Back around 1977 Holland was a haven for a new kind of progressive rock and pop that was then spreading across the European continent since the early ‘70s. Band’s like Kayak and Ekseption were respectively exploring progressive rock music and classical-jazz fusion while Jan Akkerman’s Focus was a world class jazz-rock band then. One Dutch group pioneering a different, kind of old world, acoustic kind of classical chamber pop back then was Flairck. Since 1977, Flairck has recorded nearly twenty albums and to the amazement of long time Flairck watchers they’re all collected on a 2009, 22 CD, 228 track box set entitled Tween En Twintig. With all Flairck's studio and live remasters all collected here, the box is highlighted by a number of the group's classics like 1981’s Circus and their acclaimed recording of progressive acoustic rock Sleight Of Hand, released on EMI in 1986 and featuring song writing contributions from Mike Batt and Mike Oldfield singer Maggie Reilly. The colorful old world acoustic instrumental Flairck sound leaned heavily on acoustic steel / classical guitarist Erik Visser and most of their albums also feature Sylvia Houtzager (violin, harp), Erik’s brother Hans Visser and Peter Weekers (flutes, panpipes) along with a rotating crew of gifted players. Kicking off with the 1977 Flairck album Variaties op een Dame, the box set takes you right up to the 2000 double CD set Symphony For The Old World and a 2004 solo album from Flairck guitarist Erik Visser. In addition to leading Flairck through the changes as one of Holland’s top folk-classical / World music groups, Visser is also a solo artist and his classical guitar instrumental album One Man Parade, featured here, makes a logical addition to the Flairck legacy depicted in the box set, which by the way is immaculately designed and decorated. The Flairck box features all the original album artwork and a 36 page CD booklet printed in the Dutch language. Fortunately since much of Flairck’s music is instrumental or leaning that way, with the exception of the great Sleight Of Hand (all tracks from that album sung in English) and several strategically placed continental style Euro vocals from Georges Moustaki, for example, for the most part you won’t need to read any words to enjoy Flairck's magical instrumental music! www.Flairck.nl

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