Sky 3

Herbie Flowers Bass,Tuba	John Williams Guitars	Steve Gray Keyboards	Kevin Peek Guitars	Tristan Fry Percussion Waterphone

Released: March 1981

Peak position in UK charts: 8 (May 1981)

Availability: Sky 3 was released on CD in 1993 on the Music Club budget label in the UK and Europe. It is hardly surprising that, 10 years later, it is now out of print and not available in shops. It is generally fairly easy to find on eBay even if listed as "rare".

In the meantime, click on the track title to hear/download an MP3 sample from the track (roughly one minute in all cases). I don't include the full tracks for a multitude of reasons, and never will.

Short Review:Made shortly after Francis Monkman's replacement by Steve Gray, this album was an indication of things to come: fewer serious weighty pieces and more of a jazz feel and sound, obvious from the first few tracks. The highlights are those pieces which would remain in Sky's repertoire for the remainder of their performing career, namely Hello (Steve's turn at the simple tune), Meheeco and Westwind. Dance Of the Big Fairies, as the name indicates, was a bit of silliness, and John proves himselves a fine arranger for this particular combo with his take on Handel. Agree? Disagree? Have your say in the Forum!