Cherry Red RecordsA variety of current and former Yes members are among the guest musicians featured on a just-released collaborative album by ex-King Crimson violinist David Cross and late founding Yes guitarist Peter Banks called Crossover.
The album is the last collection of new material recorded by Banks, who died in 2013 at age 65. He and Cross recorded their parts for the album during a single afternoon of improvisation in August 2010, and the guest artists added their contributions to the record in 2018 and 2019.
Among the musicians featured on Crossover are former Yes keyboardists Tony Kaye and Oliver Wakeman; current Yes keyboardist Geoff Downes, bassist Billy Sherwood and touring drummer Jay Schellen; current King Crimson drummer Pat Mastelotto; and veteran session drummer Jeremy Stacey.
“When I recall the original recording session with Pete, I remember his fresh almost naïve approach, his positive energy and his constant and restless search for something new,” says Cross, who also co-produced Crossover. “It was a joy to know Pete Banks and an honor and a privilege to play with him: I think he would be pleased with the way our album turned out.”
Cross, who played with King Crimson from 1972 to 1974, added about the new record, “[The guest musicians] were asked to ‘interpret the music as freely and creatively as you wish’ and they have turned in incredibly skilled and inspiring performances which were not easy given the improvised nature of the starting material and the spontaneity of the structures.”
Crossover is available on CD, as a digital download and via streaming services.
Here is the album’s full track list:
“Rock to a Hard Place” — featuring Jeremy Stacey, Geoff Downes
“Upshift” — featuring Tony Kaye, Billy Sherwood, Oliver Wakeman, Jay Schellen
“The Smile Frequency” — featuring Randy Raine-Reusch, Oliver Wakeman
“The Work Within” — featuring Andy Jackson
“Missing Time”
“Plasma Drive” — featuring Pat Mastelotto, Billy Sherwood, Oliver Wakeman
“Laughing Strange” — featuring Jeremy Stacey, Tony Kaye
“Crossover”
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