Various

The Official Keith Emerson Tribute Concert

Honouring the late enigma.

It speaks volumes that while at home in the UK keyboard player Keith Emerson was regarded as a washed-up prog rocker, in the US he remained a seminal figure. So Los Angeles was the right place to pay homage to a man whose prodigious talent was eclipsed only by his penchant for special effects.

But there wasn’t an armoured armadillo or a revolving piano in sight when most of Toto, a phalanx of drummers headed by Vinnie Colaiutta, and a bunch of top-notch rock and jazz musicians including keyboard players Brian Auger and Eddie Jobson, in various permutations, revelled in some of Emerson’s most fiendish compositions and arrangements. Highlights of this DVD/CD package include guitarist Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter in full-on ‘yee-hah’ mode on Hoedown, Dream Theater’s Jason Rudess immersing himself in Tarkus, and jazz pianist Rachel Flowers being emotionally overwhelmed after tackling The Endless Enigma (you’ll need the DVD to appreciate that). ■■■■■■■■■■