OLIVER WAKEMAN

An encounter with his father’s grand piano at the age of four represents Oliver Wakeman’s earliest musical memory. Having managed to play a chord by guess work, he tried and failed to repeat the trick, realising that he would have to learn the instrument properly. Subsequently he has put the combination of musical genes and hard graft to excellent use.

Wakeman came to prominence with 1997’s Heaven’s Isle album. He followed that with a pair of albums with Arena/Pendragon keyboardist Clive Nolan. The 3

Ages Of Magick in 2001 found Wakeman working alongside his father’s sometime Yes bandmate Steve Howe for the first time.

That collaboration proved the catalyst for Wakeman replacing his father in Yes in 2008 and touring extensively with the prog giants before making way for the returning Geoff Downes on 2011’s Fly From Here album. Wakeman Jnr’s involvement with Yes appeared destined to be confined primarily to live performance, as documented on the In The Present – Live From Lyon album, recorded in December 2009.

However, there’s another twist in the convoluted Yes tale. Late 2019 saw the release of From A Page, comprising four splendid tracks initially recorded during 2010, which Wakeman has finalised. Three of those songs are written by Wakeman, while The Gift Of Love is credited to the whole band. From A Page provides a fascinating insight into a bygone Yes era and is a credit to Wakeman’s sometimes overlooked contribution to the band.

Since leaving Yes, Wakeman has recorded and/or toured with the Strawbs, Gordon Giltrap and Magnum artist Rodney Matthews. He’s been involved in readying the album for release, which features material from a recently rediscovered improvised session from 2010 with