gong
random notes

info from marc de bruyn on "the family jewels":
the following can be found at: http://www.sonnet.co.uk/gong-gas/info/re_gas.htm

this double cd is a celebration of gong in the present. it's an ultimate collection of where gong are individually and collectively right now. the seed for this release was planted by shawn ahearn (who as pangea music master-minded the gong us and japanese tours). there was a need for a cd that touched on the many sides of gong, especially as we started to tour in areas of the world where people only knew of the trilogy albums and little else. so this little gem is the result.
all the musicians who have played regularly in gong over the past 3/4 years have chosen tracks that they think best represent what they bring to the mothership. these have been compiled by daevid, who has a genius for such things, at harry williamson's studio in australia. the result is a widely diverse yet harmonious flow of music that perfectly captures the many elements that go to make up gong, opens your heart and makes you smile.
you will know some of the material on this album, but even if you had brought all the gong related cds for the past 10 years there are still 12 of the 22 tracks you won't have heard. if you only have brought a few gong family cds in that time here is an ideal way to sample some of the beautiful hidden valleys you may have overlooked on planet gong.
there are un-released cuts from pip pyle's seven year itch cd and daevid's jazz album. both featuring a host of master musicians (see 'in the studio' for details). daevid pops up all over the place including on a new studio track 'farewell flagship' with rob calvert of mothergong. there are tracks from pierre moerlen's gong and one of him playing zappa with a big jazz band! didier's tracks are from hadouk, zeff and fluvius. steffe's from even as we-glo. gilli, who also contributed to the glo tracks, is on 'cyberwhale', composed with orlando, and on the stroking the tail of the bird. mike's track was written with ben hoffnung, son of the famous humourous musical observer. and representing the gong band all together are five live tracks from the 97' uk tour, which by general consensus is maybe the best version of the band ever.
the cover is a classic (only part of which can be see above) full colour 'gong' illustration by daevid, one of the very best he has ever been inspired to paint. so good in fact that we may print up it as a poster. and i always wondered why the number of infinity wasn't used in the gas cd numbering system, it was being saved for this wonderful album.