Quater Notes

EY Gryphon members Brian Gulland and Richard Harvey attended the Royal College of Music with Rick Wakeman, so they are all good buddies who are being given a boost by the superstars, right? Wrong. Yes, and particularly Wakeman, have pushed other projects in the last few years, all to no avail: the aborted Warhorse, the forgotten Tubes, the forgettable Wally. But their choice of Gryphon to back them up this tour is not a favor but a tribute - and Gryphon damn near blew Yes off the stage.           Gryphon's music was originally a courtly medieval/modern hybrid played by Harvey on four or five keyboards (and as many woodwinds), with Gulland on recorders, crumhorn and bassoon. Their first two albums (imports) gained them a folk following (their final concert number climaxed in a triple-speed version by Harvey of "Sailor's Hornpipe" on Irish generation whistle, while Gulland nearly danced his pantaloons off). But by their third disc, Red Queen to Gryphon Three, their guitarist had bought a Telecaster and fuzzbox, their percussionist had become a drummer, they'd added a bassist, and their sound had ventured somewhat northeast of Jethro Tull.           Gulland in fact resembles Ian Anderson on stage, boogying bearded, barefoot and bathrobed with the unwieldy bassoon tethered to his neck. While he shares the front with Harvey (the performance was all instrumental) his perpetual motion is the jolliest thing to watch and the low-to-extreme-low register of the bassoon is the focal point of the sound. The compositions are not overly complex; they are involving, pleasingly modal and intricately precise. Uncharacteristically for Garden backup acts, Gryphon received - and deserved - a standing ovation. [...] (from The Boston Phoenix, December 24, 1974)

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