Search - Wakeman & Cousins :: Hummingbird

Not what I expected.

10/05/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When I first read that Wakeman and Cousins were reuniting to record a disc of new music with Chas Cronk and Tony Fernandez, I thought it would make for some creative and enjoyable music. Turns out I was right. With one exception , the fact that there isn't much in the way of contributions from Cronk, Fernandez or Ric Sanders (violin). This is primarily a collection of duets. Cousins and Wakeman cover the majority of the instrumentation as well as composing all of the pieces. Surprisingly, Cousins' voice sounds terrific. A bit aged, but still terrific. There are a couple of upbeat numbers where the entire band plays energetically but overall, this is is a quiet but complex recording. These two old friends compliment eachother brilliantly. Wakeman is just brilliant. It's a treat to hear something this special thirty plus years from the origins of prog-rock. Well worth picking up. Even at the unreasonable price...Simon"

Not a Strawbs album but sounds very like

Amanda Bartels | Eltham, Victoria Australia | 12/29/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Apparently Wakeman and Cousins spent a few afternoons at Cousin's house tinkering with some tracks that Dave had written and came up with an album called Hummingbird. They enlisted a couple of old stalwarts such as Ric Sanders, Chas Cronk and Tony Fernandez, got Rick's girlfriend to paint the cover, and stuck it out on the ether. As a result, it's the kind of album which two old musos would like to write and play together, with no record company pressures and expectations of a demanding public to live up to. If you're a Strawbs fan you will probably like this album. It's not completely Strawbs, but there is enough flavour there in Cousin's unmistakeable vocals and writing for you to categorise it under your Strawbs collection rather than your Wakeman collection.Wakeman is prominent on the album in most of the tracks but he keeps himself from dominating, and sounds in fact more like he did when he was with the Strawbs than he does during his Yes forays. It's like he's put on an old coat and found it still fitted (which is probably unlikely - oh that's mean.)The album is a mix of folk rock, acoustic ballads and instrumentals, both acoustic and electric with input from violin (Ric Sanders) and Wakeman's piano and synthesizers. Cousins plays guitar, banjo and DULCIMER which gives it an extra star in my rating anyway.The Young Pretender and All In Vain sound VERY similar to old Strawbs favourites like The Hangman and the Papist - good folk rockers with some thumping rhythmic piano from Rick and trademark enigmatic lyrics from Cousins (who's it all about, the Young Pretender anyway?) There are some really beautiful songs like Can You Believe which is a soft, sad ballad about looking back and the passing of time - very apt to this album.Wakeman contributes some solo instrumental pieces that really shine such as Crie du Coeur (piano) and Via Bencini (keyboard clarinet arrangement - pity he didn't dust off the clarinet and play that but can't have everything.) Steppes is a short, melancholy piece which has just an echo or two of Temperament of Mind, a piano number from the Strawbs concert at Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1970, which Wakeman, always the opportunist, improvised during a short power outage and Got Noticed by the Press. A nice nod here.Other standout tracks are Forever Ocean Blue, another Cousins ballad, and Higher Germaine, a historical narrative with some lovely dark romantic piano swirls by Wakeman, aching electric violin from Sanders, and oh, that dulcimer. All in all this is a very good album if you are a Strawbs, Wakeman or just a music fan. It's well balanced, well written and very well played by everyone - I'm sure it won't disappoint you if you buy it and are one of the above."

Hummingbird left my soul humming

Dustin Chapman | st. louis park, minnesota United States | 10/01/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard of Dave Cousins (Strawbs) and Rick Wakeman (Strawbs, Yes) more than 30 years ago. To this day I still am moved by their music. Hummingbird is mostly a subdued record with folk influences. The opening song kicks off nicely with drum roll and Ric Saunders' violin. Immediately Wakeman's unmistakeable piano and Cousins' soothing voice send the civilized listener to places most of today's commercial music cannot go. The ensueing tracks mix elements of folk, classical and rock with brief Wakeman instrumentals connecting some of the songs. Although the record is reminiscent of Strawbs, it's not quite altogether a standard Strawbs or Wakeman outing. The combination of the two musicians provide a familiar yet pleasingly unique twist on their repertoire. 2001's Acoustic Strawbs was one of my CD highlights of the year. This will be also. I highly recommend this cd to anyone who likes this type of music. If you are reading this, you probably do. Check it out. You won't be disappointed."