For those not in the know, Lyle Workman hasn’t just had a successful career — he’s had three!

As a sideman and first-call session musician, he’s toured and recorded with everyone from Beck and Sting to Frank Black and Todd Rundgren; as a composer for film and television, he’s written music for box office blockbusters that have earned over a billion dollars worldwide, including Superbad, The 40 Year Old Virgin, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall; and as a songwriter and solo artist, he’s written a hit single and earned praise from guitar heroes like Steve Vai and Steve Lukather.

Now, Workman is set to bring all three of his disparate worlds together with Uncommon Measures (releasing February 19th, 2021 via Blue Canoe Records), a simply stunning new instrumental collection featuring a 63-piece orchestra captured live at Abbey Road Studios in London.

1. 'North Star' (9:18)
2. 'All the Colors of the World' (7:25)
3. 'Noble Savage' (4:02)
4. 'Arc of Life' (10:26)
5. 'Imaginary World' (4:29)
6. 'Unsung Hero' (6:08)
7. 'Labyrinth of Love' (2:48)
8. 'Rise and Shine' (4:07)
9. 'Our Friendship' (3:34)

Bursting at the seams with soaring arrangements and virtuosic performances, Uncommon Measures opens on the near-ten minute opus, 'North Star' and never looks back.

That buoyantly memorable work of musical art is then backed by the sedater, more lusciously-woven, and itself near-eight minute long 'All the Colors of the World,' the gently frenetic 'Noble Savage,' and then we get the epic, ten-minute majesty of 'Arc of Life.'

Combining elements of prog, jazz fusion, and romantic classical music with gleeful abandon, next up is one of my own personal favorites here on this new album, the free flowing guitar and horn blend of 'Imaginary World' which is followed seamlessly by much the same in the funky 'Unsung Hero,' with the album rounding out on the yearning ambiance of 'Labyrinth of Love,' the lightly-spirited 'Rise and Shine,' and then closing on the aching prog guitar reach of 'Our Friendship.'

“This record ties together all the different threads of who I am as an artist,” explains Workman. “It was four years in the making due to my film and TV schedule, but it’s really the culmination of a lifetime in music.”

"“I’ve always felt like the muse is much more intuitive and in touch with my emotions than I am,” he continues. “Writing these songs, I tried to just go into this tabula rasa state of mind, a meditative place where I could let the music tell me where to go.”

“If there’s any one thing that ties all of these songs together,” Workman concludes, "it’s the power of expressing yourself at all costs, of free falling into the music with complete abandon."

"When I’m working on a film or someone else’s record, there are always parameters to follow and opinions to consider, but here, there were no boundaries at all. I could do anything I wanted.”

Musicians: Lyle Workman: electric and acoustic guitar, keys; Vinnie Colaiuta: drums on 1,2; Abe Laboriel Jr.: drums on 3; Toss Panos: drums on 4; Donald Barrett: drums on 5, 6; Matt Chamberlain: drums on 8; Tim Lefebvre: bass on 1, 2, 5, 6, 8; Dan Lutz: bass on 4 Sam Wilkes: bass on 3; Jeff Babko: electric piano, organ on 1, 5, 6; Charlie Bisharat: violin on 1, 2, 3; Wade Culbreath: vibes, marimba, glockenspiel on 1, 2, 3; Katisse Buckingham: alto sax on 5, 6; Ron Dziubla: tenor sax on 5, 6; Jamie Hovorka: trumpet on 5, 6; Chris Bleth: oboe, flute, clarinet on 2; and Greg Leisz: pedal steel on 8.

LACHSA Choir: Aleta Braxton (choir master); Skylar Lehr-Bryant; Leilani Patao; Rachel Goodman; Monique Ramirez; and Coco Mori.

Official Purchase Link

www.bluecanoerecords.com

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