“It was the first keyboard solo I’d heard on the radio for a very long time”: The Marillion song that proves Mark Kelly’s genius, by Adam Wakeman

In 2019 Prog asked Rick Wakeman’s son Adam to choose his favourite prog keyboardist. The ex Ozzy, Sabbath, Purple and Uriah Heep man chose Marillion’s Mark Kelly, and singled out the song that illustrated his reasons for the choice.

“Outside of my dad and his work with Yes, Marillion were the first proggy band I really liked. Mark’s playing seemed to fit perfectly with the rest of the band. There never seemed to be overplaying for the sake of it – which can be so prevalent in prog.

Play what’s necessary and complement the rest of the parts, not what you can shoehorn into each song. That’s how I like to hear music, and Mark always seem to do that effortlessly.

When solos were needed, they always seemed really melodic and memorable. Incommunicado [from 1987’s Clutching At Straws] is a classic example of this.

In fact, a stroke of genius in this track is that the main keyboard riff has more fast notes in it than the actual solo! Incommunicado was probably the first keyboard solo I’d heard on the radio for a very long time.

Marillion - Incommunicado - Official Music Promo Video - YouTube

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I love hearing and seeing musicians play live, and when it’s a player of Mark’s standard it’s never a disappointment. That said, I think when you play music for a living like we do, you get a level of appreciation when watching any musician – we all know how hard it can be to earn a living and how hard you have to work to get to a high standard.

I properly met Mark for the first time at a mutual friend’s dinner party many years ago, and we pretty much talked all evening. He was a really down-to-earth guy and it was a real pleasure to talk with him. We became good friends after that.

Mark is the perfect example of what you can achieve by playing and writing the right parts at the right moment. Any aspiring keyboard player can listen to a Marillion album and hear great playing that complements everybody else on the record.

When the time’s right for fast soloing, he pulls it out of the bag – but reins it in when others might overpower a song.”