Just queued up The Keys to Ascension and listened to it all the way through.
Thanks for the ear food.
He’s had health problems (respiratory issues, IIRC) since 2008, and hasn’t toured or recorded with Yes since then. While he’s done some recording in the years since (including a project with Jean-Luc Ponty, which I supported on Kickstarter), and has made some live appearances, it sounds like he doesn’t have the stamina to handle a normal touring schedule for Yes.
It’s like the Yes lineup that never was, with Bruford and Moraz together, plus Andrew Jackman from Squire’s pre-Yes band, the Syn.
Just to confirm: Jon Anderson is alive and in good health and sings as well as ever. He’s mostly touring as a pure solo act, dong a sort of Unplugged/Storytellers type show. I saw him here in Austin in 2013 and he was great- he was actually able to make Yes songs like "Starship Trooper "sound good with just an acoustic guitar! He tells a lot of hilarious stories about Yes. My favorite was when Jon discovered Vangelis, and tried to get the band to hire him as the new keyboard player the first time Rick Wakeman left. Vangelis flunked the audition before he ever played a note, when he pompously told Steve Howe, “You know that zee electric guitar is not a REAL instrument”. Patrick Moraz got the job instead.
Nope. I have owned several copies over the years. A great musician who changed how we thought about the bass.
Fuck.
I had*** Fish Out of Water*** on 8-track!
A statement from Geddy Lee on Squire’s passing:
I Love Yes.
It’s so great to check out the early performances on youtube. When Steve Howe got in it fell together whiz bang.
Great name for a Yes tribute band. Not too pretentious or self-aggrandizing.
And I don’t mean to make light of the OP. I love Yes and Chris Squire, and though I knew he was ill, it was still a shock to hear of his passing.
Yes gave me many years of mind-blowing ecstasy, and not in a gay or illegal way. RIP Sir Squire.