Stairway (band)
Encyclopedia
Stairway was an English
New Age
band in the late 1980s.
, drummer-composer Jim McCarty
and guitarist-bassist Louis Cennamo
(McCarty's colleague from Renaissance
) decided to regroup to create music of a healing nature. Both expressed an interest in what is now known as New Age music
, a then-emerging genre characterized by pastoral melodies, gentle shifting textures, echoing ambiances and identification with a growing alternative listening audience.
They subsequently signed with Colin Wilcox of New World Cassettes, a U.K.-based independent label that specialized in "healing music". Consequently McCarty and Cennamo went on to record two albums for the company: Aquamarine (1987) and Moonstone (1988), a mixture of songs and instrumentals. They were joined by keyboardist Clifford White and guest appearances by another Renaissance colleague, vocalist Jane Relf
. These albums were subsequently followed by two albums with the psychologist and spiritual healer, Malcolm Stern: Chakra Dance (1989) and Medicine Dance (1992), which they promoted through a few live performances, mainly at St. James Church in Piccadilly, a video of which is commercially available. Stairway’s New World cassette albums have been re-released on compact disc format. Stairway also resurfaced once more as simply “James McCarty/Louis Cennamo” on Canadian flute player Ron Korb
’s Oasis label, releasing Raindreaming in 1995.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
New Age
New Age music
New Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...
band in the late 1980s.
History
In 1986, after the Yardbirds' reunion project, Box of FrogsBox of Frogs
Box of Frogs was a band formed in 1983 by former members of The Yardbirds, who released their first album in 1984. The core group comprised Chris Dreja, Paul Samwell-Smith, and Jim McCarty...
, drummer-composer Jim McCarty
Jim McCarty
Jim McCarty is an English musician, best known as the drummer for The Yardbirds and Renaissance.-Early life:...
and guitarist-bassist Louis Cennamo
Louis Cennamo
Louis David Cennamo was bass guitarist with an early line up of The Herd, the original line-up of Renaissance and later Colosseum, Steamhammer, Armageddon and Illusion . He also worked with Jim McCarty in Stairway. The song "Bullet", on the first Renaissance album, includes an extended...
(McCarty's colleague from Renaissance
Renaissance (band)
Renaissance are an English progressive rock band, most notable for their 1978 UK top 10 hit "Northern Lights" and progressive rock classics like "Carpet of the Sun", "Mother Russia" and "Ashes Are Burning".-Original incarnation :...
) decided to regroup to create music of a healing nature. Both expressed an interest in what is now known as New Age music
New Age music
New Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...
, a then-emerging genre characterized by pastoral melodies, gentle shifting textures, echoing ambiances and identification with a growing alternative listening audience.
They subsequently signed with Colin Wilcox of New World Cassettes, a U.K.-based independent label that specialized in "healing music". Consequently McCarty and Cennamo went on to record two albums for the company: Aquamarine (1987) and Moonstone (1988), a mixture of songs and instrumentals. They were joined by keyboardist Clifford White and guest appearances by another Renaissance colleague, vocalist Jane Relf
Jane Relf
Jane Relf is the younger sister of Keith Relf of the Yardbirds. After the Yardbirds disbanded, Keith formed Renaissance and Jane joined on vocals. After Keith's death the surviving members of Renaissance reformed as Illusion, under which name they recorded two albums with Jane's vocals to the fore...
. These albums were subsequently followed by two albums with the psychologist and spiritual healer, Malcolm Stern: Chakra Dance (1989) and Medicine Dance (1992), which they promoted through a few live performances, mainly at St. James Church in Piccadilly, a video of which is commercially available. Stairway’s New World cassette albums have been re-released on compact disc format. Stairway also resurfaced once more as simply “James McCarty/Louis Cennamo” on Canadian flute player Ron Korb
Ron Korb
Ron Korb is a Canadian flautist, composer, songwriter, and record producer, from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is also known as Dragon Flute in China, Thunder Blessing in Taiwan and Prince of Flutes in Japan-Musical style:Korb is known for writing culturally diverse...
’s Oasis label, releasing Raindreaming in 1995.
Discography
(Note: In the Stairway albums, Louis Cennamo re-spelled his name as “Loui”, reportedly his attempt to avert it being mispronounced as “Lewis” by their American listeners.)Chronological releases
- Aquamarine (1987)
- Moonstone (1988)
- Chakra Dance (1989)
- Medicine Dance (1992)
- Raindreaming (1995)
External links
- http://www.prologue.be/discographie/stairway.htm - Stairway's Discography (French)
- http://www.newworldmusic.com/us/section.php?xSec=114 - Stairway albums
- http://www.nlightsweb.com/lib/reviews/mccarty.htm - An Interview with Jim McCarty
- http://members.tripod.com/cathead9tx/id34.htm - The Yardbirds offshoots