Review by Chuck Greenberg's widow

Joy Greenberg (greenshadow@fix.net) | San Luis Obispo, CA | 02/08/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The last album made before the death of Chuck Greenberg in 1995, "Live" in many ways is the "best of Shadowfax," featuring their most popular material. "Live" demonstrates how different the band sounded in concert (electronic and loud), as opposed to their studio work which was more laid back and acoustic. It also contains my personal all-time favorite track, "A Pause in the Rain," another quintessential Chuck composition featuring his ethereal lyricon AND soulful soprano sax. As with all Shadowfax recordings produced by Chuck, this one is audially flawless--a true "eargasm" for audiophiles and Shadowfans alike."

Epitaph for a great, great band

Tom Dupree | 07/31/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Haunting melodies [many featuring Chuck Greenberg's signature lyricon], challenging time signatures [and expert timekeeping on the drums], ensemble pieces that could trigger alpha state or get right up in your face, often during the same tune. This is what Shadowfax sounded like live, and it's probably the best single CD in their catalog, certainly the one to get for a comprehensive introduction to these masterful players. Were they "new age"? Did they play "world music"? Who cares? Whatever you'd like to call their music, they played it so, so well."

Energy amd musicianship to spare

R. Josef | New Haven, CT United States | 04/10/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Chuck Greenberg had wanted for a very long time to release a live Shadowfax CD. It turned out to be well worth the wait. After a bit of an upheaval a few years earlier, the group at this point (1995) had evolved to include founding members Greenberg, Phil Maggini, and Stu Nevitt and three newer recruits. Keyboardist Armen Charmekian had come aboard on the "Esperanto" album. He in turn brought in percussionist Ramon Yslas for "Magic Theater". New guitarist Andy Abad came in full time after playing on some of the sessions for "Theater". This lineup proved to be a very exciting live unit, as this CD proves. Although there is some mellower material here, such as Maggini's "Foundwind", the group pretty much foregoes the quieter pieces that made them famous on their early albums. Instead, the more dynamic world music and jazz fusion side of the band comes to the fore. The playing of everyone in the band is simply superb. The material spans the group's history, covering seven of their nine studio albums. Of special note are performances of old favorites such as the opener "Another Country", "Shadowdance" and the closer, the incredible cover of Don Cherry's "Brown Rice/Kampapa Chenno". (I wonder if they did an encore of "Sweet Home Chicago", like at the one show I saw. If they did, it's not here). Two new pieces are included as well -- a brief, but great, group imrprov called "Rainforests"; and a new studio track written by Charmekian, "Northern Lights" (which the band does perform in the LIVE video), recorded a few days after the concerts. This last one is a ballad oddly going back to the early sound of the group.In any case, it's good that we have this document of the excellent live performance capabililties of Shadowfax, since Chuck Greenberg died only a few months after the release of the album, ending the group. A tragic loss, but we still have this. A good introduction to the band for new folks, and a treat for old fans."