After a short break, Jordan mentioned that he and Dream Theater have been to South America many times and there was a promoter in Venezuela who encouraged Jordan to write music for an orchestra. Although Jordan thought it was a good idea it had not worked out. Then he connected with Eren and the timing seemed right. "Explorations" was composed by Rudess and orchestrated by Basbug. At first, Jordan had called it a concerto, which troubled Basbug who was happier when the piece was named "Explorations". This better described all the changes in the composition which did not adhere to the strict concept that the term concerto suggested.

"Explorations" as the name implies was an exploration of melody and moods flowing from one shimmering musical stanza to another. The music was varied and vibrant with the two keyboards combined and interspersed with solos. Both were beautiful players and the interplay was brilliant. The music was colorful and complex and one could imagine many of the elements in a Dream Theater song.

Jordan did mention that DT was back in the studio and very inspired, but also that his schedule as of late has been nutty with rehearsals for "Explorations" ended at two in the morning on that Sunday. Basbug left the stage as Jordan played an expansive instrumental that incorporated sections of "Moonchild" and "In the Court of the Crimson King". Rudess mentioned that he hears so many beautiful melodies in the progressive music of bands like Genesis, King Crimson and Yes.

At that point, Jordan introduced James Labrie aka the pirate. James (sporting shoulder length hair) was rather chatty stating that it was Jordan who came up with the nickname and commenting that its harder to pull off pirate with this hair cut saying that currently, " I look like more like Bill Ray Cyrus."

James then mentioned how impressed he was with these young musicians who were really raising the bar. Jordan and James along with Eren performed two songs from Scenes From A Memory. The stripped down versions of "Through Her Eyes" and "The Spirit Carries On" which was the encore were stellar with the keyboard parts more pronounced. They also performed the haunting "Coming Home" from James' solo album Static Impulse. The song was one of the subtler ones on a record that has been described as heavy and features some daunting death metal vocals.

"'Space Dye Vest' was Kevin Moore's swan-song with Dream Theater," explained James who said he had the utmost respect for the former DT member. It was the last song Kevin did with the band and "it was very different from what we were doing, especially at the time of Awake".

This song that was penned by Moore was never played live by the band and the evening's performance was described as its public debut. It had plenty of poignant piano parts for Jordan and James whispering vocals added to the moody mystery of the song.

Jordan's concert at the Tarrytown Music Hall featured a diverse range of music and global musicians. It was exciting to witness Rudess continuing to grow as an artist with his "Explorations" and an innovator with the Morphwiz. Just as inspiring was the new generation of gifted musicians at the start of what should be prolonged and productive careers.

The poster for Jordan's special gig at the Tarrytown Music Hall.

Related Links: For more information on JORDAN RUDESS and the other organizations mentioned please visit the following links -- JordanRudess.com | James LaBrie | Dream Theater | Morphwiz.com | Tarrytown Music Hall