CONTROLLED AIRSPACE

He's about to embark on Dream Theater's 40th Anniversary Tour, but keyboard maestro Jordan Rudess has taken time out to discuss his soaring new solo album, Permission To Fly.

- Rich Wilson

He tells Prog about defying expectations, teaming up with his linguist daughter and working with That Joe Payne on the project.

Expectations can be misleading. Jordan Rudess is renowned for his dazzling, technical keyboard skills that have been proudly placed under the spotlight on Dream Theater’s albums for the last 25 years, and such skills do, perhaps, lead to assumptions as to the nature of his solo work. There have been releases – such as the blazing Rhythm Of Time – that have contained the type of wonderful bombast that forms the core of his Dream Theater work. Yet, he’s also capable of writing perfectly pitched classical pieces. Returning with Permission To Fly, his intention is somewhat different, with a clear adoption of a song-based approach – augmented by fleeting keyboard gymnastics – that give the new album the aura of a real band.

“That’s awesome to hear because going into this, I wanted to do the coolest thing that would have legs into the future,” says Rudess. “People around me, and also myself, thought I should put together a band project, something I just can carry over. So, that was one of the definite goals. I wanted to create an album that had a good amount of vocal sections in it, unlike some of my solo progressive rock albums, which are usually mostly instrumental. I really wanted to find that balance. I listen to a lot of vocal music and I like music that’s not necessarily so totally insane or crazy too. It was important to find that mix of songs but also contain the ‘Jordan wild madness’.”