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Art Rock Circus | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Las Vegas |
| Genres | Rock Opera Hard rock Progressive rock Folk rock |
| Years active | 1995–Present |
Art Rock Circus is an American progressive rock band.
Art Rock Circus was founded in Las Vegas in 1995 first commissioned to perform the Rock Opera Heavens Cafe for Las Vegas-based Tributary Productions. Promoter Mike Lewis then financed and founded Tributary Records with John Miner for the purpose of creating an independent record label to support the growing resurgence of contemporary progressive rock in the 1990s.
Miner's previous work with art rock band Mantra Sunrise provided John Miner with left over material that was instrumental in the development of Heavens Cafe as a theatrical piece. The new band was formed with musicians from the Las Vegas area who were capable of executing the complexities of the material that included many odd time signatures and melodic counterpoint.
Heavens Cafe was first staged at the Flamingo Theater in Las Vegas in July 1996 with an all original cast of talent that was heavily auditioned from the extensive performing community of musicians dancers and actors. Some of the performers were auditioned from the Las Vegas Academy of Performing Arts.
The success of the theatrical stage production promoted a second run at the Charleston Performing Arts Center in 1998 then later in 2003 at the Insurgo Theater of the Arts in Los Angeles. The Art Rock Circus band performed at both of those venues with the addition of bassist Ken Jaquess and violinist Yvette Devereaux. A recording of the Las Vegas performance was released through the Tributary Music Label to the progressive rock community with strong critical acclaim and band leader John Miner was featured in issue 43 of Progression Magazine to discuss the success of Art Rock Circus and the music of Heavens Cafe.
Art Rock Circus released a follow-up album A Passage to Clear in 2001 which was also conceptual in nature. The album was again well received to the progressive rock and art rock communities, but not as well received as Heavens Cafe Live. A Passage to Clear was a story album that followed the difficulties of a female independent artist navigating the corruption of the professional art world of agents and gallery owners.
In 2005, Art Rock Circus released a double album Tell a Vision which became the band's most critically acclaimed work worldwide. The band featured musicians from both Heavens Cafe Live and A Passage to Clear sessions. The album was centered conceptually around the problematic issues of the digital age, particularly social media platforms, targeted conglomerate media corporations and the numbing effect of digital hand held devices.
In late 2005, Miner took time away from Art Rock Circus to work with K2 project with musicians Allan Holdsworth, Ken Jaquess, Ryo Okumoto and Yvette Devereaux. 2013 saw the release of Variations on a Dream which was the band's first instrumental album. The album featured keyboardist Milo Keysington who brought a more symphonic feel to the record.
Progressive rock is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Initially termed "progressive pop", the style was an emergence of psychedelic bands who abandoned standard pop traditions in favour of instrumentation and compositional techniques more frequently associated with jazz, folk, or classical music. Additional elements contributed to its "progressive" label: lyrics were more poetic, technology was harnessed for new sounds, music approached the condition of "art", and the studio, rather than the stage, became the focus of musical activity, which often involved creating music for listening rather than dancing.
Progressive metal is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral or "pseudo-classical" compositions of the latter.
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Shadow Gallery is an American progressive metal band formed in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania during the early 1980s. It was originally called Sorcerer. After changing their name to Shadow Gallery and recording a short 8-track demo, the band was signed to Magna Carta Records in 1991. Shadow Gallery's eponymous debut was released the following year in Japan and Europe. In mid-2005, Shadow Gallery released their fifth studio album, Room V, on the European-American independent label Inside Out.
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Heavens Cafe is a rock opera written and composed by John Miner. It was first staged in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1996. The opportunity to perform the musical theater project came after Miner's demo was heard by investor Mike Lewis of Las Vegas-based Tributary Music Label after his departure from California-based progressive rock group Mantra Sunrise. Miner established a new band, named Art rock circus with drummer Jon Weisberg and bassist Jon Cornell to stage the live performances at the Flamingo Theater in Las Vegas. Former Follies Bergere performer Kristine Keppel directed the original casting. In 2003, Los Angeles based theater director John Beane approached Miner about staging the opera in the Los Angeles area later that year. Beane's new vision for the project came to fruition in May 2004 with a six-week California run at the Insurgo Theater which included Ken Jaquess from K² (band) on bass, Yvette Devereaux violin and Nolan Stolz on drums.
John Miner is an American rock guitarist.
Aleksander Kostarev is a Russian progressive rock musician. He began his musical career in the 1970s, but did not garner popular recognition until the 2000s when he became one of the most important artists of the Russian progressive rock scene.
Mantra Sunrise is an American Progressive Rock Group.
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Jon Davison is an American singer, musician and songwriter who has been the lead vocalist of progressive rock band Yes since 2012.
K² is a progressive rock band from Los Angeles, California. The band is composed of bassist/keyboardist Ken Jaquess, keyboardist Ryo Okumoto, drummer Doug Sanborn, electric violinist Yvette Devereaux, singer Shaun Guerin, guitarist Allan Holdsworth and guitarist John Miner.
Discipline is an American progressive rock band formed in 1987 by singer-songwriter Matthew Parmenter. Based in Detroit, Michigan the band has released five studio albums, two live albums, a live DVD, and a live concert motion picture. Discipline may be best known for their 1997 release Unfolded Like Staircase.
Prog is a British magazine dedicated to progressive rock music, published by Future. The magazine, which is edited by Jerry Ewing, was launched in March 2009 as a spin-off from Classic Rock and covers both past and present artists. Other current staff are Natasha Scharf, Russell Fairbrother, Grant Moon, and Dave Everley.
Tangerine Circus is a Mexican progressive rock band from Mexico City, Mexico. They evolved from a metal-oriented style in their early years, to become one of Mexico's most promising progressive acts of the 2010s.
Gleb Kolyadin is a Russian pianist, composer, and arranger who mixes progressive rock and jazz fusion with neoclassical styles. He has released music both as a solo artist and as a member of the prog duo iamthemorning.
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