Official Website
Welcome to Last Knight Official Website
Last Knight is an international musical project that seamlessly blends classical and contemporary styles to create a unique and captivating sound. On this website, you will find detailed information about our released works, as well as the incredible musicians from around the world who contribute to our project.
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Explore our site to learn more about the journey of Last Knight, discover the latest news, read in-depth biographies, and stay connected with us. Whether you're a long-time fan or new to our music, we hope you enjoy your time here and find inspiration in the stories and sounds of Last Knight.
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Thank you for visiting, and welcome to our musical world!
BIOGRAPHY
The origins of Last Knight date back to 1996 as an idea by its creator, Jose Manuel Medina, aimed at using music to depict specific stories or themes. Although Medina aspired to be a soundtrack composer, he lacked formal musical training, and Spain offered limited resources in this field. Influenced by numerous bands from the 1960s and 1970s, introduced to him by his father, and shaped by the musical trends of the 1980s and 1990s, Medina envisioned a fusion of classical and soundtrack music with electronic and rock elements.
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His diverse musical tastes led to a body of work characterized by a lack of homogeneity, with styles constantly evolving as his creative mind developed them. A consistent element, however, was his love for orchestral music and soundtracks. The early works created for Last Knight combined a rich array of timbral and sonic elements, a legacy from his perpetual master, Ennio Morricone. In contrast to the classical elements of his preferred composers, Medina was also influenced by musicians such as Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre, David Arkenstone, Giorgio Moroder, and various New Age artists who played a significant role in the early years of his career.
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Medina's friend, Emilio Gutiérrez, then a keyboardist for the Spanish hard rock band Kashmir, introduced him to the use of synthesizers and recording techniques with computers and multitrack recorders. This enabled the creation of various works such as "Last Knight" and "Talking to the Moon," which were eventually abandoned due to lack of resources to realize them as Medina had envisioned. Consequently, Last Knight was put on hold, and Medina joined a local blues rock band called Canon Jack. During this period, he also experimented as a pop-rock songwriter and singer in collaboration with Emilio Gutiérrez and his brother, guitarist José Ramón Gutiérrez.
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After acquiring new equipment, including more synthesizers, a bass, and samplers, Medina resumed work on Last Knight. The first project from this new phase was "Lord of the Time" (2001), a futuristic vision of the passage of time with musical structures derived from late 1990s electronic music, blended with rock and classical elements. This project featured guitarists José Ramón Gutiérrez (Rain, Heimdall) and Sergio García (Canon Jack). Subsequently, he produced "Journey to the Land of the Wind" (2003), inspired by his travels through the Spanish region of La Mancha, again featuring José Ramón Gutiérrez on guitars. Concluding this phase of the project, the album "Cantábrico" was completed, inspired by stories from the Asturian coast along the Cantabrian Sea in northern Spain.
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In 2005, Medina had the opportunity to travel to Germany, where he was captivated by the beauty of Berlin and its surroundings. This inspired him to work on a new project titled "Berlin" (2005), which remained unfinished when the legendary leader and producer of the English band Mandalaband, David Rohl, reached out to him. Rohl, intrigued by Last Knight's music he had discovered online, invited Medina to participate in two new Mandalaband albums, BC Ancestors and AD Sangreal. For several years, they collaborated on the composition and musical direction of both albums. Working with Rohl, Medina met numerous musicians from around the world and connected with artists like Canadian poet Cindy L. Spear. It was Rohl who suggested that Medina produce an album and elevate Last Knight to a higher level, a notion supported by Cindy L. Spear. Consequently, Medina began working on two fronts: establishing Somnus Media to promote Last Knight's music and reviving the project "Talking to the Moon" from 1996. This marked the beginning of Last Knight's journey into the world.
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Medina began to view Last Knight as an open project where various artists could freely contribute music related to the chosen themes for each album. Thus, "Talking to the Moon" started as an instrumental album compiling tracks composed in 1996 that had never been realized, along with new music composed in this new phase of Last Knight. During the recording sessions, David Rohl suggested incorporating sung tracks, as a double album of exclusively instrumental music might be less commercially viable. Consequently, new sung tracks were written, extending the album's length. Simultaneously, new musicians expressed interest in joining the project, and others were contacted to help reshape the evolving changes. With the abundance of music created, it was decided to expand the album's length to a triple CD. The album featured a diverse array of musicians, including David Rohl (Mandalaband), Troy Donockley (Iona, Nightwish), Lisa Fury (Karnataka), Marc Atkinson (Riversea), Geoffrey Richardson (Caravan), Theo Travis (Soft Machine Legacy), Eduardo García Salueña (Senogul), and Cindy L. Spear as a lyricist.
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"Talking to the Moon" was the result of several years of effort, coordinating musicians from various parts of the world, and became a work that was difficult to categorize due to its vast array of musical styles. Notable was the technical work and support provided by bassist/producer Pablo Lato, who emerged as a significant figure in the project. The album marked a significant achievement for Medina, as he was finally able to see his work come to fruition 20 years later.
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After the production of "Talking to the Moon," Jose Manuel Medina sought a new theme for the next project, which posed a challenge given the album's positive reception in various countries. It was Pablo Lato's suggestion to create a progressive rock album inspired by the Seven Deadly Sins. Thus, Medina began researching Dante's "The Divine Comedy" to inspire the music. The album featured new recruits such as singer Gus Lato and renowned Spanish drummer Jose Bruno. Initially, John Wetton was contacted to participate in the album on the track "Envy," but unfortunately, he was very ill at the time and subsequently passed away. As a result, Medina decided to dedicate the entire album to Wetton as a tribute to one of the most prolific and notable rock artists from the United Kingdom.
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Finding a singer to replace Wetton on a song specifically composed for his unique vocal style was challenging. Eventually, the talented John Mitchell, who had collaborated with Wetton on several occasions, was brought on board. The album also featured the brilliant American guitarist and singer Richie Castellano (Blue Öyster Cult). The album was released in 2019 after four arduous years of work, with Pablo Lato leading the production.
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The year 2020 was marked by the pandemic, and the world remained in isolation. Medina dedicated the entire year to composing, developing several musical ideas. Among these were "Leviathan," "The Fear Therapy," "Enigma," "Metropolis," and finally "The Lords of Wisdom." During the recording sessions for Seven Deadly Sins, Medina admired the talent of the Spanish multi-instrumentalist Rafael Pacha. Capable of playing a wide variety of string instruments, Pacha collaborated on musical themes for "The Lords of Wisdom," recording numerous pieces. However, a tragic mishap resulted in the loss of many recordings due to a server failure where the copies and recorded tracks were stored. Much of the material from different periods was lost, and only a few recordings were recovered after an expensive data recovery process at a Madrid-based laboratory. This difficult moment led Medina to contemplate shutting down Last Knight permanently and abandoning music altogether.
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After a period of creative and existential dormancy, Medina resumed work and re-recorded the lost parts of the trilogy "The Lords of Wisdom," an extensive musical work inspired by the Middle Ages. Currently, he is deeply engaged in the production tasks of what will be his most ambitious work to date, consisting of six albums that form the trilogy.
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