GARY MOORE - 1999

Gary Moore was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1952.  His career as a professional musician began at the age of 16, when he joined Dublin based Skid Row, whose singer at the time was Phil Lynott (besinning a liaison which continued on and off until Lynott's untimely death in 1986).  After leaving to form the Gary Moore Band (which toured the US twice and opened for the Allman Brothers Band), Moore played briefly with Thin Lizzy.  Moore was then invoived in the formation of two seminal '70's bands, Colosseum II (jazz-rock fusion) and G-Force (one of the first bands to explore a mixture of heavy metal, soul and funk), and then made two albums with Greg Lake.

His first solo chart hit came with the marvellously atmospheric "Parisienne Walkways", which crashed into the UK singies charts in the Spring of 1979.  The single was characterised by some searing blues-infused guitar soloing, showcasing Moore's incredible use of sustain and controlled feedback.  Moore would consolidate this initial solo success with the Corridors of Power album in 1982.  Thus began a series of hugely successful albums and singles like 'Empty Rooms' and 'Out In The Fields' (the latter a collaboration with Phil Lynott).  At the close of the 80's, Moore explored his Celtic roots with 'Wild Frontier'.

In 1990, Mobre re-discovered one of his early musical inspirations - the Blues.  "I just felt 1 had nothing more to say in heavy rock and I needed a new direction" he observes.  During this phase he worked with such magisterial talents of the genre as BB King, Albert King and Albert Collins, and found in the music a rewarding outlet for his creativity.  Moore's commercially and critically acclaimed blues albums concluded with 'Blues for Greeny', his moving tribute to one of his musical influences and early mentor, Peter Green.

In 1994, Moore joined Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, rhythm section of the legendary Cream, to form BBM and record an album 'Around the Next Dream', thus fulfilling a long-wished for musical expenence.

Then, Gary Moore embarked on arguably his most exciting musical exploration, and assembied a band of world class musicians to work on the album 'Dark Days in Paradise'.  "I found myself being drawn back to a more songorientated style", he said.  "When I made that album, it really felt like starting over.  That album encompassed everything I've ever played." The band toured extensively throughout Europe in 1997.

In January 1998, Gary went into the studio to begin work on material for his forthcoming album "A Different Beat", to be released on the Raw Power label (a division of Castle Music) in September 1999.  The album sees Gary once more pushing at musical barriers, finding adventurous rhythmic frameworks to underpin his ever-incisive, frequently fiery but always soulful guitar playing.  Songs such as the bluesy "Surrender" have echoes of his inspirer Peter Green in the smouldering, emotive lead guitar, and his cover of Jimi Hendrix "Fire" is as incendiary as the title suggests.  There's even a tip of the Moore hat to a latter-day hero in "Fatboy", wherein Gary acknowledges none other than Mr Norman Cook, AKA Fatboy Slim.  Gary has been a fan of Cook's work for a couple of years now, an appreciation that illustrates his open-minded approach to contemporary sounds.

After performing at several festivals in Europe during the Summer of 1999, Gary will embark on a lengthy tour of the UK and the Continent starting mid-October.