Guy Babylon’s Las Vegas Twister Video Released on iTunes

The only original music video by the late Guy Babylon, Elton John's acclaimed keyboardist and arranger for 21 years, has been released on iTunes.com, and can now be downloaded by fans for the first time since it was produced in 2008.

"Las Vegas Twister," a fast-paced, multi-instrument tune with an upbeat country flavor, is a fitting tribute to Babylon's diverse talent as a composer, musician and visual artist. He not only wrote the music, but directed the video and performed all instruments, including keyboard, piano, autoharp, castlebar, drums, melodica and vibes.

"It started out as a simple idea, and just grew," said Babylon's wife, Kathy, who released the video on what would have been the couple's 20th wedding anniversary on February 27. "At first, he was experimenting with the autoharp, which he was teaching himself to play, but then he started adding other instruments, which inspired the full video."

Babylon did much of the recording in hotel rooms, while touring with Elton John, and then finished the final mix in his Los Angeles recording studio. He surprised Kathy with it, for her birthday.

"I was completely blown away," she said. "I couldn't believe it. I was surprised that he put himself in the video, because he was always so shy. But the way he did it, you can see that it's all about the music, all the little nuances and camera angles, having four things going all at once. Whenever he did something, it was always 100 percent."

Sadly, Babylon died less than a year later, on September 2, 2009, after suffering a heart attack. Elton John eulogized him as "...one of the most brilliant musicians I ever knew; a true genius."

Since 1988, Babylon appeared in 1,351 concerts with the Elton John Band and performed on many albums and movie soundtracks, including "The Lion King" and "The Road to El Dorado." He also produced the original cast recording of John's Broadway musical "Aida," for which he won a Grammy award, and was the musical arranger for the musical "Lestat." More recently, he collaborated on music for the animated motion picture "Gnomeo and Juliet," which Elton John, who executive produced the film, dedicated to his friend in the closing credits.

The "Las Vegas Twister" video is available for download at http://itunes.apple.com/us/music-video/las-vegas-twister/id418365699. Other music by Guy Babylon is available through his official Web site, www.BabylonMusic.biz.

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