PICCHIO DAL POZZO are considered to be one of the very few "Canterbury" inspired bands that emerged from Italy's fertile 1970's progressive rock musical scene. The sextet known as "Picchio dal Pozzo" surges forth via romantically melodic overtones, swiftly implemented time signatures and jazzy interplay in concert with the proverbial peaks, valleys, knotty twists and circuitous turns. With vocal performances reminiscent, in part, of a cross between Robert Wyatt and Jon Anderson, and excellent keyboard work by Aldo De Scalzi, the album more than earns a place amongst the great releases of the late 1970s Canterbury scene. "Camere Zimmer Rooms" is a must for all those enamoured of both Italian prog as well as the Canterbury music scene. Line-up / Musicians Andrea Beccari/bass,horn,percussion,vocals Aldo De Scalzi/keyboards,percussion,vocals Paolo Griguolo/guitar,percussion,vocals Giorgio Karaghiosoff/percussion,vocals Guests: Fabio Canini/drums,percussion Vittorio De Scalzi/flute Leonardo Lagorio/sax Gerry Manarolo/guitar Carlo Pascucci/drums Ciro Perrino/xylophone Discography(Album) Picchio Dal Pozzo 1976
Made up from members of Gilgamesh, Soft Machine and Caravan, Soft Heap were a complex, jazzy and, sadly, short-lived supergroup-of-sorts, who were active at the back-end of the seventies for a short while, producing this memorable studio album in 1978 as well as a live release called 'Al Dente' a year later. Featuring the supremely-talented Alan Gowen(keyboards) - who would die tragically at just 33 thanks to cancer - as well as Pip Pyle(drums), Elton Dean(sax), Hugh Hopper(bass) and Marc Charig(trombone), Soft Heap failed to generate any genuine commercial success in their truncated time together but did garner a cult following that has slowly grown over the years, thanks in part to progressive rock's rise in popularity since the early 1990's. Those familiar with either the 'Seven' or 'Bundles' albums by many of this group's former employers Soft Machine will find much to admire here, though, 'Soft Heap' does add an electronic glaze to the sophisticated jazz overalls that cultivates an identity of it's own. Alan Gowen is very much the lead player, showcasing his phenomenal keyboard abilities to full effect whilst never completely dominating proceedings and thus allowing each his of cohorts the space and time they need to develop their own individual ideas and themes. Loose and mellow jazz-prog, expertly delivered. Line-up / Musicians Hugh Hopper/bass Elton Dean/sax Alan Gowen/keyboards Pip Pyle/drums Mark Charig/cornet,trumpet Radu Malfatti/trombone Discography(Album) Soft Heap 1978
1.Circle Line 2.A.W.O.L. 3.Petit 3's 4.Terra Nova 5.Fara 6.Short Hand
This album is
the only album from a dutch band to be released on the Vertigo "Swirl"
label. It is also the only album Panthéon ever released. Panthéon made
music similar to Focus and Solution. Jazzy, canterbury like progressive
rock. They started as a fivepiece highschoolband and won a recording
session at a national talent scout festival. The recorded single gave
them attention and this paved the way to record an album. The album
opens with Daybreak, which resembles Focus' House Of The King a bit. The
melody is played by the flute and it has a guitar solo in the middle.
There are also some wordless vocals like Thijs van Leer could have done.
Anaïs also reminds me of a softer song by Focus, again the song is
driven by flute and guitar. It is a very peaceful track. With Apocalyps
the sound changes more to the Solution direction. The main instruments
are saxophone and organ, although the flute appears on this one also.
This is a very sunny and jazzy track. The Madman is a funny short
warm-up piece that leads to the highlight of the album, Orion. In this
track both the Focus and the Solution side come together. It contains
great melodies. Panthéon have an unique sound of their own, it is just
to point out in which corner of the proglandscape Panthéon can be
found.The CD contains three bonus tracks, who were released as singles
in 1972.
Circus produced
a tightly woven jazz-rock sound, sometimes resembling Jethro Tull or
Caravan, while comparisons to early King Crimson can also be assessed.
Without the help of keyboards, Circus applied saxophone and flute to
their impassioned but melodic brand of progressive music, with Chris
Burrows' drum work coming to the forefront in nearly all of their
tracks. The original Transatlantic recordings from 1969 were released in
2000 by the Castle label, combining to create Circus' debut album. With
Mel Collins on sax, Circus' eight tracks are wonderfully inventive,
merging the band's uplifting musical spirit with their innovative
laid-back sound. Collins' sax gives their interpretation of "Norwegian
Wood" a "juicy" sound, to say the least, with enough musical accessories
to make it novel. "Pleasures" has Mel Collins' dad playing alto flute
(which has a unique sound all its own) mixed in with some dreamy sax
parts into rhythms that are both busy and delicate. Ian Jelfs' vocals
aren't that becoming, proven on "Father of My Daughter" as he teams up
with Collins for the singing duties, but it's Chris Burrows' Indian
tabla that steals that show here. Burrows' best example of his
percussive talents comes alive on "St. Thomas," partnering his drums
perfectly with the woodwinds, while his conga's give "Don't Make
Promises" its jazz-to-rock sway. Bass man Kirk Riddle is absolutely
bewildering on Charles Mingus' "11 B.S.," displaying the band's love for
improvisation while putting the electric guitar to good experimental
use. Circus made a few more albums following this one, but it's here
that the well-traveled Collins truly shines, capturing this relatively
unknown band in their freshest stage. Line-up / Musicians Mel Collins/saxophone Phillip Goodhand-Tait/vocals,keyboards Ian Jelfs/guitar,vocals Kirk Riddle/bass Chris Burrows/drums Alan Bunn/drums Discography Circus 1969
1.Norwegian Wood 2.Pleasures of a Lifetime 3.St. Thomas 4.Goodnight John Morgan 5.Father of my Daughter 6.II B.S. 7.Monday Monday 8.Don't Make Promises
The band
Arzachel was a pseudonym of the band Uriel, a short-lived English
psychedelic rock band during the 1960s, composed of Steve Hillage
(guitar/vocals), Dave Stewart (organ), Clive Brooks (drums) and Mont
Campbell (bass/vocals). Uriel were formed in London, in 1967. They
initially played covers of Cream, Jimi Hendrix, John Mayall & the
Bluesbreakers and The Nice. After Hillage left in 1968 to attend
university, the remaining trio began playing original material written
by Campbell and Stewart and in early 1969 changed their name to Egg,
the Canterbury scene progressive rock band. Hillage’s future band called
Khan featured Stewart on keyboards. Shortly after Egg signed to Decca, a
tiny company named Zackariya Enterprises gave the musicians an
opportunity to record a psychedelic session for the burgeoning market.
Since this was not "Egg material" (and besides, they were under contract
now to Decca), Uriel re-united to produce their sole album in June
1969, a one-off psychedelic project under an assumed name Arzachel
(named after a crater on the moon, itself named after a medieval Spanish
astronomer). Collectors of rare psychedelia recognize ARZACHEL's sole
LP as being one of the most desired (and pricey) relics from the late
'60s. Line-up / Musicians Clive Brooks/drums Mont Campbell/bass,vocals Dave Stewart/organ Steve Hillage/guitar,vocals Discography Arzachel 1969
1.Garden of Earthly Delights 2.Azathoth 3.Queen Street gang 4.Leg 5.Clean innocent fun 6.Metempsychosis
Founded in 1966
as Bruno's Blues Band by guitarist Phil Miller, his elder brother,
pianist Steve Miller, drummer Pip Pyle and bassist Jack Monck, the band
gigged around London for a few years. In 1968, saxophonist Lol Coxhill
joined them, and the band's name was changed to Steve Miller's Delivery.
In 1969, the band teamed up with blues singer Carol Grimes and bassist
Roy Babbington replaced Monck. The resulting line-up recorded and
released one album: Fools Meeting. Although Grimes wanted to appear as a
band member, the record company released the album under "Carol Grimes
and Delivery". In 1971, Pyle left the band to join Gong and was replaced
by Laurie Allan (who also later joined Gong). Soon after that, the band
broke up.Phil Miller went on to found Matching Mole with Robert Wyatt
and Dave Sinclair, but a new Delivery line-up was assembled in the
spring of 1972 consisting of the Miller brothers, Pyle and Richard
Sinclair (bass and vocals), then Steve Miller's bandmate in Caravan. The
band played a few live shows in August/September that year, but with
Steve Miller being replaced by Dave Sinclair (from Matching Mole and
Caravan), the band changed its name to Hatfield and the North. A final
Delivery performance took place in November 1972 for the BBC's Radio One
In Concert series, with an unusual line-up bringing together the Miller
brothers, Pyle, Babbington, Coxhill and Sinclair, the latter on vocals
only.Steve Miller went on to release two shared (rather than "duo")
albums with Coxhill for Virgin's Caroline budget label in 1973/74.Roy
Babbington, who had played with the Keith Tippett Group and Nucleus in
1971-73, went on to join Soft Machine from 1973-76. Laurie Allan
rejoined Gong a couple of times, most notably appearing on 1973's Flying
Teapot, and later Barbara Thompson's Paraphernalia. Line-up / Musicians Phil Miller/guitar Steve Miller/piano Pip Pyle/drums Jack Monk/bass Lol Coxhill/saxophone Roy Babbington/bass Carol Grimes/vocals Richard Sinclair/bass,vocals Laurie Allan/drums Discography Fools Meeting 1970
1.Blind To Your Light 2.Miserable Man 3.Home Made Ruin 4.Is It Really The Same 5.We Were Satisfied 6.The Wrong Time 7.Fighting It Out 8.Fools Meeting
Pazop were an
early-'70s progressive rock group with some jazz-fusion tendencies from
Belgium. Though their music was beyond the ordinary, they were never
able to release an album during their short lifetime. Pazop was formed
at the end of 1971 by vocalist and flautist Dirk Bogaert, keyboardist
Frank Wuyts, violinist Kuba Szczepansky, bassist Patrick Cogneaux, and
drummer Jacky Mauer. Wuyts and Szczepanski had just left progressive
rock band Wallace Collection, Wuyts had previously been involved with
Bogaert, Cogneaux, and Mauer had been in another short-lived prog band,
Waterloo. Cogneaux had also been a member of Arkham, a group that
included future members of Magma and Univers Zero, while Sczcepansky, a
classically trained musician born in Poland, played in the Brussels
Opera Philharmonic Orchestra for a couple years before turning to rock
with Wallace Collection in 1970. Even before they had decided on a
name, the new group approached Wallace Collection's label, EMI, and
though the record company did not sign the group, they offered them a
two-day studio session to record a better demo. The four-song demo was
in a style far more commercial than their normal sound, which had
influences as diverse as Miles Davis, 20th century classical music,
progressive rock groups like King Crimson and Caravan, and Frank Zappa.
With the new demo Szczepanski and Mauer headed to Paris to hit up every
record label there for a contract, but they had no success. They also
finally came up with a name for themselves, Pas Op, Flemish for
"Warning" but the spelling was soon changed to Pazop. They finally got a
contract with producer Luigi Oglival in March of 1972, who was able to
get them signed to CBS and the Barclay label. The band went into the
Herouville Studio in France in July 1972 to record the album Psychillis
of a Lunatic Genius. The group also played several gigs at the
Gibus-Club in Paris, which brought them some excellent press, as well as
other shows in France and Belgium. Meanwhile, near the end of that
year, Barclay rejected their album as being too non-commercial, and
chose to release one of the earlier demos as a single instead, much to
the group's chagrin. Oglival, who realized he wouldn't recoup the studio
costs, dropped the band as well, reneging on his contract and even
keeping the master tapes. In 1973, the group was hired by pop musician
Sylvain Van Holme to provide modern rock adaptations of various
classical pieces by Tchaikovsky, Dvorák, Mozart and Verdi. Van Holme
decided to co-produce a new record by Pazop, and booked them at the
Start Studio in Belgium in the late summer of 1973. Van Holme contacted
several record companies, but again the album was not commercial enough.
The group continued touring Belgium and France until July of 1974
before calling it quits. Their inability to get enough gigs and to
release either of their LPs had left them financially and emotionally
strapped, and they split up for more successful groups. Their master
tapes sat in a desk drawer for years. Pazop's two albums, minus the four
commercial demos, were finally released on CD by Musea in 1996. Line-up / Musicians Dirk Bogaert/vocals,flute Frank Wuyts/keyboards,vocals Kuba Szczepansky/violin Patrick Cogneaux/bass Jacky Mauer/percussions Discography(Album) Psychillis Of A Lunatic Genius 1972
1.Le la Loo Loo le La 2.Harlequin of Love 3.Crying for Disaster's Hand 4.What Is the Further Purpose 5.Swaying Fire 6.Mirela 7.Freedom Dance 8.Lovelight 9.Bami, Lychee, Si 10.Harlequin of Love 11.Can It Be Sin 12.And the Hermit Will Be the Master 13.M.M.M. 14.In the Army (Devil Likes Smoke) 15.Airport Formalities and Taking Off... 16.It's the End
KHAN's bio
reads like a who's who of former and future celebs from EGG, GONG,
HATFIELD & THE NORTH and NATIONAL HEALTH. The initial line-up of
this early 70's Canterbury outfit consisted of keyboard player Dave
Stewart, guitarist Steve Hillage, bassist Nick Greenwood and drummer Pip
Pyle. Before recording their one and only album, Pyle moved on to GONG
and was replaced by Eric Peachy (ex-DR. K'S BLUES BAND). The group
disbanded after the release of the album in 1972."Space Shanty" is made
up of six ambitious tracks composed almost entirely by Hillage. All four
musicians are in fine form but the album is particularly dominated by
Hillage's spacey/bluesy guitar and Stewart's effervescent Hammond play.
Although much of the material is based on a repetitive
verse/chorus/verse cycle and has recurrent musical themes, the band
frequently breaks out into extended instrumental freak outs, either
soloing or engaging in formidable guitar/organ interplay. This album is a
fine sample of early Canterbury/bluesy space rock. Line-up / Musicians Nick Greenwood/bass,vocals Steve Hillage/guitars,vocals Eric Peachy/drums Dave Stewart/organ,piano,marimbas Discography Space Shanty 1972
1.Space Shanty 2.Stranded 3.Mixed Up Man Of The Mountains 4.Driving To Amsterdam 5.Stargazers 6.Hollow Stone
Travelling are a
French band playing in the trio format (keyboards, bass, drums).
Musically they have links to Soft Machine, Robert Wyatt and ELP.
Keyboard player Yves Hasslemann has a fairly varied playing style,
incorporating classical, blues and jazz elements. In contrast to Soft
Machine's Mike Ratledge, Hasselmann plays piano more frequently, but
occasionally fuzz organ can be heard as well. Nice album with some
excellent piano and organ playing. Sjef Oellers In the mid- to late 60s,
free jazz was a prominent feature in the Parisian nightclubs and
overall had a strong foothold throughout France. On the vanguard for
this movement of jazz was the Futura label. Today the label has attained
a mythical stature; 1) because of the consistent high quality music the
label produced and 2) the scarcity of the product. In the early 70s,
the Futura label expanded its scope to include new and exciting
experimental avant rock music which seemed to mesh well with the style
of jazz the label portrayed. These albums were designated as the RED
series and debuted, naturally enough, with a band called Red Noise.
Perhaps the most accessible of these RED bands was Travelling, a
keyboard-based trio that probably represented best what the label was
about: Jazz, rock and an experimental inquisitiveness. Their sole album
is a combination of the early Canterbury movement circa Soft Machine 2,
the continental equivalent in Supersister, piano jazz and avant-garde
classical/electronics. In fact, the 18-minute title track has all these
elements which include Wyatt-esque vocals (however, here in French),
fuzz bass, fuzz organ, piano jazz, complex meters and echoed early
synthesizers/machines; a contrast in tight ensemble playing combined
with loose free improvisation. The other five shorter tracks are really
just the same though more contained within the environment of a small
composition. The closer demonstrates a melancholic sadness not displayed
elsewhere.
This amazing
album is the first of the two studio albums the short-lived Canterbury
Scene outfit Gilgamesh managed to record. Led by keyboardist / composer
Alan Gowen, who was the group's main contributor, the group on this
album also includes guitarist Phil Lee, bassist Jeff Clyne and drummer
Michael Travis. The album was issued by Virgin Records’ budget-line
Caroline imprint. By the mid-‘70s, Virgin’s support for bands of this
ilk was beginning to wane, with punk and new wave soon ruling the day.
Arriving late in the game, Gowen and company sounded most similar to
Canterbury supergroup Hatfield and the North, and in fact Hatfields
keyboardist Dave Stewart co-produced the album. Gilgamesh had clearly
mastered the Hatfields’ suites’n’segues approach to Canterbury-style
complexity while sidestepping blatant imitation -- for the most part.
Certainly from the first notes of opening three-part suite “One End
More/Phil’s Little Dance/Worlds of Zin,” Gilgamesh prove capable of
nimble thematic lines and knotty stops and starts, while admirably
refraining from pyrotechnics. The suite's kitchen-sink approach makes
room for King Crimson-ish Mellotron and grand piano flourishes
(recalling Keith Tippett on Lizard) as well as Stevie Wonder-ish
funk-lite clavinet, but the uniform production smooths out such quirky
juxtapositions. “Lady and Friend” provides a true jolt, with Clyne’s
lullaby-like bass melody, seasoned by light electric piano/guitar
accompaniment, preceded by a brief blast of full-band unison riffing
seemingly designed as a rude interruption. Just over a minute and a half
long, Gowen’s “Arriving Twice” is a wonderful interlude, with acoustic
guitar, electric piano, and synth sketching a melody that draws from
jazz, folk, and classical but ultimately transcends such labels; it’s
the perfect segue into “Island of Rhodes,” the first portion of the
album’s next three-part suite, with the track’s namesake keyboard
floating in nocturnal ambience a la In a Silent Way before the
introduction of a dreamily beautiful theme accompanied by the subtlest
percussive embellishments from Travis. The suite ultimately offers its
own share of unpredictable twists, ending with a driving vamp as
guitarist Lee cuts loose, but the production again manages to avoid
shattering the prevailing vibe. The album does court Hatfields imitation
here and there -- “Jamo and Other Boating Disasters” features Amanda
Parsons’ soprano vocals in pure Northettes style during an interlude
that clearly strives for the drama of The Rotters’ Club’s “Mumps” coda,
while elsewhere Lee employs a decidedly Phil Miller-esque electric
guitar tone. But Gowen himself avoids obvious Canterbury devices,
eschewing fuzz organ solos during the music’s most animated moments in
favor of round-toned synth voicings that snake and float through rather
than pierce the air. Gilgamesh’s studio-based forays may have tamped
down the band’s woollier aspects revealed by the Cuneiform archival
recording Arriving Twice issued long after Gowen’s sadly premature
death, but in retrospect, the keyboardist and his bandmates were
charting their own inimitable direction, too briefly explored but
holding up admirably in recordings such as this, decades after the
fact. Line-up / Musicians Alan Gowen/piano,clavinet,synthesizers,mellotron Jeff Clyne/bass Phil Lee/guitars Michael Travis/drums Discography(Album) Gilgamesh 1975
1. One End More/Phil's Little Dance-For Phil Miller's Trousers/Worlds Of Zin a) One End More b) Phil's Little Dance-For Phil Miller's Trousers c) Worlds Of Zin 2.Lady and Friend 3.Notwithstanding 4.Arriving Twice 5.Island Of Rhodes/Paper Boat-For Doris/As If Your Eyes Were Open a) Island Of Rhodes b) Paper Boat-For Doris c) As If Your Eyes Were Open 6.For Absent Friends 7.We Are All/Someone Else's Food/Jamo And Other Boating Disasters-From The Holiday Of The Same Name a) We Are All b) Someone Else's Food c) Jamo And Other Boating Disasters-From The Holiday Of The Same Name 8.Just C
UK act QUANTUM
JUMP was formed in 1973, consisting of Rupert Hine (keyboards, vocals),
Mark Warner (guiatrs), John G. Perry (bass) and Trevor Morais (drums).
Fusion, jazz rock and funk where the foundations of their musical
explorations, and in 1973 and 1974 they recorded the material to be used
for their debut album, eventually issued by The Electric Record Company
in 1975 following their purchase of the rights of the album. "The Lone
Ranger" was issued as a single from the album, and although initially
gathering a lot of interest at first this abruptly stopped when the BBC
banned the single from being played due to what they deemed were
inappropriate lyrical contents.The lack of sound management and the
disillusion of many aspects of the band where the banning of said single
was the last in a long list of challenges resulted in Warner leaving
the band at this point, opting for a place in Cat Stevens backing band.
The remaining trio decided to give this project one more shot though,
and with the help of a number of musical friends "Barracuda" was
recorded and released in 1977. A tour followed, with Roye Albrightson
(guitars) joining the band for live purposes. Album sales were
disappointing though, and at the end of 1977 Quantum Jump disbanded. In
1979 their previously banned single "The Lone Ranger" was reissued; and
with the ban now lifted the band suddenly got a posthumous highly
unexpected rise in popularity, eventually selling half a million copies
of the single and entering the pop charts; peaking at the number three
slot.The original quartet decided to reform due to this, and besides
issuing the compilation "Mixes" they also had a performance at TV show
"The Top Of The Pops". The band fell apart again shortly after this
though, this time for good. Line-up / Musicians Rupert Hine/vocals,keyboards John G. Perry/bass,vocals Trevor Morais/drums,percussion Mark Warner/guitars,vocals Discography(Album) Quantum Jump 1976
1.Captain Boogaloo 2.Over Rio 3.The Lone Ranger 4.No American Starship 5.Alto Loma Road 6.Cocobana HAvana 7.Constant Forest 8.Something At The Bottom Of The Sea - Stapping Stones (Part 1: Stepping stones) 9.Something At The Bottom Of The Sea - The Roving Finger (Part 2: The roving finger) 10.Something At The Bottom Of The Sea - Stepping Rocks (Part 3: Stepping rocks) 11.Something At The Bottom Of The Sea (Part 4: (flatline...) 12.Captain Boogaloo (Mixing) 13.The Lone Ranger (Mixing) 14.No American Starship (Mixing) 15.Over Rio (Mixing) 16.Drift
Featuring
members of Soft Machine, Gilgamesh, and National Health, Soft Heap was
invariably an adventurous band that had girded themselves for live work,
with this eponymous set their sole studio release. Recorded in late
1978, the set reflected the prominence of Elton Dean's saxophone, its
position immediately setting the group apart from their Canterbury scene
colleagues. On "Circle Line," Dean's horn is melancholy, on "Petit 3's"
it's luminescent, on "Terra Nova" it's playful, while on "Short Hand"
it's nothing short of dizzying. But Soft Heap was not a one-man band,
with keyboardist Alan Gowen particularly illuminating on the
improvisational "A.W.O.L." while giving "Fara" its lovely, pensive
quality. As the quieter keyboardist and more flamboyant saxophonist vie
and intertwine, the rhythm team of Hugh Hopper and Pip Pyle center the
pieces, with the former also providing a tugging, underlying melodic
counterpoint. Together the quartet created jazz at its most intriguing
and inspiring. SOFT HEAP only released one studio album in the late
Seventies. The best way to describe it is to make references to the mid
period SOFTS releases, namely the avant jazz albums ("Fourth" and
"Fifth" respectively). Another album of live material was released in
the mid-Nineties, which also featured the likes of John Greaves and Mark
Hewins. Both albums are of high interest for Canterbury afficiandos. Line-up / Musicians Hugh Hopper/bass Elton Dean/saxophone Alan Gowen/keyboards Pip Pyle/drums Mark Hewins/guitar Discography Soft Heap 1978
1.Circle Line 2.A.W.O.L. 3.Petit 3's 4.Terra Nova 5.Fara 6.Short Hand
