The original Northwind band was founded in 1968 by Roland Ernest and Jan Stepka. They were inspired originally by bands such as the Doors, Cream, the Moody Blues, the Beatles, and Procol Harum. Northwind was later heavily influenced by ELP, Yes, King Crimson, and Genesis.
The band went through four membership changes. The first incarnation had drummer Steve White. In 1970 they created and performed an original rock opera entitled “Looking Back.” In 1972 they recorded an untitled demo album featuring the song “Last Day at Lokun.” Tom Iacaboni replaced Steve White on drums when Steve left the band to pursue the guitar.
In 1974 Tom, Jan and Roland recorded the world famous (in collectors' circles) Northwind demo album in Roland's family's basement. This album is often erroneously referred to as “Woods of Zandor”.
Tom was at heart a jazz drummer, and when he left Tim Cahill joined on drums and percussion. For a short period, Bob Pascoe contributed his rock guitar to Northwind's sound. Northwind then performed mostly in clubs and created a reputation in Canada. This period largely had the band playing covers of other rock bands' material. In 1977 returning to original music, Roland took over guitars and the band added the talents of Rob Foster on wind instruments. In 1978 the band recorded their magnum opus “Distant Shores” in Roland's family's basement in Sterling Heights, Michigan. One song, “Just Yesterday,” was released as part of a local radio station's compilation of Detroit area bands' music entitled “Home Grown”. Tim Cahill's religious calling conflicted with his perception of the rock and roll lifestyle leading him to leave secular musical performing. Howard Wells joined the band on drums and percussion for rehearsals while Roland and the band's manager Ron Geddish vainly persued a record contract. Northwind broke up in 1978 largely because of this failure.
This album features long tracks with swirling keys, lenghty choppy guitar solos, floating harmonies, good guitar textures throughout with a good mix of heavy electric leads and delicate acoustic stretches.
Last Day At Lokun (1972)
Track list:
1. Waited Long Enough (06:00)
2. Green Hills of Earth (06:42)
3. Autumn's Song (07:43)
4. DASC (04:43)
5. Remember the Rain (06:17)
6. Last Day at Lokun (10:07)
Musicians:
Roland Ernest / Vocals, guitars, composer
Steve White / Drums and percussion
Jan Stepka / Keyboards, back vocals
This was recorded at Oakland University on a two track tape, mixed to one track as a demo. There was a limited vinyl pressing (500 copies). The music here was ripped from an acetate pressing that degrades on every playing and suffers from noise.
The music still serves to show what Northwind did in the beginning, and the track "Last Day at Lokun" is one of the best Northwind songs written.
Northwind (Woods Of Zandor) (1974)
Side A
A1. Live (03:39)
A2. Nightmares (03:47)
A3. Zandor (06:56)
Side B
B1. Some Other Way (03:31)
B2. Aftermath (08:54)
Musicians:
Roland Ernest - Vocals, guitars, bass
Jan Stepka - Keyboards
Tom Iacaboni - Drums, Percussion
From what I understand, this is a demo from a 70s group which never really got off of the ground. Thanks to the internet, however, they've been able to distribute this recording, which is, if nothing else, an interesting listen and something of a time capsule. Northwind plays a very folky kind of rock music that obviously has a lot of influence from the prog bands of the day. Throughout this release I can hear shades of almost every 'big' prog band of the seventies, with nods to Genesis, Yes, and King Crimson pervading the album.
'Live' begins with an acoustic/electric guitar duet that sounds to me to be fairly reminiscent of some Allman Brothers work, of all things. Some nice vocal harmonies enter fairly quickly, but there's not really a whole lot else to the song. A pleasant bass part and some nice guitar fills round out the sound and it's a fine listen if nothing particularly special.
'Nightmares' begins with a more uptempo guitar part, and on the whole it's a pretty similar song to 'Live.' Good vocal melodies and interesting if not particularly complicated instrumental parts. 'Nightmares' does improve over 'Live' by adding a couple of instrumental breaks and some interesting syncopated vocals that are at least reminiscent of, if far simpler than, Gentle Giant. As for the overall sound of the track, Crosby, Stills and Nash wouldn't be a bad comparison, with the folky melodies and pervasive vocal harmonies recalling the work of that band.
'Zandor' begins with a more driving bass line that sounds a bit like latter day Zeppelin. Vocals enter quickly and the song takes on an epic, western feel that's undercut slightly by some rather dated synth sounds. This song really shows a lot of the band's influences, with sections that bring to mind Genesis, Rush, and the aforementioned Led Zeppelin without ever managing to reach the sophistication of any of those bands' work. Nonetheless, it's a fun listen and it makes one wonder what this band could have done if they had ever gotten their big break and moved beyond demos. The rather cheesy synths return for a still enjoyable final instrumental which closes out the track.
'Some Other Way' begins with a classical guitar part before launching into a vocal section that sounds a bit like a folkier Wishbone Ash. A nice guitar solo breaks the otherwise acoustic folky feeling of the track. This album really does have some great vocal melodies and harmonies, a trend which perhaps even reaches its apex on this track.
'Aftermath' is the final track here and probably the proggiest as well. Beginning with an epic guitar-backed-by-organ intro section, the song transitions into a keyboard solo that sounds like a harpsichord. Vocals enter soon after, with crystal clear tone and a rather delicate delivery that really highlight the strength of the vocalist. The track gets a bit heavier after that, and another good guitar solo appears before vocals re-enter. The first theme is repeated before the track switches gears, going into an extended instrumental section before vocals return. 'Aftermath' reminds me quite a bit of early King Crimson, with the dramatic vocals highly reminiscent of 'Epitaph' or 'The Court of The Crimson King.' While 'Aftermath' is certainly not as polished as any of the 'big' bands of the era, it's still a fine epic and a fun listen.
When listening to this album I often got the feeling that the music was reminding me very strongly of another band, but for the life of me I couldn't pin down what it was. I suspect it's a result of the blend of influences that pretty obviously permeate this recording. It should come as no surprise that this obviously doesn't measure up to any of the big recordings of the 70s, but it's interesting to hear this release almost 40 years after it was recorded from an up-and- coming prog band that never quite got there. Not a necessary listen by any means but a lot of fun. progarchives
Distant Shores (1978)
Track list:
1. The Sentient Man (07:45)
2. Stepping Softly (03:21)
3. When Dreams Are Lost (06:48)
4. Pretty Face ( Your'e Just Another) (03:52)
5. Silly Little Will (06:40)
6. Jamaica (03:12)
7. Where To Now? (09:36)
8. Just Yesterday (03:15)
9. As It Stands (05:26)
10. Distant Shores (08:49)
Musicians:
Roland Ernest - Guitar, Keyboards and Vocals
Jan Stepka - Keyboards
Rob Foster - Winds
Howard Wells/Tim Cahill - Drums, Percussion 7 Vibes
Releases information
Demo, no official releases and Vinyl LP
Distant Shores is the best work by Northwind.
The first track The Sentient Man is probably not the easiest entry to Northwind music. It's long and complicated.
Of the pieces on this album, I recommend listening to Stepping Softly before deciding whether you like Northwind or not. Jan Stepka
On Distant Shores, one hears an American band who sound astonishingly like an English prog band. Or better yet - like many English Prog bands. You will not hear any hints of Kansas or Styx here - there is no sense of American prog or AOR in any of this music. My summary line is that Distant Shores is an excellent album that should not be missed.
Northwinds are a late sixties band whose initial inspiration came from the major bands (pop and rock) of the day. As the early 70's progressed the band moved towards the progressive side of the field - bringing in influences from Yes, Genesis, ELP, Gryphon, and perhaps a bit of jam from a kind of mixture of the Dutch band Solution with the Finnish band Wigwam. In 1972 and 1974 the band recorded demo albums - the later is sometimes referred to by the title Woods of Zandor. But bills had to be paid and the band moved on to jobbing and playing covers. Numerous personel changes and and the failure to get a recording contract resulted in the band breaking up by 1978.
Distant Shores was recorded prior to this break-up in 1977 in the basement of the family of member Roland Ernest's basement studio. This music can be downloaded from the band's web site. Since you're not currently able to buy this music at any store - these are the higest quality files you will come across.
The music here - contains sounds that bring to mind Yes, Jethro Tull (from both the Passion Play and Song from the Woods era), Gryphon, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Genesis (Gabriel-era) and, frankly, many others (for example the track 'Silly Little Will' has the hints of that cool keyboard movement found in Stevie Wonder's Superstition but without the funk and wrapped into a prog jacket).
It is cool to hear such a diversity of influences yet have the music come out as a smoothly flowing whole. It is not just cool - it is a very rare event - something only the best prog bands have ever pulled off successfully. The music never has a hard-rock feel but it does jam. Distant Shores draws in seemlessly all the progressive elements of the aformentioned bands which means that it does in fact rock.
Playing the whole album through is what transforms the songs that are good to very good and those that are very good transform to excellent. When I consider of all the music out in 1977/78 I must rank this one of the years finest releases. This is the kind of music that drew me to prog in the first place and prog fans should should definately seek out Distant Shores. It is a fine document of mid-70's prog and will stick on your player for many replays. It's worth paying for but it won't cost you a dime! DBSilver
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