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The Orchestra | |
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![]() The Orchestra performing in Chile, 2013 | |
Background information | |
Origin | Birmingham, England |
Genres | Rock, pop |
Years active | 2000–present |
Spinoff of | |
Members | Eric Troyer Mik Kaminski Gordon Townsend Parthenon Huxley Glen Burtnik Louis Clark Jr. Cliff Hillis |
Past members | Louis Clark Kelly Groucutt Phil Bates |
Website | theorchestraband |
The Orchestra is a rock band formed in 2000 by former members of the Electric Light Orchestra and ELO Part II. It is the continuation of ELO Part II following Bev Bevan's departure and selling of his share in the rights to the ELO name to Jeff Lynne.
By 2000 Bev Bevan quit ELO Part II and sold his 50 percent share of the Electric Light Orchestra name as well as the rights to the ELO Part II name to Jeff Lynne. Lynne thereby became the full owner of the ELO name, and took legal action to prevent the band's remaining members, Mik Kaminski, Louis Clark, Parthenon Huxley, Eric Troyer and Kelly Groucutt from continuing to call themselves ELO Part II. They initially tried to alter their name to ELO2, but they eventually changed their name to The Orchestra, chosen due to its similarity to the name of the band Kelly Groucutt had in the late 1980s and early 1990s with Hugh McDowell and Kaminski, called OrKestra.[ citation needed ]
In 2001, The Orchestra released a limited number of their CD No Rewind , which was produced and first released without involvement from a major record label. With the release of the album, The Orchestra temporarily worked some original material into their live set, with "Jewel & Johnny" and the album's title song becoming occasional staples, although a vast majority of the songs they perform in concert are covers of Jeff Lynne's compositions that originally appeared on ELO's original albums between 1971 and 1986. The band continued to tour, playing shows in Chile, Argentina, the UK, Eastern Europe and elsewhere around the world.
No Rewind was subsequently released in Argentina by Art Music in 2005 and reissued worldwide in 2006. The Orchestra toured the UK extensively in 2006 following the re-issue while being promoted using the descriptive phrase "Electric Light Orchestra Part II Former Members". Lynne sued The Orchestra, claiming trademark infringement. The matter went to litigation and in August 2006, a Los Angeles judge ruled in favour of the members of The Orchestra. [1]
During The Orchestra's 2006 UK tour, Phil Bates, formerly a member of Trickster, ELO Part II and Bev Bevan's Move, stood in for Parthenon Huxley at a couple of gigs when Huxley had to return unexpectedly to the States to attend the funeral of his father. In July 2007 Huxley left the band to spend more time with his family and was replaced by Bates.
In 2008, The Orchestra participated in the Sweden Rock Festival. A short East and Central European tour followed from mid-November taking in Latvia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Poland and finally Kosice, Slovakia on 1 December 2008. [2]
On 18 February 2009 the group returned from a sold-out concert in Berlin. But a few hours after returning home, Kelly Groucutt suffered a heart attack and died the following day. The band decided to carry on and brought in former Styx member Glen Burtnik on bass and vocals (Burtnik had filled in for Groucutt previously during a 1998 ELO Part II tour when the latter had taken ill). On 17 July 2009 they opened for the Alan Parsons Live Project at DTE Theater in Clarkston, Michigan. German bassist Ralf Vornberger also played with the band in 2009 in Israel when Burtnik was unavailable due to other work commitments booked before he joined the band.
In November 2011 guitarist Phil Bates left The Orchestra, and Parthenon Huxley reclaimed his position as guitarist/singer. With Huxley, The Orchestra ended 2011 with a 17-city tour of Eastern and Central Europe, including stops in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Lithuania and the Czech Republic. In 2013 The Orchestra performed 35 shows around the world including a national telethon for children's healthcare in Ecuador. 2014 saw the band tour extensively across America, performing with the likes of Deep Purple and John Fogerty. The Orchestra also starred on the 2014 Moody Blues Cruise alongside the Moody Blues, Roger Daltrey, the Zombies and other notable acts. The group once again set out on tour in the fall of 2015.
A documentary of their evolution as a band, No Rewind, was filmed at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida in 2016, and screened for the first time at the Rivertown Film Festival in Clinton, New Jersey in November, 2017.
Louis Clark died in February 2021, leaving Mik Kaminski the sole remaining member of The Orchestra to have been a member or affiliate of the original ELO. Clark's son, Louis Clark Jr., subsequently assumed his late father's roles full-time, having already repeatedly performed with the band since 2011.
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2011–2021 |
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2021–present |
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The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangements with futuristic iconography. After Wood's departure in 1972, Lynne became the band's sole leader, arranging and producing every album while writing nearly all of their original material. From this point until their first break-up in 1986, Lynne, Bevan, and keyboardist Richard Tandy were the group's only consistent members.
Face the Music is the fifth studio album by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It was released in September 1975 by United Artists Records and on 14 November 1975 in the United Kingdom by Jet Records. The album moves away from the large-scale classical orchestrated sound of the previous album, Eldorado, in favour of more "radio-friendly" pop/rock songs, though the string sections are still very prominent. The new sound proved successful for the group, for Face the Music was the first ELO album to go platinum.
Balance of Power is the eleventh studio album by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It was released in 1986. It is the final album by the band to feature co-founder Bev Bevan on drums, as well as the last album to feature a significant contribution from keyboardist Richard Tandy.
Kelly Groucutt was an English musician, best known as the bassist and second vocalist for the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) between 1974 and 1982.
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Michael Kaminski is an English musician. He is best known for playing violin in the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) between 1973 and 1980 and touring from 1981 to 1986, as well as being a member of Electric Light Orchestra Part II from 1991 until its end in 2000, and then The Orchestra from 2000.
"Don't Walk Away" is a song by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO).
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Electric Light Orchestra Part Two is the debut album by ELO Part II, released in 1991. In March 1991, lead single "Honest Men" charted at number 60 on the UK Singles Chart, and 36 on the Dutch Top 40 chart. The track "Kiss Me Red" is a cover of the theme to the short-lived TV series Dreams.
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) Part II was a British-American rock band formed by Electric Light Orchestra drummer and co-founder Bev Bevan. The band also included former ELO bassist and vocalist Kelly Groucutt, and violinist Mik Kaminski for most of its career, along with conductor Louis Clark, who toured as a guest with ELO in its later years.
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No Rewind is the debut album by rock band The Orchestra, released in 2001. Released soon after the group's rebranding from ELO Part II, it remains their sole released studio album.
Ticket to the Moon: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra Volume 2 is a 2007 compilation album by Electric Light Orchestra, and is a companion to 2005's All Over the World.
Philip Bates is an English musician who has been a member of many notable bands, including Trickster and Quill, and was the lead guitarist, songwriter and joint lead vocalist for ELO Part II from 1993 through to 1999 and then its successor band The Orchestra from 2007 to 2011 and both times being replaced by Parthenon Huxley.
Moment of Truth is the second and final album by ELO Part II, released in October 1994. The cover illustration by Graham Reynolds depicts an incandescent light bulb shattering. The light bulb image continues a visual theme that began with the light bulb depicted on the cover of Electric Light Orchestra's debut album. Moment of Truth and the single "One More Tomorrow" would determine if ELO Part II would continue re-establishing themselves in America. "The Fox" was originally from the 1985 Kelly Groucutt EP, We Love Animals.
Parthenon Huxley is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and producer who is known for his solo albums and for his involvement in ELO Part II and The Orchestra, both of which are latter-day offshoots of the 1970s–80s symphonic rock band Electric Light Orchestra. He has also made cameo appearances in several films including Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story and The Flintstones.
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