Albarn busy on many musical fronts
Reuters, Nov 17, 2006 7:31 pm PSTNot content with having two successful
bands in Blur and Gorillaz, vocalist Damon Albarn has four new
projects under way.
On October 26, Albarn premiered the album "The Good, the Bad and the Queen" live at London's newly reopened Roundhouse. His band included former Clash bassist Paul Simonon, ex-Verve guitarist Simon Tong and Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen. Although Albarn insists the quartet has no name, its album is due internationally in January on Honest Jon's Records/Parlophone/EMI.
The following day, Albarn flew to Algiers, where he spent three days producing Algerian group El Gusto for an album due on his own Honest Jon's label in spring 2007.
Returning to London, Albarn said he had to knuckle down to a December deadline for completing an operatic score for "Monkey: Journey to the West." Based on an ancient Chinese legend, the piece is scheduled to premiere at the Manchester International Festival of Arts (June 28-July 15, 2007).
The singer also is working on a feature-length Gorillaz film with former "Monty Python's Flying Circus" animator Terry Gilliam. "The one thing I never want to be guilty of," Albarn said, "is repeating myself."
Reuters/Billboard
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