Seventeen is Kayak's seventeenth studio album. Band leader Ton Scherpenzeel was confronted with an exodus after Cleopatra - The crown of Isis. Seventeen is distributed by the InsideOut Music record label, a major player in the progressive rock market and itself part of Sony BMG. The initiative for this came from the manager of Riverside, which already released albums through InsideOut Music.
The album was recorded in the KHS studio of Scherpenzeel with additional recordings in the Lakeside Studios in Loosdrecht and The Grien Room in Leeuwarden. Special guest on this album is guitarist Andrew Latimer of Camel, the band with which Scherpenzeel gave several performances before the creation of this album. Most of the music is from the period two years prior to the album. Only a few pieces predate that, such as Feathers and tar, which is based on an unreleased piece from Cleopatra. The album is dedicated to Lida Rikkert, Scherpenzeel's mother and an amateur violinist and first piano teacher.
The album was positively received within the progressive rock niche. To promote the album, Kayak will perform with Bart Schwertmann (vocals), Marcel Singor (guitar), Kristoffer Gildenlöw (bass), Ton Scherpenzeel (keyboards) and Collin Leijenaar (drums). Leijenaar was not available at the time of shooting; Robbemont not during the planned concert series. Scherpenzeel felt relieved because Gildenlöw and Leijenaar had already played together during a tour of Neal Morse. The album had been in the Dutch Album Top 100 (places 6 and 66) for two weeks prior to that.
Line up:
Ton Scherpenzeel – keyboards, vocals, bass guitar
Bart Schwertmann – vocals (was the first singer to respond, Scherpenzeel put an advertisement for new singers but stayed with his first choice)
Marcel Singor – guitar
of:
Lean Robbemont – drums
Kristoffer Gildenlöw – bass (track 11)
Rens van der Zalm – violin (track 10)
Izak Boom – banjo, ukulele (track 9)
Nico Outhuijse – percussion (tracks 2, 5, 6, 8, 11) and background vocals
Andrew Latimer – guitar (track 6)
