Gryphon

[ragtime]

The first album has some typically quirky adaptations of English folk songs using only acoustic instruments. I really like it. Graeme Taylor plays an acoustic guitar instrumental that is fiendishly clever and lovely (and I still can't play it 🙃. The second album is instrumental music they wrote for a London performance of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. It is also acoustic apart from a newly recruited bass guitarist. They stayed instrumental for the next one with more amplification and prog stylings. After that they had lineup changes and became a bit more focussed on original songs with the drummer (Dave Oberle) taking lead vocals They are all virtuosos on their instruments and have played and still play in multiple acts and styles on multiple instruments. I met Brian Gulland ('the bassoon guy') a couple of years ago at a New Scorpion Band gig. He alerted me to their reunion and new album, Get Out Of My Father's Car! It has a couple of new and younger members now, but the album is, if anything even more quirky, jerky and eclectic than before.

[Roundabob]

I never saw them live, but bought the Red Queen to Gryphon Three album in the mid-seventies, when I read that they were backing up Yes. It is a fantastic album that I listened to regularly in those days. I purchased a few of their albums over the years, and was surprised that some of them contain songs with vocals. . I was under the impression that they were solely an instrumental band. Great players.

[Kathi]

I barely remember Gryphon opening for Yes in 75 in Detroit..but absolutely remembered the bassoon guy wearing elf slippers with bells on the toes..
just got new phone loaded with Spotify (used to Pandora at work) and I clicked a few bands I was interested in and Gryphon started playing a lot....holy crap, the proficiency of the musicians-recorder/flute guy is AMAZING with triple tongue all over the place (I'm still working on double tongue lol)
Sometimes they slip into what feels like spastic jazz (my own genre name lol) but DAMN, they are/were good!!
anyone else have anything on Gryphon? It's kinda weird, but I look forward to working with headphones now..