Transatlantic is a pet side-project from guitarist Roine Stolt (Flower Kings), drummer Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), keyboardist/vocalist Neal Morse (Spock's Beard) and bassist Pete Trevawas (Marillion).
Portnoy wanted Neal Morse and Jim Matheos (of Fates Warning), to work on a project aside from their respected bands. Though Matheos could not, Neal Morse immediately agreed, and Morse called Stolt to handle guitar responsibilities and Portnoy ( a big fan of Marillion). The musicians brought ideas and tapes into the studio. Neal Morse brought in bits and pieces of some songs and entire concepts for others, all of which were adapted. He also wrote most of the lyrics."
Their first album was recorded at Millbrook Studios in upstate New York (where Portnoy had recorded with Liquid Tension Experiment). The thirty minute plus epic "All Of The Above," was the first song. Describing their musical style, Stolt stated: "well it's obvious with people from Marillion, Spock's Beard, Flower Kings and Dream Theater in the band that this is going to be one hell of a progressive outfit, so we'll have to write some heavy prog stuff."
`SMPTe.' Transatlantic's debut album was released in the year 2000 (the name not only contains the musicians initials, it is also a communicative code used in studio recording). The group went on a limited tour in America and expanded gigs in Europe to support the album. Coming out of the tour is the live album- `TransAtlantic Live In America,' a double CD live album that included Beatle and Genesis covers. A video of the show was release but was hampered by production problems.
After rejoining their bands, the four musicians went back to the studio to record- `Bridge Across Forever,' which included three lengthy tracks and a short title-track Morse piece. Two tracks are over 35 minutes long and includes additional musicians:Chris Carmichael - violin, viola & cello, Keith Mears - saxophone and the "Elite" Choir providing background vocals.
The album sports stronger musical themes and the playing is tighter with an added heaviness. The band will support their new release with a tour.
With the 2002 waining, Transatlantic, with the help of Neal Morse, is now history. Morse, not only quit Spock's Beard, but Transatlantic as well, to pursue a spirital quest and a Christian prog career.. A lot of people were hoping to see Transatlantic mature into the ultimate prog band. Morse left his regular band Spock's Beard in October 2002, stating "God wants me to do something else," which meant leaving the mainstream prog scene to launch a new career as a Christian musician. This move also included ending his activities for Transatlantic. Portnoy reacted: "This spells the end of Transatlantic as I wouldn't possibly consider continuing it without him." A live DVD of the band's last tour was released in late 2003, featuring all aforementioned epics with "Suite Charlotte Pike" mixed with the Abbey Road medley by the Beatles.
In the years to follow Morse continued to collaborate with Portnoy both in the studio and on stage. Morse' concerts frequently included one or more Transatlantic songs. A three-quarter reunion took place on August 23, 2008, when Stolt and Portnoy joined Morse at the Three Rivers Prog Fest in Pittsburgh for "We All Need Some Light" and "Stranger In Your Soul."
On April 16, 2009, it was officially announced that the band had reunited and begun work on a third studio album.The album was released in October 2009 and consisted of a single 77-minute title-track The Whirlwind. A special edition of the album was also released, including a second disc with four additional original tracks and four cover tracks. Additionally, a deluxe edition was released, which included a DVD documenting the making of the album. The album reached No. 21 on the U.S. Billboard Heatseekers chart.
The band toured North America and Europe in April–May 2010 in support of The Whirlwind. Dubbed the Whirld Tour, the band was again joined by Daniel Gildenlöw on stage. End 2012 Morse compiled a CD called A Proggy Christmas performed by The Prog World Orchestra. The Prog World Orchestra has different well known progressive rock names as members on each track. One of the ten songs on this album is "Silent Night/We All Need Some Light" and on this instrumental track The Prog World Orchestra is composed of the four members of Transatlantic.
In February 2013, the new Neal Morse band (with Mike Portnoy) and The Flower Kings started a European tour together which was followed by a gig in Los Angeles in May. Each band performed a set with their own songs and the encore set featured Transatlantic songs performed by Morse, Portnoy and Stolt supported by members of the two bands with special guests Jonas Reingold and Randy George alternating on bass.[8][9] The encore ends with eleven musicians on the stage.
On March 10, 2013, Pete Trewavas announced at the Marillion Weekend Convention in Port Zélande, the Netherlands, that he would be going to Nashville in the Summer to record new material with Transatlantic. Neal Morse confirmed this to DPRP.
On May 30, 2013, Mike Portnoy announced that they had finished writing a new Transatlantic album. It features five songs (two epics and three "normal length" ones) plus 8 covers for the bonus disc.The album was released in January 2014. A world tour of the United States and Europe followed, including a special performance on the "Progressive Nation at Sea" cruise created by Mike Portnoy. The band played two shows, with the first featuring the entire "Kaleidoscope" album and the second including guest performances by famous progressive rock artists such as Jon Anderson of Yes. On Sept 11, 2014, Kaleidoscope won 'Album of the Year' at the third annual Progressive Music Awards.
Updates courtesy of the Transatlantic Wiki Page.
Transatlantic Discography
Bridge Across Forever 2000
Live in Europe 2003
Building the Bridge: Live in America2006
The Whirlwind2009
Kaleidoscope 2014
KaLIVEoscope2014
