Keith Emerson Trio, The: The Keith Emerson Trio

Here is a nice little album and an unexpected surprise from the late, great Keith Emerson. Using the words late and Emerson in the same sentence is very strange and his tragic passing has had such a profound effect on the music industry and his many fans.

Way back in 1963 Emerson (piano), Godfrey Sheppard (bass) and David Keene (drums) cut an album as The Keith Emerson Trio. At the time Keith was only nineteen years old when they recorded the album in Keith's parents living room. Only four acetates were made, one for each band member and one extra copy. Fast forward to 2014 when avid record collector David Gaylor found an old 10 inch acetate labeled as The Keith Emerson Trio recorded in 1963. I suppose one never knows what you will discover at a record fair. Emerson thought it would be a good idea to finally give it a proper release so here we are.

The seven tunes, two Emerson originals and five covers of jazz standards as played by some of the greats including Floyd Cramer and John Coltrane verify just how good Emerson was, even before The Nice and ELP. In his early days Emerson was greatly influenced by jazz and that's exactly what you get here. No keyboard wizardry, just Emerson's exemplary piano skills which were quite considerable even though he was only a teenager at the time. The music is a rollicking good time with Godfrey's bowed bass work and rapid finger pluckings on the bass in tandem with Emerson's vibrant piano flurries and melodic lines and Keene's steady snare filled rhythms.

Listening to this album was such a fun nostalgic ride and just a little sad at the same time. It is certainly intriguing to hear Emerson's early roots realizing in just a few short years ELP would become a monster of '70s progressive rock.

Track Listing:
1. You Say You Care
2. There Will Never Be Another You
3. Teenies Blues
4. Winkle Picker Stamp
5. 56 Blues
6. You Came a Long Way From Saint Louis
7. Soul Station

Added: April 22nd 2016
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Artist's Official Site
Hits: 1728
Language: english

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