The Ridgefield Playhouse Welcomes Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy


by John A. Wilcox



If there is an entry point for progressive music fans, it's most likely Emerson, Lake & Palmer. We all covet albums like Tarkus, Trilogy, and Brain Salad Surgery (By the way, Dr John coined the term Brain Salad Surgery as slang for oral sex in his hit Right Place, Wrong Time). I first came across ELP via my older brother, who bought the Trilogy album so he could learn the song From The Beginning. I quickly latched on to the album and delighted in numbers like The Endless Enigma and the sweeping title track. The musicianship was at a very high level and the imagination was off the charts. I immediately needed more!



I once asked drummer Carl Palmer what set ELP apart from other bands: Having a classical overtone, of that very extreme European sound. Extremely eclectic, having the commerciality of things like From the Beginning and Still...You Turn Me On - C'est La Vie, Lucky Man. Having the lead on technology. Using technology to really pioneer a prog sound as it were. ELP weren't an out and out prog band because we had these commercial sort of folky songs. It was an overall complete package. For Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy, Palmer is joined by Paul Bielatowicz on guitars and Simon Fitzpatrick on bass with Bielatowicz covering Keith Emerson's keyboard parts on his 6 string. To quote Palmer once more: We're not a jazz group, we're not a blues band. It's a prog-rock classical rock band.



With the sudden and tragic deaths of Emerson & Lake last year, Carl Palmer has taken it upon his shoulders to keep their legacy alive. These shows are less a night of mourning and much more a celebration of a pioneering supergroup. Needless to say, ELP fans have quite a treat in store at the Ridgefield show. Classics like Jerusalem, Trilogy, Lucky Man, Pictures At An Exhibition, and Take A Pebble as well as chestnuts from Keith Emerson & Greg Lake's pre-ELP days. As the song goes: Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends! The music of Emerson, Lake & Palmer lives on!



Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy
Sunday, October 8, 8 PM
The Ridgefield Playhouse
80 East Ridge
Ridgefield, CT 06877
203-438-5795

www.ridgefieldplayhouse.org

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