The passing of bassist Chris Squire on June 27, 2015, means there are no longer any original members left in Yes. With Squire and original guitarist Peter Banks, who died in 2013, gone that leaves original drummer Bill Bruford (more or less retired), original keyboardist Tony Kaye (doing sessions), and the band’s guiding light and spiritual avatar, original singer Jon Anderson. Followers of Yes are well aware of how Anderson was unceremoniously shown the door in 2008 after he became ill. Those who have been paying close attention know the singer made a successful recovery and has gone on to pursue numerous musical projects, ranging from elaborate solo pieces to collaborations with orchestras, bands and his old Yes bandmate Rick Wakeman.
Anderson is now back to fronting a band, this time with renowned violinist Jean-Luc Ponty at his side. The AndersonPonty Band sprouted up when Anderson added lyrics and melodies to some of Ponty’s most revered pieces. Together, the two with Ponty’s band developed the music further for a show that also included some Yes music, along with other excursions the players cooked up from the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Frank Zappa violinist’s extensive catalog. Watching the Better Late Than Never DVD from that 2014 show in Aspen, Colorado, you can see how excited and passionate Anderson was and still is about performing. His voice is stronger, more radiant, unique, another instrument added to the mix.
A year later, with Better Late Than Never released, the AndersonPonty Band have taken their show on the road with a 16-date fall tour and more to follow in 2016. In the interview the singer and I did, we get into how he and Jean-Luc Ponty got together, what developed from there, how the songs were arranged and played, the show they did in Aspen and going forward from there. And, of course, we talked about Yes and his relationship with the late Chris Squire. Anderson told me Yes is more of an idea than a band; an idea he still represents even though he’s with the actual band. How can anyone possibly disagree with the man who’s created great Yes classics like “I’ve Seen All Good People,” “Roundabout,” and “Awaken”? Those and many other songs are what Yes built their legacy on. For Anderson, it really comes down to the music; for him, the whole process of creating beautiful music is pretty much what life is all about. I’m sure few would argue with that assessment.
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