Phil Manzanera is one of the UK's best-known musicians and record producers, having shot to prominence in the early '70's as the lead guitarist with the style band, Roxy Music. He is widely acknowledged as one of the world's greatest guitarists and is in much demand both as a performer and record producer. Phil Manzanera was born in London to a Colombian mother and English father, and spent most of his childhood in different parts of the Americas: Hawaii, Venezuela, Colombia and Cuba. It was in Cuba that the young Manzanera, aged 6, encountered his first guitar, a Spanish guitar owned by his mother.
Phil's early musical accomplishments were Cuban folksongs learnt against the upheaval of the Cuban Revolution. The scenes witnessed at this time made a deep impression on the young Manzanera, impressions which have surfaced in much of his music, most recently in the critically acclaimed new album, Vozero. In Venezuela the eight year old Phil started experimenting with the sounds of the electric guitar, a cello electric. During his teenage years Phil was absorbing and marrying the twin influences of 60's rock and roll with the Latin-American rhythms of the merengue, cumbia and particularly the boleros of the Mexican, Armando Manzanero. Manzanera was determined to join a professional band and by the summer of 1971 he had joined the recently formed Roxy Music as lead guitarist - the line-up at this time was Bryan Ferry, Brian Eno, Paul Thompson and Andy Mackay. Roxy's rise was meteoric, with the band being hailed as the stylistic influence of the early 1970's.
During the next 12 years, until 1983 when the band members finally went their separate ways, Roxy Music released a series of international best selling albums, achieving ten number one albums and touring extensively throughout the world. During much of the time with Roxy Music, Manzanera also pursued solo projects, both recording his own albums and producing for others. As a writer, producer and solo artist, Phil Manzanera has worked with many of the luminaries of modern music, such as Steve Winwood, Dave Gilmour, John Cale, Godley and Creme, Nico (Velvet Underground) and John Wetton (King Crimson, Asia). He has co-written material with many artists, including Brian Eno, Tim Finn, Robert Wyatt and David Gilmour. Manzanera co-wrote Pink Floyd's single 'One Slip' from their 1988 'Momentary Lapse of Reason' album.
In the 90's Manzanera performed in concerts all over the world, including 'Guitar Legends', the five day guitar festival performed in Seville where he was musical director for the event and played with Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Jack Bruce and Richard Thompson. Phil has also played in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Spain and the UK, including a ten date European tour with the Cuban band, Grupo Moncada. Last year he was invited to play in WOMAD festivals in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Phil ended the 20th Century by appearing with Bryan Ferry at the British Gas Millennium Concert at Greenwich, the first time they had performed together in 18 years.
Phil Manzanera defies easy musical definition, preferring to continually explore new musical directions and experiment with sounds and styles. Because Phil Manzanera is such a multi-talented musician, producer, songwriter who is willing to take risks, there is no doubt that he will be part of the international music scene for many years to come.
Phil Manzanera/50 Minutes Later ....CD $15.99
(excerpt from 'Bible Black')
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50 Minutes Later is the new album from Roxy Music legend Phil Manzanera. It transports the listener, including them in Manzanera's rock and roll journey, spanning psychedelic London to Buenos Aires and out into the stratosphere, embroidered within a musical context that is always full of invention. Manzanera's signature guitar style, at times richly textured and at times explosive, is very much in evidence and perfectly compliments his storytelling vocals. 50 Minutes Later featues contributions from Robert Wyatt, Brian Eno and fellow Roxy Music members Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson.
Phil Manzanera/6PM ....CD $14.99
Phil has written all twelve tracks and has had quite a few friends drop by adding their talents to the album: Chrissie Hynde on vocals and harmonica, David Gilmour, Robert Wyatt, Eno and Roxy's very own Andy McKay and The Great Paul Thompson. And Bill Bill MacCormick has dusted down the bass and makes an appearance on 'Wish You Well.' Phil helms the album, engineered by Jamie Johnson, taking on lead vocal duties as well as guitar and some keyboards. The world 6PM inhabits is that of Phil's unconscious memories of psychedelic London. It's a world of dreams, surreal cacti, Captain Beefheart, the early Soft Machine, Pink Floyd, the 'Christmas on Earth' event at Earls Court, Fairport Convention, Terry Riley, John Fowles' 'French Lieutenant's Woman', Julie Christie in 'Far From the Madding Crowd', Miles Davis, The Beatles with Sgt Pepper and the Magical Mystery Tour. Lyrically the songs look backwards and forwards to the present, they speak of loss, 'Broken Dreams', love found 'Love Devotion', friendship 'Wish You Well', dedicated to the late author, Ian MacDonald, and much more. The music is beautifully layered and textured, at times almost classical, featuring oboe, viola, double bass interwoven with Manzanera's incomparably expressive guitar lines. Given the cast of world famous players on 6PM, it is no surprise that the sonic landscape of 6PM is rich, startling and unique.
Phil Manzanera/Vozero ....CD $14.99
Vozero was originally released, in the UK only, in 1999 and was Phil Manzanera's first solo album in 10 years. All 12 tracks were written by Manzanera, and besides Phil's distinctive and eclectic guitar work, Vozero also prominently features Robert Wyatt and also ex-Roxy Music sax player Andy Mackay along with a cast of musicians and singers who make up the album's wide-ranging, multi-cultural sound. Phil said: "I made this album because I wanted to make an album, as I did at the time of 'Diamond Head.' It represents a new departure on my musical journey and it's been a great trip on all sorts of levels. Vozero comes from intuition and feeling; the heart rather than the head. It reflects my Colombian and British background, my years in Cuba, love won and love lost. The words are drawn from my own experiences making it my most personal statement. It's taken me 25 years to find a way to express myself vocally as well as instrumentally."
801/801 Latino ....import CD $15.99
801 Latino - recorded live at Newark in 1999. The CD will contain a CDROM performance of Phil in Havana taken from the Manzanera/Moncada concert video.
801/801 Live ....import CD $15.99
On Thursday September 3rd 1976, 801 played their third and final gig to a packed house at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall. One warm up gig in Cromer and a Saturday evening appearance at the Reading Festival completed their date list. 801 was organised by Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera to fill the vacation that the group were then taking. The musicians included Brian Eno (on keyboards, synthesiser, guitar and vocals), Lloyd Watson (slide guitar and vocals), Francis Monkman (Fender Rhodes and clavinet), Bill MacCormick (bass and vocals) and Simon Phillips (drums and rhythm generator). The music consisted of mutated versions of tracks from albums by Manzanera, Eno and Phil's pre - Roxy group Quiet Sun, plus a full scale aural assault on The Beatles "Tomorrow Never Knows" and The Kinks "You Really Got Me". This is a unique opportunity to witness the awesome intense atmospheric powerful performance of this short lived group. This recording has been remastered, repackaged and includes two additional tracks - The Fat Lady Of Limbourg and Golden Hours - and has never been available in this cd format before.
801/Live @ Hull ....import CD $13.99
This CD of the 801 Listen Now gig at Hull University contains a guest appearance by Eddie Jobson (who turns in a mighty performance on 'Out of the Blue'). The performance contains the whole set. Rough, ready and raucous fun.
The Explorers/The Complete Explorers ....double import CD $19.99
The Complete Explorers - this will be a special priced double CD and will contain all the tracks from both studio albums plus three bonus tracks sung by Leo Sayer, Dennis Waterman and Tim Hain.
The Explorers/Live at the Palace ....import CD $10.99
The Explorers were formed in 1984 after Roxy's last and, perversely, biggest selling album and tour - Avalon. With Roxy's demise, Phil and Andy formed the Explorers bringing in the previously unknown James Wraith on vocals. This performance, live at the Camden Palace, captures the band's act with a range of songs from their first, eponymous album. For the tour of which this was part, the band was supplemented a trio of superb backing musicians: drummer Blair Cunningham (Haircut 100 and Paul McCartney), bass player John McKenzie (Bob Dylan and Steve Hillage) and keyboard player Nick Graham.
Phil Manzanera/Diamond Head ....import CD $15.99
Phil Manzanera joined Roxy Music as lead guitarist in 1971, their rise as well as their stylistic influence was meteoric. Diamond Head was his first solo album and was released in 1975. It received great reviews and charted in the Top 40. The featured musicians include Brian Eno, Robert Wyatt, Andy Mackay, John Wetton, Eddie Jobson, Paul Thompson and Bill MacCormick. The album very much reflects Phil's mixed cultural background, particularly on the first track Frontera, sung in Spanish by Robert Wyatt. Diamond Head is full of subtle, inventive guitar playing with flawless technique. This recording has been remastered, repackaged and includes an additional track Carhumba. It has never been available in this cd format before.
Phil Manzanera/The Expression Sampler ....import CD $13.99
The Expression Sampler contains sixteen tracks taken from the majority of Expression CDs, ranging from the early CDs such as A Million Reasons Why and Manzanera/Mackay up to the most recent re-releases, Listen Now, K-Scope and Primitive Guitars. As a bonus, it also contains two other tracks not available on any other CD plus a track from the soon to be released 801 Latino.
Phil Manzanera/K-Scope ....import CD $15.99
Recorded at Chris Squires's (YES bassist) house studio with excellent Simon Phillips on drums and more new
friends Neil
Finn and Tim Finn (Split Enz and Crowded House). This album has an all star cast
that includes Andy Mackay, Simon Ainley, Bill MacCormick, Eddie Rayner, John Wetton, Mel Collins, Kevin Godley,
Lol Creme, Eddie Jobson, Francis Monkman,
Paul Thompson and Dave Skinner. This album has been remastered and includes three
bonus tracks!
Phil Manzanera/The Manzanera Interviews ....import CD $9.99
Phil talks with Bill MacCormick about the making of 'Vozero', about the 801 Live experience and working with Eno. The making of Diamond Head, Listen Now, K-Scope and Primitive Guitars are also covered as is the story of Phil and Bill's first band Quiet Sun.
Phil Manzanera/A Million Reasons Why ....import CD $10.99
'A Million Reasons Why' first saw the light of day as Phil's 'Southern Cross' album in 1991. This studio album has been re-released and enhanced by live recordings taken from the 1991 Seville Guitar Legends festival of which Phil was musical director. The studio tracks, recorded at Gallery Studios over 1988 and 1989 feature a number of superb musicians most particularly, perhaps, Tim Finn of Split Enz and Crowded House fame who co-wrote much of the material and features on vocals and piano on many tracks. The first four tracks feature Phil live at Seville playing an instrumental version of Diamond Head's 'Frontera', followed by an awesome performance of 'Sphinx' with a Manzanera guitar solo guaranteed to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, salute and do fifteen minutes calisthenics.
Phil Manzanera/Nowomowa - The Wasted Lands ....import CD $11.99
Phil Manzanera is best known as the innovative guitarist with the highly influential Roxy Music. During and after the demise of the band Phil worked on many projects with Brian Eno, John Cale, Robert Wyatt (he is featured on last year's Schleep album) and many other luminaries. He formed his own label, Expression Records in the eighties to release many of these projects. Phil has owned a studio (Gallery Music) for many years and in 1988 Paul Williams a Radio 1 producer and Andy Glossart, a Scottish bass player called by for a jam. The results were recorded and brought to the attention of Nick Austin, who was starting a "New Age" video channel. He was overwhelmed and consequently commissioned an album. Phil decided that this rather bleak piece of improvised music recorded in one take, reminded him of a post holocaust landscape, so he named it Nowomowa: The Wasted Lands. The album is a collection of one off takes with no overdubs, effectively a selection of improvisations. Phil and the band then did two multi-media concerts at the Purcell Room where Phil revisited his psychedelic roots. Nowomova means "new wave" in Polish.
Phil Manzanera/Primitive Guitars ....import CD $15.99
Originally released in 1982, Primitive Guitars is an all instrumental album with Phil Manzanera playing all instruments and was Phil's attempt to do a lo-fi at home recording. On this album Phil demonstrates how he tended not to follow other guitarists, but rather tried to emulate such non-guitarists as organist Mike Ratledge, alto saxophonist Charlie Parker, or double bassist Charlie Mingus. This reissue includes two bonus tracks.
Phil Manzanera/Rare One ....import CD $15.99
This CD contains a variety of tracks culled from various sources - demo tracks, forgotten studio cuts, radio sessions, etc. Its job is to fill in various holes in the Manzanera musical history with tracks that span the full historical range of his work. Many of these tracks have never been heard before. The tracks on the CD include not only Manzanera solo works, but also tracks by 801 and Quiet Sun not previously available!
Phil Manzanera and 801/Listen Now ....import CD $15.99
"Listen Now" itself consists of nine tracks (plus three more bonus tracks added for this remastered release!)- all but three featuring vocals from Simon Ainsley and Bill MacCormick backed by a more or less fluid line-up of other musicians. "Initial Speed", "Island", and "Que?" are instrumentals during which the omnipresence of Phil Manzanera on composition, production, and guitar comes into its own. (NB at certain points, one can witness the first use outside 1OCC of Godley and Creme's synthetic secret, the fabled "Gizmo"). Of the remaining songs, three, "Postcard Love", "Law and Order" and "City of Light" were written by Manzanera and MacCormick and three "Flight 19", "That Falling Feeling", and "LISTEN NOW" itself by Phil with Bill's brother, Ian.
Phil Manzanera and Andy Mackay/Manzanera Mackay ....import CD $10.99
The second Explorer's album re-packaged for the US market. Recorded at Gallery Studios over 1987 and 1988, Andy, Phil and James Wraith are again augmented by the Cunningham/MacKenzie rhythm section and by Carol Kenyon on vocals. The album sleeve sees Phil and Andy re-united with another Roxy image stalwart Nick de Ville who contributed so much to the Roxy album designs over the years.
Manzanera and Moncada/Live at the Karl Marx Havana ....import CD $10.99
First ever live album recorded in Havana at the Karl Marx Theatre.
The Players/Christmas ....import CD $15.99
Just in time for Christmas is this holiday classic, a collection of traditional carols arranged for acoustic instruments. The Players are led (and produced) by none other than Roxy Music's Andy Mackay
Quiet Sun/Mainstream ....import CD $15.99
This recording took place at the sessions for Diamond Head in 1975. It was a complex and intense performance from Bill MacCormick - bass, Dave Jarrett - keyboards, Charles Hayward - drums, Phil Manzanera - guitars, Brian Eno - synthesiser and oblique strategies. The group had time for only two brief rehearsals, with most of the tracks being first takes. Many of the tracks share themes with tracks on Diamond Head. The end result however is quite startling, with Mainstream sounding like a collision between Lifetime, Soft Machine and The Velvet Underground. In May 1975 Diamond Head was in the UK album charts, while Mainstream was album of the month in August's Melody Maker.
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