Jon Anderson continues to enjoy the ride

Jon Anderson is flirting with his wife.

The former frontman of Yes, one of the most successful progressive rock bands in history, is writing a song for his summer Brazilian tour and wants his wife, Jane Luttenberger Anderson, to sing it for him. “She speaks perfect Portuguese. She’s very good,” she coos. “I’ve tried to get her to sing with me on stage so many times. She’s very shy… but she’s certainly not shy with me.”

Wrapping up the solo tour that began in February and gearing up for performances in London and Brazil, the legendary vocalist says he doesn’t much care where the stage is. “I just like to go up and sing to people, it doesn’t matter if it’s for 100 people or 10,000. I love the energy of a stage. Now, in my solo show, I can tell more about my life, share crazy jokes and sing some songs”. Touring solo without the band he co-founded in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire has been liberating. “I’m singing the Yes songs the way I originally wrote them,” he says of his current repertoire, which also includes Paul Simon’s “America,” a nod to his recent US citizenship. Anderson has overcome any bad blood he may have shed in 2008 when, after illness kept him from touring for four years, Yes replaced him with Benoit David, an Anderson-like Anderson who had fronted the Yes tribute band , Close to the Edge.
“We all have a ticket to this life and we should just enjoy the ride,” Anderson says.

It’s a seemingly fitting mantra for the musician at this stage in his 50-year career, a career that was nearly cut short when, in 2008, an asthma attack led to acute respiratory failure, landing the singer in hospital and requiring six operations. . . “I’m a little hoarse this morning,” Anderson says. “I took my medicine, an inhaler, a strong one that I take once a month, and it makes my larynx hard.” But other than that, Anderson says he never felt better and his voice never stronger. “My secret?” Honey and lemon spray. Oh, and I drink a lot of water.

“I’m very optimistic about life,” Anderson continues when asked what drives him these days. “The abundance of life is just incredible. We all have a feeling that things will change… and we must change. We have to start sharing the beauty of this world and its incredible abundance with everyone on this planet.”

Anderson, whose lyrics often explore high-flown allegories and ponder the meaning of life, is again enjoying the structured long form as evidenced by “Open,” a 21-minute opus he released last November. Her next release, ‘Ever’, is an extension of that song. Also on tap: a new album debut in Asia this summer. “It’s a combination of quiet songs and ideas that have haunted me for the last two years,” says the artist who once claimed to see fairies in the fourth dimension.

“I told my friend, ‘find me a good record company and we’ll get it out.’ It’s different these days,” he continues, “because you can choose to just post it online or you can use a record company to promote yourself.” With more than 9,000 likes on Facebook and almost as many followers on Twitter, the reshaped music landscape isn’t escapes Anderson.In fact, ‘Open’ was released online for digital download.

The man behind the warhorses of classic rock radio songs like ”And You and I,” ”Heart of the Sunrise,” ”Long Distance Runaround,” and ”I’ve Seen All Good People- was introduced to a whole new audience when his voice from ‘In High Places’ was featured prominently on Kanye West’s ‘Dark Fantasy’.

“It’s great that different people around the world are hearing your voice,” Anderson says of the unexpected announcement. “[Kayne] sells so many records. My voice is recognizable, so one or two people might think ‘who’s that’ and go online and find out. Then they open that door and discover, wow, there’s so much music. It’s a whole new generation of fans, why not?

Anderson says that if given the choice, her collaboration wish list would include Stevie Wonder (“when I hear her voice… she’s just on another planet”) and Bonnie Raitt (“she’s so soulful”). And the place of her dreams is Carnegie Hall. “I’ve always wanted to play it. So I practice at every show. I hope one day I’ll get there.”