Thierry Eliez – Emerson Enigma
(Dood Music SDR232407 – CD/2LP review by Mark McKergow)

French pianist Thierry Eliez takes on the compositions of prog-rock superstar Keith Emerson and succeeds in making new sense from these ambitious and often complex works.

Keyboardist Keith Emerson (1944-2016) was the driving force behind The Nice, and also Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP) in the late 1960s and through the 1970s. Both groups were known for symphonic influences, combining classical and rock music, their showmanship on stage, all focused by Emerson’s compositions. At their peak in the early 1970s ELP were one of the biggest bands in the world.

The music of ELP and, to a lesser extent The Nice, has been much reissued, and even re-performed by dedicated enthusiasts. However, Thierry Eliez is attempting something new with this album; to re-present significant parts of Emerson’s compositions on grand piano, with just a string quartet and vocalist for company. The original works were performed on a variety of instruments including Hammond organ and Moog synthesiser, frequently accompanied by thundering drums. Eliez’s versions have much more space, and really allow us to get acquainted with the music in a new way; shorn of the sound and fury, they still signify a considerable talent at work.

Material from the first seven ELP albums is including, along with a section of The Nice’s Five Bridges suite, all arranged into three suites plus some extra tracks. The opening Tarkus Enigma suite draws on Tarkus, perhaps Emerson’s most iconic work, and the Trilogy album. It is clear from the outset that Eliez is well up to the hefty task of tackling Emerson’s music, moving as it does from thrilling Cecil Taylor-style rumbles and attacks to rippling peaceful interludes to quick time signature changes. The string quartet is well deployed, sometimes as a unit and sometimes with the cello (Guillaume Latil) acting as a de facto bass to underpin the music with the higher strings (Johan Renard and Khoa-Nam Nguyen, violins and Vladimir Percevic, viola) adding emphasis and harmony. The Fugue section is particularly effective, allowing us to really hear and enjoy Emerson’s fugal writing and intricate construction. The suite finishes with a brief visit to the finale from Pictures At An Exhibition.

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The strings play a key role in Knife Edge, with an almost hoedown feel against the big bass lines, momentum building and bits of Bach coming in. Vocals are handled by Ceilin Poggi who is a pretty good match for Greg Lake’s pure style. Take A Pebble is an ambitious take, moving from the opening ballad to an extended passage drawing on Piano Improvisations (which were not always as improvised as one might think). This is where Thierry Eliez is at his most effective, building momentum and releasing the tension with some superb delicacy and awareness.

The second suite takes from Brain Salad Surgery, and is perhaps the least successful section; the piece from Karn Evil 9 was originally performed on solo piano and Eliez brings little new, aside from admiration of how he can sound so precisely like Emerson when he wants to. Benny The Bouncer, a novelty song at best, struggles to deserve its place. The third and final suite, however, is a fine outing including Chorale from The Nice’s Bridges Suite, commissioned by Newcastle and first performed there, with locally referenced words by Lee Jackson. There’s a super fugue-style passage before Eliez moves, inspired, to the finale of Emerson’s Piano Concerto from 1977, a majestic piece of writing. The final bars of Aquatarkus close the album, bringing us full circle.

This album brings back Keith Emerson’s music in a new form, to be experienced and appreciated afresh and perhaps reassessed some fifty years after it appeared. For those who enjoyed them back in the day, this is a fascinating and thoroughly musical reboot. For those new to this music, Emerson Enigma is a great way to discover something that was once chart-topping and can still raise a musical eyebrow.

Link: Emerson Enigma at Proper Music