DT's Three Keyboardists - a balanced discussion

[Samsara]

I've been going back through the DT catalog over recent weeks after not listening to the band all that much for about a year (ever since the great Warfield Theater gig in 2011). One thing that struck me was just how different all three keyboardists are in style and what they bring to the band and how that has shaped the band's evolution.

With Kevin Moore, you got a player that could solo really well and trade off with JP, but his basic tenet was to provide atmosphere and mood to what JP was coming up with riff-wise. And of course, Kevin came up with his own riffs on the keyboard. One thing he supplied that his later counterparts didn't is lyrics and vocal melodies.

When he left and Derek jumped ink, Derek provided a more Jon Lord-influenced sound. Unfortunately, since his tenure was rather short lived in the band, we only have one full album, an EP and live recordings to really consider. But I think FII shows a keyboardist that is more content to play for the song. He provided atmosphere as well, but I think his playing (and again, it could be because it was FII, which tried a more song-based approach in its final version) really served as a complimentary piece at most times.

Jordan shook everything up. Once Jordan got on board, he was the keyboard equivalent to JP. Fierce solos, tones that stood out and some crazy licks on the keys. I think he took DT to the next level, technically-speaking.

Whereas Kevin and Derek provided really good atmosphere, Jordan was less on atmosphere and more on expanding the lead role of a keyboard within the structure of a song. And given JR's pedigree, that's to be expected. I expected it when he was announced, just given Liquid Tension Experiment I knew what he was going to be.

All three very, very different in what they contributed to the band (and in JR's case, continues to contribute). And I think more than MP or JP, each really helped shaped where the band has gone sonically over the years.

Personally, I prefer KM and DS over Jordan, but that's not saying I don't like JR, I absolutely do. I think Kevin's ability to write lyrics and vocal melodies and his sense of atmosphere really blended well with the rest of the guys and gave the band balance between virtuoso playing. And his lyric writing really varied up the vibe of songs, which changed with JP/MP being the main lyricists and now with JP pretty much the primary lyricist.

I would have loved to see what would have happened had DS remained on board. His tone really lended itself well to FII and what they were doing. I would have been interested to see what Scenes would have turned out to be with a more atmospheric touch to it.

JR - what else can you say about the man. Most pure playing ability of any of the three and really makes an exciting tandem with JP. For my tastes, not the perfect fit, but I know for the majority of the fans out there, he IS the perfect fit because of his abilities.

Thoughts?

[wasteland]

It is always said that KM and DS were instrumental in the economy of the band because they were able to provide a strong atmospheric background to the songs. I agree with that, but I think that it should also be mentioned that JR too, despite his consolidated role and position that you descrived, has been able to provide equal if not superior background keyboard work when needed.

You can find some good examples of this just looking for the keyboard stem of Wither and most of all TCOT.

As for the rest of your post, I basically agree with all your points, save for the conclusion. I like JR more than the other two guys (which in turn I love for what they did in Dream Theater - especially Kevin).

[nikatapi]

Great posts guys. What i find interesting is that each keyboradist brought something different to the table. You already mentioned those elements, but we also have to consider the band as a whole and the direction they were heading to with each album.

The first albums (not the self produced i mean) were formed with the influence of an external producer, and as we can see from the FII demos this formed some songs and maybe brought some interesting things to the sound of the band.

I feel like KM was a very integral part to the creation of the DT sound, and as MP has said he can be difficult to work with, but i think this is what contributed to the incredible songwriting in I&W. There was some creative conflict i'd like to think, which pushed the refinement of the song structure and melodies.

That element was gone with the departure of Kevin, but Derek was an interesting addition who i think didn't have a chance to fully prove his value with a label-controlled album and an EP which was mostly written already. Nevertheless, he is an amazing player in my opinion, with a great rock attitude and sound, but some very atmospheric moments as well. Seems like a balanced player who played in order to elevate the songs.

Jordan on the other hand is a phenomenon. Incredible player, tech geek and certainly the one with the most sonic nuances and elements. But, i think his overwhelming talent along with the creative freedom of the band lead to some "easy" way of writing music with the band, and not refining it so much. I like some of his solos, i don't like some others, i adore his piano parts and i hate his interpretations of older solos-sounds. His atmospheric work is great, although he rarely goes for a minimalistic approach and tries to make things more epic sounding, which works most of the time. TCOT is a proof that he can be very technical and melodic at the same time.

My only problem overall is that Derek didn't have the time to prove what he is capable of, and i believe he would be amazing in the band and maybe expand the sound with some fusion elements which can be heard in his solo efforts.
But i'm extremely happpy with Jordan who is a crazy wizard and does an amazing work. JP's role as a producer without MP i think brought out the great side of him, and he did an outstanding job with ADTOE which might be his greatest album in DT, along with SDOIT.

[Elite]

I'm just going to fuck shit up with just a very short post, but; Kevin Moore > both other keyboardists. The reason? Images & Words and Awake. Two albums that have proved to be impossible to make with Jordan Rudess. I like DT's first era way mpre than their second (I split their discography after Metropolis Pt. II) and that has to do (I think) mainly with Kevin's influence on the songwriting. With Jordan their stuff became too technical and with less 'soul', if that makes any sense. More flat, less interesting (SDOIT is the obvious example to this) and basically worse than before he entered. I'm not saying this is his fault, or entirely attributable to him, it's just something I feel.

[MoraWintersoul]

Aaaaand the can of worms is opened

Seriously though, whenever I came across that sort of opinion on youtube discussions and similar, I always imagined it to come from a person whose senses are of the kind that can only be awakened with the type of maximum fireworks of emotion and flare like the ones present in the KM era DT. I always imagined them to be someone who'd claim OSI is equally emotionless/soulless if you played it to them without mentioning KM is a part of it. I'm glad to have an example which proves me wrong.

I'll post more tomorrow, and considering I'm a morbid fan of Kevin Moore and that I consider him my favorite musician in general, you may expect lots of fangirling, but I'm one of those boring people who appreciate all keyboardists of DT almost equally (for what they did in DT). Each one has something the other one doesn't.

[The Awesome]

JR is the best them

[BlobVanDam]

It is always said that KM and DS were instrumental in the economy of the band because they were able to provide a strong atmospheric background to the songs. I agree with that, but I think that it should also be mentioned that JR too, despite his consolidated role and position that you descrived, has been able to provide equal if not superior background keyboard work when needed.

You can find some good examples of this just looking for the keyboard stem of Wither and most of all TCOT.

As for the rest of your post, I basically agree with all your points, save for the conclusion. I like JR more than the other two guys (which in turn I love for what they did in Dream Theater - especially Kevin).

SDOIT alone is proof of JR's superior atmopsheric playing imo. That stuff is absolutely untouchable. With JR's love of creating sounds, I think that's understandable. KM and DS didn't have the variety of sounds, but they did do a great job with what they had though. Voices and Trial of Tears are probably the best evidence of that.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

With Jordan their stuff became too technical and with less 'soul'

Pardon me good sir, but I find always that argument to be pure nonsense. People usually refer to prog rock/metal and technical stuff to be like that, and I think it's horribly wrong and misplaced. Look at the classics, Beethoven has stuff that far surpasses Rudess in technical prowess and I don't hear people saying "omg beethoven no soul lol fast and mechanic lol where's teh feel".

[Mebert78]

Great post, Samsara!  I LOVE both Kevin and Jordan.  I feel like Jordan took DT's status as technical gods to another level with his use of various keyboard technology and accessories.  I honestly can't imagine DT without him today.  However, I always feel inclined to point out when these discussions arise that Kevin was the innovator.  That's an important distinction that sets him apart from the pack.  He introduced a sound of riffing keyboards and highly technical trade-off keyboard/guitar solos that many people hadn't heard before.  He broke down the door and forged his own path.  The other guys, Derek and Jordan, followed in his footsteps and brought their own flavor to something he already established.  But Kevin is the innovator and that can never be taken away from him. 

When looking at things from a purely musical perspective, I do prefer the albums with Kevin.  There's just a beauty to those albums that I feel hasn't been matched since.  Still, I LOVE Jordan's playing -- and he has taken DT's keyboard sound to a whole other level.  He's absolutely awesome.


EDIT: I also love this point below.  I think creative conflict is an important ingredient to good songwriting:

I feel like KM was a very integral part to the creation of the DT sound, and as MP has said he can be difficult to work with, but i think this is what contributed to the incredible songwriting in I&W. There was some creative conflict i'd like to think, which pushed the refinement of the song structure and melodies.

[Samsara]

With Jordan their stuff became too technical and with less 'soul'

Pardon me good sir, but I find always that argument to be pure nonsense. People usually refer to prog rock/metal and technical stuff to be like that, and I think it's horribly wrong and misplaced. Look at the classics, Beethoven has stuff that far surpasses Rudess in technical prowess and I don't hear people saying "omg beethoven no soul lol fast and mechanic lol where's teh feel".

It's an opinion. One I share, actually. Sure, Jordan's playing has "soul," but when compared with Kevin Moore, I'd agree that Jordan is much more focused on technicality than atmospheric playing. That's not to say they couldn't both do the opposite -- of course they can.

But I agree that Kevin is a more soulful type of a player. And I also agree with Mebert78 that there is a beauty to I&W and Awake from a keyboard standpoint that has not been matched since. And that's not a knock on Jordan -- the man is a keyboard/piano God.

[KevShmev]

Sure, Jordan's playing has "soul," but when compared with Kevin Moore, I'd agree that Jordan is much more focused on technicality than atmospheric playing. That's not to say they couldn't both do the opposite -- of course they can.

But I agree that Kevin is a more soulful type of a player. And I also agree with Mebert78 that there is a beauty to I&W and Awake from a keyboard standpoint that has not been matched since. And that's not a knock on Jordan -- the man is a keyboard/piano God.

I agree with all of this.

[Nekov]

While 2 of my favorite 3 records were recorded with Jordan, (SFAM and 6DOIT), I prefer KM. Those first 2 records with JM still had a lot of the older DT feeling but moving on they started drifting to a more technical oriented music IMO.

With Jordan their stuff became too technical and with less 'soul'

Pardon me good sir, but I find always that argument to be pure nonsense. People usually refer to prog rock/metal and technical stuff to be like that, and I think it's horribly wrong and misplaced. Look at the classics, Beethoven has stuff that far surpasses Rudess in technical prowess and I don't hear people saying "omg beethoven no soul lol fast and mechanic lol where's teh feel".

Regarding this, I think you can be very technical but still manage to put a lot of feeling into the music, it's not one or the other. The problem with JR in DT is that he is more focused on being technical than putting feeling into it.

[manticore999]

I've always felt that KM was a more 'emotional' musician and JR is more technical.  Not that I didn't like DS, as he's shown himself to be an amazing musician too.  I guess I'm partial to JR, as he's the only one IMHO who can hold a candle to Keith Emerson, and Keith will always sit at the top my list of keyboardists.

Bottom line is I think all of them made/continue to make contributions to the band and I'm grateful for all of 'em.

[MoraWintersoul]

Just some food for thought for you guys: how do you know which emotions (or the quantity of them) Jordan puts in his playing?

No music ever made me feel things KM's music did, that's for sure, but I never felt something lacking in Jordan's playing. Even when I felt the music lacked emotion, it was in the way it was composed, not played, and those weren't the super-techy parts either. Some of those are really turbulent.

[Octavaripolis]

Right now I feel a bit worried about JR's role in the band. Ever since I started longing for DT12 I've wished for it to be dark, atmospheric, and heavy. Combine Awake with the awakened progressive style on ADTOE and you'be got a clear vision of the DT12 in my dreams. But, shortly after I'd made my wish I realized this would be unlikely to almost impossible without a more down to earth-keyboardist. Most of what JR does in DT is either epic and large-scaled or speedy, edgy and sometimes totally out of place. Don't misunderstand me now, I like Rudess a lot but I am just a bit tired of him being so outwards and energetic in his playing.  Kevin Moore also wrote some very beautiful lyrics and was certainly a unique personality which was shown in songs like Space Dye Vest. A beautiful, emotional, dark classic like that song will never written again, and much due to JR's infinite high profile key-shredding.

[Nekov]

Good point Mora. I won't deny that JR puts emotion in his playing, but KM makes me feel more things than JR does. I guess the more accurate way of putting it is that KM transmits the emotion better.

[BlobVanDam]

I don't know if it was the keyboard sounds of the era, but I don't hear a lot of emotion in KM's keyboard playing. Voices would probably come the closest for me. Even his signature DT tune SDV to me is completely devoid of emotion (and no, I don't consider a lack of emotion to be an emotion).
I think both DS and JR do a better job in that regard. I think FII has a lot of feel in the keyboards, and even though ACOS doesn't do much for me, that's regarded highly there. Even just those first few notes of Anna Lee convey a lot to me. Beautiful.
And JR's piano work to me always conveys great emotion, even when he's playing a lot of notes. He has a real feel for dynamics and tempo to create the right mood. And he can still show a lot of emotion while playing much more simply, such as Vacant, which I think is a really underrated ballad in that regard.

Just my opinion of course. I know the argument isn't that JR can't play emotionally, but I don't consider emotion and playing speed to be related. A song can be understated and still lack emotion, or a song can be a flurry of notes and still give an emotional performance.

[SeRoX]

It's an opinion. One I share, actually. Sure, Jordan's playing has "soul," but when compared with Kevin Moore, I'd agree that Jordan is much more focused on technicality than atmospheric playing. That's not to say they couldn't both do the opposite -- of course they can.

But I agree that Kevin is a more soulful type of a player. And I also agree with Mebert78 that there is a beauty to I&W and Awake from a keyboard standpoint that has not been matched since. And that's not a knock on Jordan -- the man is a keyboard/piano God.

Completely my thought as well.

You just can't say anything bad about Jordan's talent but there is one thing certain, at least for me, Jordan's talent based on technicality and speed. I mean, let's look at Awake. This album is called by many as "dark" and when I listen to it I literally get why. It's not about guitar sound, vocals or lyrics. Because Kevin's playing is dark in that album. I don't know how to explain but this is it. It feels really dark overall. But I never get that feeling from Jordan's playing. It's simply as what it has to be, just harmonizing with the concept melody, adds nothing special. I'm taking "In the name of god" as a dark theme song but I, for one, think it doesn't about keyboard sounding, it doesn't give the feeling. It's like just because of the concept, that's all.

[ReaPsTA]

Kevin Moore is a composer who plays keyboards.  Derek Sherinian is a musician who plays keyboards.

Jordan Rudess is a keyboardist.

I think it's unfair when people say Rudess isn't atmospheric.  Out of curiosity, I skimmed through a bunch of songs on Scenes from a Memory and found that Rudess was usually (a) playing a keyboard melody (which both KM and DS did, although less often) or (b) playing some kind of backing atmospheric chord.

Rudess is probably the most balls-out player of the three (even when compared to DS, it's true), but that's okay.  Listen to 5:37 - 5:58 of Home ("I never thought that I...").  The unsubtle pad works there.  It adds tension.

A lot of times people, including Samsara in the OP, talk about JR being a second lead with JP.  That's not strictly true.  JR is a classically trained keyboardist.  If you're not playing the lead melody or a backing chord progression, then what are you probably doing?

A counterpoint melody.

Once you see JR's keyboard parts through that context, they make way more sense compositionally.

Even when JR does do a second lead thing (which certainly does happen), look at it from his perspective.  He's looking at the song through the lens of a performer.  How can he add to the song with his performance?  It's a different perspective from either KM or DS.

And this is okay.  3:32 - 3:50 in Blind Faith ("When did we all let you down...") probably isn't in KM or DS's DNA.

I don't like every choice JR makes, but I think a lot of the ways people identify him (wanker, second lead instrumentalist, non-atmospheric) aren't fair.  Like Wasteland pointed out, this is the guy who performed the keyboards for Wither.

[KevShmev]

Here is what I am sure will be called a bizarre analogy:

Jordan Rudess is like a beautiful woman who doesn't need to wear a lot of makeup, but some days, she puts it on too thick, and you are like, "Why is she doing that?  She is already beautiful, and plastering all of the makeup on just takes away from her natural beauty."  Same with Rudess, who goes so overboard with the technical playing at times that you sometimes forget that he can do the atmospheric stuff almost as well as anyone.  To wit, his piano playing during the intro of Steven Wilson's Deform to Form a Star:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En9ibmBvPJI

[MoraWintersoul]

Kevin Moore is a composer who plays keyboards.  Derek Sherinian is a musician who plays keyboards.

Jordan Rudess is a keyboardist.

I think it's unfair when people say Rudess isn't atmospheric.  Out of curiosity, I skimmed through a bunch of songs on Scenes from a Memory and found that Rudess was usually (a) playing a keyboard melody (which both KM and DS did, although less often) or (b) playing some kind of backing atmospheric chord.

Rudess is probably the most balls-out player of the three (even when compared to DS, it's true), but that's okay.  Listen to 5:37 - 5:58 of Home ("I never thought that I...").  The unsubtle pad works there.  It adds tension.

A lot of times people, including Samsara in the OP, talk about JR being a second lead with JP.  That's not strictly true.  JR is a classically trained keyboardist.  If you're not playing the lead melody or a backing chord progression, then what are you probably doing?

A counterpoint melody.

Once you see JR's keyboard parts through that context, they make way more sense compositionally.

Even when JR does do a second lead thing (which certainly does happen), look at it from his perspective.  He's looking at the song through the lens of a performer.  How can he add to the song with his performance?  It's a different perspective from either KM or DS.

And this is okay.  3:32 - 3:50 in Blind Faith ("When did we all let you down...") probably isn't in KM or DS's DNA.

I don't like every choice JR makes, but I think a lot of the ways people identify him (wanker, second lead instrumentalist, non-atmospheric) aren't fair.  Like Wasteland pointed out, this is the guy who performed the keyboards for Wither.

You stole a lot of the stuff I wanted to post from my brain

Here is what I am sure will be called a bizarre analogy:

Jordan Rudess joining Dream Theater is kind of like marriage except there's four wives and he cared about the kids more than Mike Portnoy.

But seriously, I expected a in there somewhere.

[Ruba]

I'm just going to fuck shit up with just a very short post, but; Kevin Moore > both other keyboardists. The reason? Images & Words and Awake. Two albums that have proved to be impossible to make with Jordan Rudess. I like DT's first era way mpre than their second (I split their discography after Metropolis Pt. II) and that has to do (I think) mainly with Kevin's influence on the songwriting. With Jordan their stuff became too technical and with less 'soul', if that makes any sense. More flat, less interesting (SDOIT is the obvious example to this) and basically worse than before he entered. I'm not saying this is his fault, or entirely attributable to him, it's just something I feel.

Is this Elite my second profile or something?

Anyway, I would take Derek over Jordan by miles. I'm really impressed by Jordan's technicality and I think he is a great guy, but his style isn't just my cup of tea. Derek had brought an excellent new vibe to DT, though he couldn't fill KM's shoes (duh, who cans). His solo sound is however a bit too distorted for my taste in some parts.

During Jordan's time, instrumental sections just go sometimes too technical and the connection to the song just gets lost. It never happened in the earlier albums, I find the four first albums the most consistent from their discography.

[MoraWintersoul]

During Jordan's time, instrumental sections just go sometimes too technical and the connection to the song just gets lost. It never happened in the earlier albums, I find the four first albums the most consistent from their discography.

This might be true (though Dream Theater is not that technical, comparing them to some other bands in the metal spectrum, and we could argue about what does it mean when a connection to the song gets lost), but I think that has nothing to do with the very fact Dream Theater changed keyboardists. Or at least, not everything.

It's not like Jordan came to the band and said "okay now we write soopertechy stuff, I'm bored with everything else." He was a newbie and at first he mostly did what was asked of him. Rather, I think they were trying to find someone who could not only accompany them on that journey to becoming the band we know today, like someone like Derek would have done had he stayed, but really elevate it and make it surreal, and they were mad about Jordan and thought he could do that.

I mean, when you see Dream Theater talking about their split with Derek, they'll never say he wasn't good enough. They'll just say they wanted Jordan, because after he originally turned them down, they made LTE together and we all know what type of music came out of that. They wanted the keyboardist that made crazy music with them.

[Ruba]

Yeah, I'm not blaming Jordan. He just adds his own spice to DT's style, and even though I prefer albums from WDADU to SFAM, it doesn't mean I would not enjoy them now. For example In the Presence of Enemies might be my favourite DT song, and Jordan shines throughout it.

But what I mean as misfitting instrumental sections, IMO Sacrificed Sons and Outcry are good examples. Both have many great moments, very good lyrics and I find them touching. But. Then in comes instrumental, which goes in different direction than the song has gone before and breaks the growing mood. However, it doesn't spoil the song for me, I just can't help thinking, how good they would be, if the instrus just had been simplified a little.

[?]

Here is what I am sure will be called a bizarre analogy:

Jordan Rudess is like a beautiful woman who doesn't need to wear a lot of makeup, but some days, she puts it on too thick, and you are like, "Why is she doing that?  She is already beautiful, and plastering all of the makeup on just takes away from her natural beauty."  Same with Rudess, who goes so overboard with the technical playing at times that you sometimes forget that he can do the atmospheric stuff almost as well as anyone.  To wit, his piano playing during the intro of Steven Wilson's Deform to Form a Star:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En9ibmBvPJI

Funny but good analogy! Jordan is one hell of a talent, but some of his solos make me think: "Yeah, we already know you can play that fast." I really enjoy his work on ADTOE, it shows his melodic and restrained side better than the previous albums.

Kevin is obviously my favorite. Some people criticize him for the dated sounds he used, but hey, how could he have known that those sounds wouldn't age that well? Besides, they don't bother me while listening to the early albums - in fact, Awake probably has some of the best keyboard sounds I have ever heard. Chroma Key and OSI albums also show his progress, he has come a long way since then, both sounds-wise and songwriting-wise. When it comes to writing (both music and lyrics), DT lost something when Kevin left ahd while they've continued to put out great music, I don't think they'll ever reach the excellence of I&W and Awake again.

Derek's rock-oriented playing fit FII really well, but I don't think DT was able to take full advantage of his potential. Still, he's a talented keyboardist as well.

Jordan is probably the best fit for DT because of his virtuoso style and there aren't really any limitations to what DT can do keyboard-wise with him on board. However, because of his technicality he's also more inconsistent than his predecessors: sometimes he plays brilliantly, sometimes the things he does make me cringe. A good example of latter is the solo in Only a Matter of Time on Budokan (before James sings "likely or not, it's a dream that we keep..." etc.) - why did that simple melody line have to be turned into a blur of notes? Fortunately his good moments outweigh the less stellar moments and I have no doubt that if he left, DT would have a hard time trying to replace him with someone equally skilled.

[ronrule]

I don't think it needs to be about denigrating technicality. Both JR and JP have it in spades. JP is one of the most technically proficient guitar players out there. At the same time 95% of his riffs and solos and compositions simply *do it* for me, as in "how did he come up with that and I can't imagine it any better!"

For me, it's more that JR's compositions and choices are often less interesting to me than KM's were. There are exceptions, sure. But JR is not the keyboard equivalent of JP. If JR and KM had a love-child, that would be the keyboard equivalent of JP.

[ronrule]

Another issue: I'd say JP was also much more into "atmosphere" in the I&A/Awake era. I remember him talking in a Wild Stringdom article about how he considered his role something akin to a another keyboardist in the band.

[Marion Crane]

The best example for me of what a keyboardist should be in a band is Blind Faith.  A lot of filling up the empty spaces when necessary, yet with leads and unisons sprinkled throughout

[robwebster]

Right now I feel a bit worried about JR's role in the band. Ever since I started longing for DT12 I've wished for it to be dark, atmospheric, and heavy. Combine Awake with the awakened progressive style on ADTOE and you'be got a clear vision of the DT12 in my dreams. But, shortly after I'd made my wish I realized this would be unlikely to almost impossible without a more down to earth-keyboardist. Most of what JR does in DT is either epic and large-scaled or speedy, edgy and sometimes totally out of place. Don't misunderstand me now, I like Rudess a lot but I am just a bit tired of him being so outwards and energetic in his playing.  Kevin Moore also wrote some very beautiful lyrics and was certainly a unique personality which was shown in songs like Space Dye Vest. A beautiful, emotional, dark classic like that song will never written again, and much due to JR's infinite high profile key-shredding.

Bridges in the Sky should allay any fears, really. The bit where the keys come in, just before the vocals - there's a lot less in the way of duplication and riffery, and way more in the way of chords coming out of keyboard land lately.

Which I'm cool with. I liked (and still do like!) the unisons and lead-keyboards, but I also like to keep moving. Jordan, I think, has more capacity than the others to not only fit a band like Dream Theater, but to develop, and to change, and to evolve as the band moves and grows. He's not just the keyboardist who diddled around in A Rite of Passage, he's the keyboardist who gave Misunderstood its otherworldly shape, and the keyboardist who helped swell Beneath the Surface beyond its limits. He's the reason Blind Faith is so darned good on the album, and so meticulously imbued it with a warmth that's never quite been matched live.

[ReaPsTA]

and the keyboardist who helped swell Beneath the Surface beyond its limits.

Yup.

Beneath the Surface has a lot of tough emotions going on, and JR played to them basically perfectly.