Watch Steve Howe’s ‘Leaving Aurora’ Duet Video With Late Son
Yes guitarist Steve Howe has released a video for “Leaving Aurora,” a track he recorded with his late son Virgil, which appears on their new album Nexus. The LP arrives on Nov. 17, two months after the sudden death of Virgil at the age of 41. You can watch the video above.
Steve Howe decided it was important to complete the release process. “Virgil and I had only recently completed recording Nexus, which contains 11 of his tunes to which I added a guitar to suit each one,” he said in a recent statement. “We started to work together in 2016 by selecting about nine tunes from his ‘stockpile’ of piano-based music. … I began adding guitars to them, then I’d play them to Virgil. He’d then surprise me by bringing up other channels of instrumentation which I’d never heard. The tunes went from straightforward ‘duets’ to something bigger and better – more of a complete picture than a mere shape.”
Howe noted that Nexus "explores a completely different side of Virgil’s ability, as a writer and keyboard player in his own right. His talents were multi-diverse, so sitting at a keyboard and computer or in the middle of his drum kit, at all his regular DJing gigs or on the radio, he always gave his best. We hope that the music just completed will stand as a fitting tribute to his life and legacy.”
The duo's record company boss, Thomas Waber, and product manager, Stefan Franke, said in a press release that "the sudden passing of Virgil Howe deeply shocked the entire InsideOutMusic team, as it happened just a few hours after he had approved the first press release about Nexus. It was supposed to be a new beginning for an exciting musical collaboration – but now it has become one of the saddest albums we have ever worked on. We left the decision over the release of Nexus up to Steve, and respect his wish to continue as originally discussed. Being fathers too, we can only guess how hard it must be to deal with such a loss, and we sincerely hope you will all enjoy Nexus despite the circumstances under which it is coming out.”
Virgil & Steve Howe, 'Nexus' Track Listing
1. “Nexus”
2. “Hidden Planet”
3. “Leaving Aurora”
4. “Nick’s Star”
5. “Night Hawk”
6. “Moon Rising”
7. “Passing Titan”
8. “Dawn Mission”
9. “Astral Plane”
10. “Infinite Space”
11. “Freefall”