Spoiler alert: There’s not an electric guitar to be found on Renaissance’s ‘Scheherazade and Other Stories.’ But that is a big part of the charm.

Renaissance celebrates their 50th anniversary during a concert filled with resurrected beauty, symphonic-prog intellect, and a few ghosts.

Here’s a Best of 2019 list featuring favorites from this year’s new releases – along with some albums that were just new to me.

Renaissance’s Grandine il Vento won’t simply be Annie Haslam’s final collaboration with Michael Dunford. The forthcoming studio project is also a long-awaited reunion with former touring mate John Wetton. You May Also Like: Renaissance – ’50th Anniversary: Ashes Are Burning – An Anthology’ (2021)

Released just after the death of Michael Dunford, Renaissance’s “Cry to the World” is as gorgeous as I expected it to be sad.

Drummer Jim McCarty, who has participated in all of the Yardbirds’ many Rock and Roll Hall of Fame incarnations, stops by for a chat.

Renaissance has completed sessions for its forthcoming release Grandine il Vento, the pioneering prog-rock band’s initial studio project in 12 years. Recording at Ridgewood, New Jersey’s Studio X, the album was produced by band members Rave Tesar and Annie Haslem You May Also Like: Renaissance – ‘Scheherazade and Other Stories’Read More

Prog-rock vets Renaissance — led by vocalist/lyricist Annie Haslam and guitarist/composer Michael Dunford — have returned with a new live album, a series of fall concert dates and a planned studio project. You May Also Like: Renaissance – ’50th Anniversary: Ashes Are Burning – An Anthology’ (2021) Renaissance – ‘ScheherazadeRead More