Duncan Mackay-Chimera (1974)

Unjustly and sadly forgotten, Duncan Mackay is a British keyboardist who recorded several high-quality symphonic progressive rock albums and also participated in significant works by Camel and Steve Harley & Cockney Rabel. His origins lie in 1967 when he finished his studies at Shrewsbury School in Shropshire, in the west of England. There he graduated in violin and was soon nominated as the most promising violinist in the UK. However, he soon switched from that instrument to keyboards, with which he also achieved great renown. In 1970, he was invited to join the band of Brazilian jazz pianist Sergio Mendes. In 1974, Mackay secured a contract with Vertigo Records for his first and best work, "Chimera", a debut album that showcased his most notable influences: the sounds of ELP and The Nice, with outstanding Hammond organ playing that permeated his music. Composed of three extensive suites, "Chimera" began with the epic "Morpheus", in which the keyboardist showcases his impressive vocal abilities in a cheerful and rhythmic piece with harsher, more visceral moments, featuring passages that lean towards jazz and even pop. The progressive "12 Tone Nostalgia" is a brilliant composition dominated by muscular Hammond organ sounds, while the mammoth "Song For Witches" is a memorable suite of progressive passages in the purest style of early ELP works, with psychedelic and enigmatic sounds. Three years later, Mackay released his next work, "Score", another formidable exercise in progressive rock, but from then on his subsequent releases were of lesser scope, dedicating his later career to collaborating with groups such as The Alan Parsons Project, Budgie, and Camel, where he contributed his extraordinary keyboard sounds to the legendary album "Nude". "Chimera" is one of the hidden gems of progressive rock that has gone completely unnoticed amidst so many masterpieces from more media-savvy and established contemporary groups and artists.