European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 26, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Former deep purple Lead Singer Ian Gillan has released a Solo album a naked Thunder. Ian Gillan life after purple Yanit Gosch staff writer etting fired from a band can i Dampen anyone a spirit a particularly if you Geff ired from a band whose i successful reunion you helped orchestrate. But when Singer Ian Gillan found himself ousted from deep purple a the legendary 70s British hard Rock group that reunited in 1984 a he did t Wallow in self pity. Instead he saw it As a Chance to Start new and with a clean slate. Quot i think maybe in be reached the state that in be always dreamed of terminal Unash inability Quot Gillan said in an interview last week in Frankfurt West Germany. Quot fashion if you get caught up in it is pretty much a death sentence. You re trapped in that identity for the rest of your life. In be put so Many Miles under my Belt its encouraging insofar As everyone knows in a not searching to be a Jason Donovan Quot he said referring to the latest teen pop idol. Quot its really a very Good feeling because i can focus All my energies on just being  Gillan got right to work on his Solo career. His album naked Thunder was released in Europe in july just 15 months after he received the Pink slip from purple. He a been on the Road since May having kicked off his tour in the soviet Union. Freed from what he Calls the Quot restrictions and responsibilities of the image of purple Quot Gillan says naked Thunder represents an amalgam of the music styles he enjoys a Rock a no Roll blues Funk and soul. The album has such rockers As gut reaction ballads like Loving on borrowed time and a rendition of the pre blues song no More Cane on the Brazos a Field lament about the forced migration of former slaves to the North after the sugar plantations in the South dried up. Quot interestingly enough Quot Gillan said Quot we re witnessing exactly the same thing now in Brazil and other parts of the world. Musically the song is important since blues is an important part of Rock music. Lyrically its a message we should never forget but we always seem  Gillan is unsure Why he was fired from deep purple but it seems the infamous Quot personal differences that have broken up Many bands played a role. Quot i would guess it s because i was becoming too troublesome Quot he said. Quot i have this weird theory that if you re a musician you should be doing concerts and making records and things like that. You should actually be  while Gillan was anxious to work he said his band mates in purple preferred to play. There also were problems with purple Lead guitarist Ritchie Blackmore a problems that apparently run so deep that Gillan refuses to mention his name. A a purple is pretty much a one Man band Quot he said. Quot the guitar player is a very insecure sort of Guy. It manifests itself in a Way in that if anyone other than him has the dominant role in the band he gets really edgy. As soon As anyone starts taking his spotlight he does no to want him in the band  in concert Gillan performs several purple classics including the 1973 hit smoke on the water 1970�?Ts Speed King and knocking at your Back door from the reunion album perfect strangers. Quot in a a big deep purple fan Quot Gillan said. Quot so in be chosen the songs that i think As a fan i would like to hear not specifically the ones that i would like to  Gillans plans for the future go As far As Christmas when he wraps up his european tour. After that he said he May tour the United states or the far East or he May accept an offer to do a movie in Australia. One thing he a sure about is that musically it will be a Tough Road to travel. Quot its very difficult to get Young people excited about a 45-year-old Guy. Maybe they will maybe they wont. If they done to now maybe they will later Quot he said. Quot in the meantime in be got the whole world to tour. I m starting again basically. Its a Little late but no  what s whats not Harr Connick or. Trio a lefty s Roach souffle Harr Connick or. A we Are in love Here Are two very different sides of Harry Connick jr., the hip budding matinee idol pianist Singer and Young Frank Sinatra for the �?T90s whose career took off last year because of his soundtrack work on when Harry met Sally. Lefty s Roach souffle is an instrumental session a with his regular band mates bassist Ben Wolfe and drummer Shannon Powell a that mostly sounds like a tip of the hat to thelonious Monk. All of the songs Are Connick a and most have the Odd rhythms angular melodies and spare phrasing Monk was famous for. One tune lonely Side derives from the new Orleans song St. James infirmary. Aside from the Snappy Bayou Maharaja there is Little of the rollicking Crescent City keyboard style with which Connick 22, first made his Mark. The most interesting track is the Wistful and introspective Little dancing girl. The Romance album has some cute world War ii Vintage big band Schmaltz but suffers from the same musical malady Connick does when he is joined by a full orchestra he coasts As a player and his passable voice does no to compensate. His version of the Chestnut a Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square is so horrid not even Branford Marsalis s Tenor sax accompaniment can Rescue it. A Ken franckling up Colin James a sudden Stop Colin James voice could use a Little seasoning but his guitar work is advanced Well beyond his 25 years melding Rock and blues much like his one time Patron the late Stevie Ray Vaughan and another Canadian guitar Ace Jeff Healey. On sudden Stop James struts his versatility opening with a snatch of Robert Johnson and then charging through blues hard Rock a bit of jazz and even a tinge of reggae on give it up a duet with Bonnie Raitt. For trouble and just one love Are Sassy kicking numbers in the style of a top which is no coincidence since the top a producer Joe Hardy handles this record. Crazy Over you features Nice jazz blues guitar but James vocals Aren t quite convincing enough. That s a minor quibble considering the Energy that bubbles through the album. William c. Trott up trouble a trouble trouble does no to wish to be known As a Quot Christian Quot band. Unlike those Candy pants crusaders Striper trouble is uninterested in commercializing its religious beliefs. Guitarist Rick Wartell puts it this Way Quot sides Are being chosen in Metal. You re sex violence satanism or they Call you Christian. But we re not preachers. We re just a positive Rock a no Roll band. In the 60s, they would be called us  no they probably would be called them  trouble comes Down firmly against drugs As on . Eternal narcotic depression. Singer Eric Wagner admits previous drug problems inspired Many of the lyrics. Musically trouble recalls Vintage Black Sabbath with Trace elements of Pink Floyd and Robin Trower. Like Sabbath in the Days of Yore trouble delivers thoroughly jarring subsonic crunch. What sets trouble apart is its ability to paradoxically infuse an optimism to some of the toughest heaviest Metal Ever heard. Troubles release recalls the mid-�?T70s in feel and execution. One of the Halcyon periods of Metal this was Well before the record companies realized the marketability of Metal. A spirit of experimentation and integrity was More prevalent than now. Trouble is one of the few shining examples of this spirit today. A John c. Evosevic Scripps Howard los Lobos the neighbourhood thanks to Spanish language efforts like la Bamba and la  a lot of listeners thin of los Lobos As hispanic rockers. Think again. As the roots diversity of the neighbourhood makes Plain los Lobos is at Home with a multitude of musical styles from the snarling blues of i walk alone to the country stomp of deep dark Hole to the cajun two step of the giving tree. In other words the bands music in t mexican american Rock it s just american. A . Considine Baltimore Sun wednesday september 26, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 17