Search - Nick Potter :: New Europe / Rainbow Color

Nic Potter Shines

11/15/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Progressive music combines many forms of compositional soundscapescreated within instrumental structures of diverse habitats. Sometimesthese musical canvas's dwell within lyrical/poetical realms, utilizinglanguage as one form of communication, while other forms rely strictlyupon instrumental ingenuity.Nic Potter creates from the later, choosing to insinuate melodicallyintricate and intriguingly delicate states of beauty and insight.Beginning his career at the age of sixteen, Nic joined up with Guy Evans to create one album, 'Golden Glass', and was then introduced to PeterHammill, evolving into the now eternal classic outfit that would becrowned as VDGG. After contributing to two VDGG albums, 'The Least WeCan Do' and 'H to HE', Nic went on to explore other avenues of musicalexpression uniting for a brief period with Rare Bird.Returning to the VDGG fold early in 1977, joining Hammill and Evans on1977's 'The Quiet Zone' and 'Vital'in 1978, Nic continued to tour withHammill and company under the guise of The K Group, as well ascontributing to many of Hammill's solo projects which followed in theyears to come.Nic's first excursion into the solo arena, with the aid of Guy Evans andDavid Jackson, came in the form of 'The Long Hello', an instrumentalvoyage combining further explorations of the VDGG sound in 1975. I canrecall at the time the album being marketed under the VDGG umbrella,perhaps to capture a portion of the VDGG audience, however,'The Long Hello' stood up well on its own. Which brings us to'Rainbow Colors', Nic's 1992 all instrumental extravaganza.By this time Nic had refined his skills as a composer as well asabilities on bass. First impressions by unknowing VDGG fans will reflect, that perhaps,this is a work belonging to the New Age Category, but upon deeper examination one finds an intricate and detailed instrumental narrativeunfolding which lends itself to so much of what made VDGG great.With contributions from David Jackson, flutes & horns, and GuyEvans,drums, much of 'Rainbow Colors' embues a warmth and strength thatfew are able to duplicate at this level of intuitive compositionalability.Opening with 'Flowing River' Jackson's flute embellishments sound likesomething ancient and mysterious. The guitar embellishments of SnowyWhite set this piece alongside VDGG/Pink Floyd, dreamy and melodic.'New Europe' tracks in at a whopping 47:00 minutes with Nic expanding his keyboard monolithic ornate display in phosphorescent radiance, aidedby Jackson and Evans. This track will take a few replays to capture thetrue ambiance created within, but the reward is great.'Power of the Orient' with guitar supplied by John Ellis would fitneatly alongside any of Hammill's current opus's of unearthly forms.Nic Potter with 'Rainbow Colors' has offered up an interesting andintriguing piece of the VDGG/Hammill puzzle. At times stretching thecompositions a bit, wondering into the overshadowing arena of MikeOldfield, However, never detracting from the brilliance and illuminatingbeauty that lurks inside."