The Hamburg-based musician Frank Us looks back on a long musical career. He played in a few local bands before turning music into his profession, successfully composing jingles for products and companies. His secret love is and has always been the progressive rock that had the biggest musical influence on him.

Frank Us and his friends have created a debut album that delivers an enormous bandwidth and that was clearly inspired by the golden era of progressive rock. Bands like ELP, Genesis, Marillion, UK, Yes, Rush, the early Queen or King Crimson were the influences that cemented Frank's love for this genre. CON BRIO features many big names in the scene: Marco Minnemann (UK, Steven Wilson), Steve Morse (Deep Purple), Todd Sucherman (STYX), Steve Rothery and Mark Kelly (Marillion) and John Mitchell (Arena, Kino), to name but a few. This project not only offers intense music with top-class artists, it also supports the children's aid organization WORLD VISION, which Frank has been helping for so long. For more than one and a half years, Frank Us has been working on the debut of Legacy Pilots. The result is an album that demands attention from the listener. The compositions are deep, providing the artists with the necessary freedom for their art. The incorporated time and tempo changes that create interesting polyrhythms, sound textures that build worlds in the listener's mind and styles that vary from elegy to emotional outbursts. Much attention has also been paid to the sound quality and production which deserve to be heard in an audiophile setting. That's why Legacy Pilots' debut album CON BRIO is considered to be an invitation to an audible voyage.

"Legacy Pilots ... and how it began. First of all: Music is my life. There is nothing in the world that conveys feelings better than music. We are humans. We are music. Every single day of our life. The impulse to start my own progressive project (a notion that I had been carrying around with me for quite some years) was the constant sad news with which I was being confronted: the passing of Chris Squire, Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, John Wetton, Alan Holdsworth and David Bowie over the past few years. Past the prime of life, I thought this would be as good a time as any to move ahead with my idea and hence I started to get things rolling. So, this is it! A dedication to the world of progressive rock, a tribute to the great music and artists of the '70s. I have had the enormous privilege that some of the finest musicians joined this project. Not only are they great musicians, but I can wholeheartedly say they're rather nice guys with whom I have become friends over the years. I want to express my deepest gratitude to all of the musicians who have brought their incredible musicianship to this album. Their contribution has not only made the music "better" in many respects, it will also help to support underprivileged children. I want to thank everyone who has contributed to this project. It has made the endeavour worth the effort and I'm unbelievably proud to have so many friends involved." ~ Frank

Track List:

01. The Emerson Empire [7:05]
02. Handle With Care [4:07]
03. Value 8 [3:56]
04. The Stumbling Heart [8:34]
05. No Place For Us [5:15]
06. The Spirit Is Forever [5:32]
07. Fight The Demons [8:06]
08. For A Better World [3:09]
09. Con Brio [5:26]

Personnel:
Frank Us - Keyboards, Guitars, Vocals, Bass & Percussion (8)
With:
Todd Sucherman (Styx) - Drums (4, 7)
Marco Minnemann (Steven Wilson, The Aristocrats, Mike Keneally) - Drums (1, 3, 5, 9)
Steve Morse (Deep Purple, Kansas, Flying Colors, Dixie Dregs) - Solo Guitar & Choired Guitars (3)
John Mitchell (Arena, Frost, It Bites, Kino, Lonely Robot) - Solo Guitar (4)
Steven Rothery (Marillion) - Solo Guitar (7)
Finally George - Bass (1, 4, 5, 7), Guitars (4, 8), Choir (4)
Ricky Garcia - Guitars (1, 5)
Lars Slowak - Bass (2, 3)
Andrew McGuinness - Drums (6)
Mark Kelly (Marillion) - Synth Solo (6)
Bill Evans (Miles Davis) - Outro Guitar Solo (6)
Liza - Choir (7-8)