Artist : Damanek

Album : In Flight

Release Date : 05-10-2018

Added : 05-01-2019

It’s with the second album 'In Flight' that I discovered 'Damanek' which was created by the multi-instrumentist 'Guy Manning' known to have participated in various projects in the field of progressive with 'The Tangent' and 'The United Progressive Fraternity '. From the first listening, we are immersed in a patchwork of different atmospheres that succeed one after another with the feeling of discovering in each composition a new universe that we tame little by little Let's take the example of the first title 'Ragusa': In 5 minutes, we go from an instrumental introduction with a 'Floydienne' electric guitar to a first part sung atmospheric then a rhythmic close to 'A Kind of Magic' of 'Queen' starts for 2 minutes during which a second part of singing followed by a piano's solo with Spanish intonations and finally a rythm rupture for, again, a short 'Floydien' guitar solo that leaves room for the 'Queenest' rhythmic where 'Guy Manning' is accompanied by choirs in a final where the electric guitar invites itself to accompany the choir. The following titles, all have a different personality that make the listener travel: 'Skyboat' could be the meeting between 'Santana' and 'Jethro Tull' (whom do you think when you hear the song ?), ‘The Crawler' is more accessible with 2 parts, one pop, the other jazzy and it is the clarinet that creates the link between these two styles. But the highlight of the album is the last title shared in 3 parts of almost 30 minutes which is a comparison between life in China and America and where we are embarked on an epic built in multiple drawers that each have their own melodic lines and musical colors. In summary, this second album of 'Damanek' is a rich and dense album that unfolds gradually, listenings after listenings, and finally is an album of great creativity : to recommend to all those who love a progressive refined while remaining accessible...

Line Up / Musicians

Guy Manning (Vocal, Keybords, Bouzouki, Guitar, Mandolin, Choirs, Bass, Percussions), Dan Mash (Bass), Marek Arnold (Saxophone, Clarinette), Sean Timms (Keybords, Banjo) + Guests : Raf Azaria (Violin), DavidB (Choirs), Kevin Currie (Choirs), Brody Thomas Green (Drums), Julie King (Choirs), Luke Machin (Guitar), Tzan Niko (Guitar), Antonio Vittozzi (Guitar), The Gospo Collective et Jones Commentary Choir