Hugh Banton
Hugh Banton (born April 1949 in Yeovil , Somerset ) is a British organist and digital organ builder . He is known as a member of the art rock band Van der Graaf Generator (VdGG).
Life
Hugh Robert Banton's musical career began playing the piano at the age of four before continuing to study classical organ with Percy Saunders at Wakefield Cathedral in the 1960s . After school, he was able to deepen another hobby - his interest in electronics - while training to become a television technician at the BBC . In 1968 he became a member of the Van der Graaf Generator band as organist and keyboardist . In 1976 he ended his cooperation with VdGG and worked at Makin Organs Ltd. in the development and construction of electronic organs - from 1988 until his retirement as technical director in 1992. In February 1992 he founded his own company "The Organ Workshop", with which he has been building and installing electronic organs ever since. A specialty is the production of hybrid organs, in which traditional, wind-blown organ pipes are supplemented by digital registers.
In 2005, after a 27-year hiatus, Van der Graaf Generator was re-formed in the classic line-up with Peter Hammill , David Jackson , Guy Evans and Hugh Banton. Since then - after David Jackson left as a trio in 2008 - the band has released several new studio albums and live recordings and has given concerts. In addition to his band activities, Hugh Banton has recorded two albums with classical organ music ( Goldberg Variations by Johann Sebastian Bach and The Planets by Gustav Holst ).
Discography
solo
- 1973 - The Long Hello (together with Guy Evans, David Jackson and Nic Potter )
- 1985 - Gentlemen Prefer Blues (with Guy Evans and David Jackson)
- 2003 - Johann Sebastian Bach - The Goldberg Variations BWV 988
- 2009 - Gustav Holst - The Planets
Van der Graaf generator
- 1969 - The Aerosol Gray Machine
- 1970 - The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other
- 1970 - H to He, Who Am the Only One
- 1971 - Pawn Hearts
- 1975 - Godbluff
- 1976 - Still Life
- 1976 - World Record
- 1982 - Time Vaults (demos made between Pawn Hearts and Godbluff)
- 1994 - Maida Vale. BBC Radio Sessions (recordings from 1971-75)
- 2000 - The Box (compilation)
- 2005 - Present
- 2007 - Real Time (live recordings from 2005)
- 2008 - Trisector
- 2009 - Live At The Paradiso (live recordings from 2007)
- 2011 - A Grounding in Numbers
- 2012 - OLD
- 2016 - Do Not Disturb
Collaborations
- 1971 - Fool's Mate (album by Peter Hammill)
- 1973 - Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night (album by Peter Hammill)
- 1974 - The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage (album by Peter Hammill)
- 1975 - Nadir's Big Chance (album by Peter Hammill)
- 1975 - Psi-Fi (album by Seventh Wave)
- 1985 - Skin (album by Peter Hammill)
- 1996 - The Corner of My Room (album by Parallel or 90 Degrees)
- 1997 Everyone You Hold (album by Peter Hammill)
- 1997 - The Union Chapel Concert (album by Guy Evans and Peter Hammill)
- 2000 - Curly's Airships (album by Chris Judge Smith )
- 2013 - Gridlock (album by Mr. Averell)
Web links
- Hugh Banton on the Van der Graaf Generator fansite
- Hugh Banton on sofa sound
- The Goldberg Variations, The Planets at The Organ Workshop
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tim Locke: The Hugh Banton Interview. In: VanDerGraafGenerator.co.uk. October 5, 2001, accessed October 8, 2018 .
- ↑ Hugh Banton: Makin Organs History 1972-1992. (PDF) In: OrganWorkshop.co.uk. January 2015, accessed October 8, 2018 .
- ^ The Organ Workshop homepage. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Banton, Hugh |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British organist and digital organ builder |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 1949 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Yeovil , Somerset |