The career of Modern Drummer Hall of Famer Carl Palmer – named one of the ten greatest drummers of all time by Rolling Stone – has taken many exceptional twists and turns over the last four decades. He sold fifty million records of progressive rock as one third of British ‘70s supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer, proving complex, cerebral music can go mainstream. His subsequent work with Asia cemented his legacy as the drummer with the golden touch, and his use of gongs and tambourines established him as a maverick among rhythm keepers worldwide. It thus follows that Palmer has taken another step beyond the limits with “Twist of the Wrist”, a collection of 200 limited-edition fine art pieces created in collaboration with notorious Los Angeles art team SceneFour which employs innovative technology to transmute Palmer’s playing onto canvas.
Since his youth in his native Birmingham, drums have been Carl Palmer’s life, having played with some of music’s most iconic groups like Atomic Roost, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Asia, and of course Emerson, Lake & Palmer. It was with Emerson, Lake & Palmer, that Carl would become regarded as a drummer’s drummer, gaining worldwide fame through a sophisticated melding of progressive rock, classical music and electronic on some of the most successful albums ever released in the progressive rock genre. Palmer also took ambitious creative turns along the way, like starring in The Solo, the acclaimed 2010 art film by Andrew Cross.
Selling briskly since its February 1 release, “Twist of the Wrist” comprises 11 pieces of which 200 canvases exist, ranging in dimension from 30"x18" to 60"x 33" and designed to be affordable to art and music buyers alike. Boasting names like “Tank”, “Infinite Space” and “Endless Enigma”, Carl worked together with SceneFour throughout 2012 to create the pieces, which feature elements from his classic gong performances and showcases various classic rhythms in Carl's catalog and how they translate visually to canvas. The collection even proved instrumental in the naming of his current tour, which he dubbed “Twist of the Wrist” in conjunction.
“Twist of the Wrist” is one of several innovative projects from Scenefour (scenefour.com), the art team specializing in the conceptual and design of collaborative artwork with musical icons. The RZA of Wu-Tang Clan, Bootsy Collins of Parliament/James Brown fame and Chuck D of Public Enemy are just a handful of Scenefour’s collaborators, whose work can be seen in their 2011 book Come Together published by Edition Iconix. “Twist Of The Wrist” is the newest addition to their “Art Of Drums” series, which also boasts collections from Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen, Guns N Roses drummer Matt Sorum, Jose Pasillas II of Incubus and Jane’s Addiction stickman Stephen Perkins.
“Twist of the Wrist” is available exclusively at carlpalmerart.com.
