D E R E K
S H U L M A N
'GENTLE GIANT' PROGRESSIVE ROCK LEGEND
& MUSIC EXECUTIVE
SPECIAL GUEST ON THE RAY SHASHO SHOW
Formed in the late 60's by the Shulman brothers, GENTLE GIANT is known as the paradigmatic progressive rock band. With an uncomparable musicianship, they went as far as no one ever did into unexplored grounds in the progressive music, navigating over dissonant 20th-century classical chamber music, medieval vocal music, jazz and rock. The multi-instrumentation capabilities of the musicians gave such dynamic to their music, which set parameters to a whole coming generation up to these very days. They explored Moogs, Mellotrons and Fender Rhodes usage with such majesty! Not to mention other instruments like oboes, violins, cellos and horns among others.
The band was able to come across the 70's maintaining an outstanding level on their music, altering their style over the years and keeping the quality as only a few bands were able to do. Among their magnificent discography, all the albums from "Acquiring the Taste" through "Playing the Fool" are essential progressive rock releases (with the possible exception of "Interview"). This portion of the band's career would see a fittingly grand conclusion on the live "Playing the Fool" album. What more is there to say about these masters of progressive music?
Renowned music industry veteran Derek Shulman has achieved success sitting on both sides of the desk. Born in the United Kingdom, his introduction to the music business was as lead vocalist with sixties pop sensation Simon Dupree And The Big Sound. Signed to the Beatles’ label Parlaphone, the group enjoyed TV appearances, Top 20 singles and toured Europe extensively. They even secured a talented keyboard player by the name of Reginald Dwight (Elton John) towards the latter part of their lifespan. In 1970 they changed their name to Gentle Giant going on to even bigger acclaim, recording a succession of best-selling record albums and touring the world as a major headlining attraction.
Following his recording career, Shulman became a prominent record executive. Starting as an A&R representative at PolyGram Records, where he rose to the ranks of Senior Vice President, he signed Bon Jovi, Dan Reed Network, Cinderella, and Kingdom Come, among many others. in 1988 he became President and C.E.O of Atco Records (where he signed the progressive metal band Dream Theater as well as Pantera). He also re-established the careers of AC/DC and Bad Company both of whom sold multi-platinum albums under his watch. He then went on to become President of Roadrunner Records overseeing signings like Slipknot and Nickelback. In March 2010 Derek Shulman established a new venture with international music impresario Leonardo Pavkovic called 2PLUS Music & Entertainment.
Gentle Giant—Three Piece Suite is a specially curated selection of songs and compositions from Gentle Giant’s first three albums (Giant, Acquiring the Taste, Three Friends) presented in both 5.1 surround sound and stereo. There are nine tracks from the albums, plus a pre-debut song, remixed by Steven Wilson. The choices were determined by the limited availability of multi-track master tapes from the era. Only a few songs from each album are known to exist as multi-tracks, with the rest presumably lost. For fans of Gentle Giant “Three Piece Suite” is a must have. For fans of great musicianship and progressive rock this is an incredible insight into the earliest days of this legendary band.
Look for the upcoming GENTLE GIANT: THREE PIECE SUITE release on CD, BluRay, and Vinyl on September 29 on SoulFood Music.
Pre-Order Links for Amazon & iTunes are linked on https://lnk.to/GentleGiant_ThreePieceSuite.
For further information visit https://burningshed.com/index.php?_route_=store/gentlegiant/
