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Canterbury Sound
The Canterbury scene (or Canterbury sound) was a musical scene centred on the town of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Associated with progressive rock, the term describes a loosely-defined, improvisational style that blended elements of jazz, rock, and psychedelia. These musicians played together in numerous bands, with ever-changing and overlapping personnel, creating some similarities in their musical output. Many prominent British avant-garde or fusion musicians began their career in Canterbury bands, including Hugh Hopper, Steve Hillage, Dave Stewart (the keyboardist), Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Daevid Allen, and Mike Ratledge. Definition and history The Canterbury scene is largely defined by a set of musicians and bands with intertwined members. These are not tied by very strong musical similarities, but a certain whimsicality, touches of psychedelia, rather abstruse lyrics, and a use of improvisation derived from jazz are common ele ...
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Progressive Rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Initially termed "progressive pop", the style was an outgrowth of psychedelic bands who abandoned standard pop traditions in favour of instrumentation and compositional techniques more frequently associated with jazz, folk, or classical music. Additional elements contributed to its " progressive" label: lyrics were more poetic, technology was harnessed for new sounds, music approached the condition of "art", and the studio, rather than the stage, became the focus of musical activity, which often involved creating music for listening rather than dancing. Progressive rock is based on fusions of styles, approaches and genres, involving a continuous move between formalism and eclecticism. Due to its historical reception, the scope of progressiv ...
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Daevid Allen
Christopher David Allen (13 January 1938 – 13 March 2015), known professionally as Daevid Allen, sometimes credited as Divided Alien, was an Australian musician. He was co-founder of the psychedelic rock groups Soft Machine (in the UK, 1966) and Gong (in France, 1967).McFarlane, 1999, Biography Early years In 1960, inspired by the Beat Generation writers he had discovered while working in a Melbourne bookshop, Allen travelled to Paris, where he stayed at the Beat Hotel, moving into a room recently vacated by Allen Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky. While selling the '' International Herald Tribune'' around Le Chat Qui Pêche and the Latin Quarter, he met Terry Riley and also gained free access to the jazz clubs in the area. In 1961 Allen travelled to England and rented a room at Lydden, near Dover, where he soon began to look for work as a musician. He first replied to a newspaper advertisement for a guitar player to join Dover-based group the Rolling Stones (no connection w ...
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Lady June
June Campbell Cramer (3 June 1931 – 7 June 1999), better known as Lady June, was an English painter, poet and musician. She was associated with the Canterbury scene and recorded two albums. She exhibited and performed her works in several countries, often combining her painting, poetry and music into multimedia presentations. Richie Unterberger at AllMusic described her as a "Bohemian artist", and an obituary in ''The Independent'' called her "a great British eccentric and cosmic prankster". Biography June Campbell Cramer was born on 3 June 1931 in Doncaster in Yorkshire, England. Her parents were Scottish and Russian, and she was brought up in Plymouth according to the strict rules of the Plymouth Brethren, a conservative Evangelical Christian movement. In the late 1940s, her father, a fashion retailer, took her to the Spanish island of Majorca, where he introduced her to modelling. June moved to London in the 1950s where she worked as a model and studied at an art college. ...
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TheGuardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust Limited, Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. Since 2018, th ...
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Syd Arthur
Syd Arthur are an English psychedelic rock band, formed in Canterbury in 2003 by brothers frontman Liam and bassist Joel Magill, drummer Fred Rother and violinist Raven Bush. Raven Bush is the nephew of singer Kate Bush. Rother was officially replaced by the Magills' younger brother Josh in 2016. History The band released their self-titled debut album in 2006 on Madman Records and the ''Kingdoms Of Experience'' EP in 2008. The band then set up their own recording space, Wicker Studios, and their own label, Dawn Chorus Recording Company. In 2011 they self-released the ''Moving World'' EP and "Ode to the Summer" single, before releasing their second album, ''On an On'', in July 2012. The band's bassist, Joel Magill, stated that the band released the album themselves "because it’s the only way we know. It may have been harder and longer for us but it has given us more satisfaction, I think. But if a major label waved a lot of money at us and said you could work with anyone you wa ...
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The Wilde Flowers
The Wilde Flowers were an English psychedelic rock band from Canterbury, Kent. Formed in 1964, the group originally featured lead vocalist Kevin Ayers, lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist Brian Hopper, rhythm guitarist and vocalist Richard Sinclair, bassist Hugh Hopper and drummer Robert Wyatt. Despite not releasing any material during their brief three-year tenure, the band are generally considered to be the originators of the Canterbury scene. After their breakup in 1969, the group's members went on to form numerous key bands within the scene, including Soft Machine, Caravan and Camel. History After several years of jamming together, the Wilde Flowers were officially formed in 1964 by lead vocalist Kevin Ayers, lead guitarist, saxophonist and vocalist Brian Hopper, rhythm guitarist and vocalist Richard Sinclair, bassist and saxophonist Hugh Hopper, and drummer and vocalist Robert Wyatt. The group performed a series of live shows before their first recording session in March 1 ...
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Whitstable
Whitstable () is a town on the north coast of Kent adjoining the convergence of the Swale Estuary and the Greater Thames Estuary in southeastern England, north of Canterbury and west of Herne Bay. The 2011 Census reported a population of 32,100. The town, formerly known as Whitstable-on-Sea, was famous for its 'Native Oysters' which were collected from beds beyond the low water mark from Roman times until the mid-20th century. The annual Whitstable Oyster Festival takes place during the summer. In 1830, one of the earliest passenger railway services was opened by the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway Company. In 1832 the company built a harbour and extended the line to handle coal and other bulk cargos for the City of Canterbury. The railway has closed but the harbour still plays an important role in the town's economy. The railway route, known as The Crab and Winkle Line, is now a cycle path which leads to the neighbouring city of Canterbury. History Archaeological finds ...
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Gong (band)
Gong are a progressive rock band that incorporates elements of jazz and space rock into their musical style. The group was formed in Paris in 1967 by Australian musician Daevid Allen and English vocalist Gilli Smyth. Band members have included Didier Malherbe, Pip Pyle, Steve Hillage, Mike Howlett, Pierre Moerlen, Bill Laswell and Theo Travis. Others who have played on stage with Gong include Don Cherry, Chris Cutler, Bill Bruford, Brian Davison, Dave Stewart and Tatsuya Yoshida. Gong's 1970 debut album, ''Magick Brother'', featured a psychedelic pop sound. By the following year, the second album, ''Camembert Electrique'', featured the more psychedelic rock/space rock sound with which they would be most associated. Between 1973 and 1974, Gong released their best known work, the allegorical ''Radio Gnome Invisible'' trilogy, describing the adventures of Zero the Hero, the Good Witch Yoni and the Pot Head Pixies from the Planet Gong. In 1975, Allen and Smyth left the band, whi ...
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Didier Malherbe
Didier Malherbe (born January 22, 1943 in Paris), is a French jazz, rock and world music musician, known as a member of the bands Gong and Hadouk, as well as a poet. His first instrument was a saxophone, but he also plays flutes, alto clarinet, ocarina, Laotian Khen, Bawu flute, Hulusi and many other wind instruments. Since 1995, duduk has been his preferred instrument. Before Gong (1960–69) Didier Malherbe began playing saxophone at age 13 after hearing Charlie Parker's "Bloomdido", a title he later would adopt as his nickname. After two years of formal training on saxophone he began to participate in jam sessions at various Paris jazz clubs alongside the likes of Alby Cullaz, Eddy Louiss, Jacques Thollot ... He then moved away from jazz. "I had grown puzzled about bebop because of so many rules. Then free jazz arrived, which got rid of all the rules... I decided I'd rather look elsewhere". In 1962, after hearing the first Ravi Shankar album, he travelled to India, where ...
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In Cahoots
In Cahoots was a Canterbury scene band led by guitarist Phil Miller, their main composer. History The band was formed in November 1982 by Miller with Pip Pyle (drums), Richard Sinclair (bass) and Elton Dean (saxophone), as the Phil Miller Quartet. It was expanded to a quintet and given its definitive name when Peter Lemer (keyboards) joined in early 1983. Miller and Pyle had been working together in National Health and had been in Hatfield and the North with Sinclair before that, while Pyle and Dean were longstanding collaborators too, recently having worked together in the Weightwatchers (with pianist Keith Tippett) and Soft Heap (band), Soft Heap. Early in 1985, Hugh Hopper replaced Sinclair. The band appeared on Miller's first solo album, ''Cutting Both Ways'' (released 1987). In 1987, Steve Franklin replaced Lemer, and in 1988 Fred Thelonius Baker, Fred Baker replaced Hopper. This line-up appeared on Miller's solo album ''Split Seconds'', while ''In Cahoots Live 86-89'' was ...
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National Health
National Health were an English progressive rock band associated with the Canterbury scene. Founded in 1975, the band featured members of keyboardist Dave Stewart's band Hatfield and the North and Alan Gowen's band Gilgamesh, including guitarists Phil Miller and Phil Lee and bassist Mont Campbell as original members. The band was named after Stewart's National Health spectacles. Bill Bruford (previously of Yes and King Crimson) was the initial drummer, but was soon replaced by Pip Pyle. Campbell was replaced by Neil Murray and then John Greaves. Alan Gowen stopped performing with the group after their first album, but returned for their final tours, replacing Dave Stewart, who resigned after their second album. Guitarist Phil Miller was National Health's only constant member. With a frequently changing line-up, they toured extensively and released their first album, ''National Health'', in 1978. Although it was created during the rise of punk rock, the album is characteri ...
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Caravan (band)
Caravan are an English rock band from the Canterbury area, founded by former Wilde Flowers members David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Pye Hastings, and Richard Coughlan in 1968. The band have never achieved the great commercial success that was widely predicted for them at the beginning of their career, but are nevertheless considered a key part of the Canterbury scene of progressive rock acts, blending psychedelic rock, jazz, and classical influences to create a distinctive sound. The band were originally based in Whitstable, Kent, near Canterbury, but moved to London when briefly signed to Verve Records. After being dropped by Verve, the band signed to Decca Records, where they released their most critically acclaimed album, '' In the Land of Grey and Pink'', in 1971. Dave Sinclair left after the album's release and the group split up the following year. Hastings and Coughlan added new members, notably viola player Geoffrey Richardson, continuing on before splitting in 19 ...
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