Happier News:

Delighted to announe that Abel Ganz will be playing at this summer's Baltic Prog Fest.

As many of you will know the band has been absolutely itching to play in Europe so we are all thrilled to have been asked. Until we find a permanent replacement for Hew, keyboard duties for this show will be handled by our good friend Jack Webb. Jack has very kindly helped us out in the past and appears on several of the tracks on Shooting Albatross. Check out his MySpace here: http://www.myspace.com/jackwebbsmusic

Look out for more info soon!

 

A message from Hew Montgomery:

As Denis has said, with the very greatest reluctance I have decided that after more than twenty years it is time for me to move on from Abel Ganz. This decision has taken many months of thought, and reflects that I want to take my musical ramblings in a slightly different direction to the one that Abel Ganz is heading in. The band has always been an exciting adventure for me, and at this time the lads are negotiating to take the show further afield, as well as creating a new album. Being honest, I no longer relish the prospect of taking myself out on the road (probably a sign of old age), and I feel that I have so much to pursue in the future, writing and recording my own material as well as collaborating on a couple of other projects. I have (and always will have) the greatest respect for all the Ganzers both as friends and as musicians from whom I have learned so much, and I part on the best of terms with them all. I have made it clear that I will continue to support and help the band in any way I can, and hope to figure in some way in future Ganz projects (even if it’s just wrapping and mailing merchandise!).

So – where do we go from here? Well, my main project is Grand Tour and our first album is nearly done and should be available towards the end of the year. I an also co-producing and advising Comedy of Errors, a fine old Scottish prog rock band from the past who have reformed and are also in the final stages of producing a new album (again, for the end of the year). Lastly, I am heavily involved with my old friend Alan Bell in his clinical hypnotherapy venture, researching and producing sounds and music for a range of therapeutic cds he is developing (check out www.alandbell.co.uk for more info). I’d be pleased to let everyone know more about these projects, and websites will appear later this year – meantime, e-mail me on hew.montgomery@grandtourmusic.com for further info (sorry – sneaked in a shameless promo…).

Finally, a big thanks to all those people from all over this planet who have supported Abel Ganz over the years and with whom I have spoken at gigs etc – the (mostly) kind words and support have meant a lot!

So I go – but - as Arnie says – I’ll be back….

Hew Montgomery

 

Hi everyone,

A short update to let you all know how sad and sorry we all are to see the departure from Abel Ganz of our good friend and keyboards player Hew Montgomery.  Hew [after much soul searching] has decided that his own musical path lies not within the Abel Ganz circle and that he wishes to pursue his musical ambitions on his own. 

We stress that we remain on the very best of terms with Hew.  We are all very sorry indeed that he has decided to leave the band but respect his decision and wish him all the very best with whatever he does next.  Indeed, the door will always remain open and it is not entirely impossible that Hew may remain involved with the Ganz camp in some capacity.

Some of you may already be aware that Hew has been working on side & solo projects for some time and much of this is reaching fruition.  Please look out for a further update from Hew on the website very soon where he will make some exciting announcements regarding these projects.

That’s it for now