Drummer-percussionist and all-around rhythm master Carl Palmer is a feature of more chapters in the Book of Rock than nearly any other musician in the world. His performances with Atomic Rooster, Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP) and Asia cast down more thunder and lightening than generated in a hundred monsoons.

In 2006, the rumblings of Palmer’s return can clearly be heard in the distance.

His work on such classics as “Knife Edge,” and “Heat of the Moment” is often mimicked but rarely — if ever — duplicated. As a result, Palmer has unintentionally established himself as the premier template from which to mold a rock drummer. Unintentionally — though his beats are eminently propulsive — Palmer has never been purely a ‘rock’ drummer. What he does best is execute a brilliant balance between the potential for harmony and/or dissonance of his acoustic and electronic instruments and then apply them to a rock-classical music hybrid.

Palmer’s best work has often come as a 20-minute slice of pretentious but palatable pop — ELP’s “Toccata” is a prime example — sandwiched between a pair of three-minute radio-friendly ditties. His playing runs the gamut from the simple to the symphonic, without the listener ever sensing any unnatural shift.

In 1982, Palmer joined three like-minded virtuosos with resumes as impressive as his own: Steve Howe of Yes, Geoff Downes of The Buggles and John Wetton of King Crimson. Together, they convened the multi-platinum hit machine known as Asia. The group was an instant success and earned enough gold to cover the Great Pyramid of Giza that they had stylized into their band logo.

Though the group has existed in one form or another since 1982, it was the original lineup that ensured sellout concerts worldwide. On the occasion of their twenty-fifth anniversary, Palmer and his original Asia partners are preparing to reunite. In anticipation of that coming reunion and to promote his first tour outside of Europe as a solo artist, the reclusive Palmer sat for an exclusive interview with et. Excerpts:

Carl Palmer: I have been touring with my own band here in Europe for the last five years, actually. I played the MTV ProgFest in Bucharest, which is the main event of the year there. I managed to record a DVD, which will be coming out later this year, so that will be quite nice. This is the first thing that I have done in America since 1998, though. I have had two albums out in that time. They have done reasonably well. I have done a lot of classical adaptations, which is very similar to what Emerson, Lake & Palmer did. We do a lot of adaptations that ELP used to play, especially if they were instrumental because I only play instrumental music now. I have taken those songs on keyboard and arranged them for guitar.

It seemed a little bit silly that after being in ELP for thirty-odd years to go out and play what I wanted to play with a keyboard. The guitar players today are so good, not like in the ‘70s when ELP began. The guy that I have is the main teacher at the Brighton Institute of [Modern] Music.

When you translate this music from keyboard to guitar, it kind of lives again and is a whole new deal. It really is very exciting. I thought that to go out with keyboards wouldn’t really look right and wouldn’t really sound right. It is not moving forward in any way. Also, I needed to keep it a trio because I enjoy playing in a trio and have done so since about ‘68. So the lead guitar seemed to be the best way to go, and it has proved very successful.

I think that there is a lot of that going on, to be honest even with an instrumental band, I can play to 2,000 or 2,500 people a night. They have listened to whatever they could get hold of and they are incredibly versed in what is going on, but have only recently been able to see it done live.

It is incredibly rewarding. Of course when you are in Europe it is great because if you travel 100 miles in any direction, it is almost another culture; completely unlike in America where if you travel 100 miles it is exactly the same! [laughs]

Yeah! There was one piece from the Brain Salad Surgery album, my favorite album, called “Toccata.” It was the first piece of music ever recorded with electronic drums. Everybody thought that it was Keith Emerson playing it on his keyboards, but we didn’t make a big deal out of it. We were just keen to sort of be on the cutting edge, as it were.

I play that onstage, though I don’t have the electronic drums anymore because they were a bit too weird sounding. [laughs] We play it in this new arrangement, and you could hear a pin drop in the room when we play it. It is just hard and full-on prog-rock, and it is amazing how something like that goes down in a concert environment.

I play “Barbarian” by Bartók and I play “Fanfare” by the American composer Copland. I also play “Hoedown,” which is from the Rodeo Suite. We do Carmina Burana by Orff and we do a version of “The Flight of the Bumblebee” that is just amazing. I do Romeo and Juliet and “Enemy God [and the Dance of the Spirits of the Darkness]” by Prokofiev, which was on the Works album by ELP. So in all it is like an hour and 50 minutes.

I really enjoyed that very first Atomic Rooster record. It was from that particular album that I firmly stated in my mind that I always wanted to play in a trio. I even play about three quarters of Tarkus and it is mostly instrumental, but I didn’t want things to sound too much like some kind of cabaret act. If the music stands on its own instrumentally then we do it, and if it doesn’t then I won’t play it.

I have met with all of the guys and I have made my statements about it. I am quite happy to look at the future and at doing something with the original guys in Asia, but I am not really keen on making any studio recordings.

I do believe that in a live environment, if we were to play pieces from ELP, Steve played something from Yes, John Wetton did something from King Crimson and Geoff Downes did “Video Killed the Radio Star” with the first full Asia album, you would see the whole concept and the whole history of prog-rock in one show — and that has validity.

But I think to ram a new album down people’s throats is not really what it is all about. I think that a live DVD would certainly be in the cards if the band sounded good. et