The only deluxe book-set to not only chronicle but also celebrate Chris Wood’s life in music – from co-founding Traffic to his many collaborations with the likes of John Martyn, The Wailers’ Tyrone Downie, Nick Drake, Free as well as his own solo work.
Issued in 2017 as a lavishly illustrated 212-page hardback book with over 420 images – the majority of which had not been seen before – Evening Blue included 4CDs and Chris’s long thought lost solo LP; the original ¼” masters were discovered by chance in an outbuilding in the West of England during spring 2013 and they became the vinyl bedrock to the edition.
The text was abridged and edited by Neil Storey from Dan Ropek’s biography of Chris which included interviews with the late Paul Medcalf and Jim Capaldi – as well as a number of of Chris’s friends and musical colleagues.
HiddenMasters also featured exclusive interviews with Steph Wood and Anna Capaldi-Gilbey; studio engineers Terry Barham and Brian Humphries; musicians Mike Kellie, Dick Cuthell, Steve Winwood, Poli Palmer, Pete Bonas, Maps (James Chapman), Gordon Jackson, Jess Roden, Bobby Whitlock, Shawn Phillips and others as well as photographers Brian Cooke, Barrie Wentzell, Gered Mankowitz, Dina Regine, Dan Cuny, David Miller, Richard Keith Wolff alongside Muscle Shoals Swampers’ David Hood and Charles Rose.
The 4 CDs included music drawn from Chris’s entire career as well as his solo recordings. Also featured are alternate takes and mixes together with previously unheard compositions and never-before-heard home demos and other sketches.
There is music from Traffic as well as recordings by Gordon Jackson, John Martyn, Dave Mason, Jim Capaldi, Bobby Whitlock, Airforce, Martha Velez, Nick Drake, Shawn Phillips and others.
Evening Blue also featured Chris’s previously unheard collaborative work with The Wailers’ keyboard player, Tyrone Downie as well as Rebop Kwaku Baah, Remi Kabaka, The Sky, Dr John and Jeanette Jacobs.
Tracks from the only known-to-survive recordings by the short-lived Mason, Capaldi, Wood & Frog line-up were also included – as is a brand new 2015 collaboration with Maps featuring Chris Wood.
Over half the music featured on Evening Blue had never been heard before. And, other than in three instances (where the analog reels no longer exist), all recordings were sourced from the original 2″ and 1″ multitracks or ¼” masters and cassettes captured at 24bit/96Khz.
The set was mastered by Richard Whittaker at FX Mastering in London – the CDs at 16bit/44.1Khz and the vinyl at 24bit/48Khz.
Critically lauded around the world, Evening Blue was issued as a limited edition of 1000 numbered copies on February 3, 2017 and curated in close collaboration with Steph Wood who administers her brother’s estate.
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