Jadis are a British

neo-progressive rock Neo-progressive rock (also known as neo-prog) is a subgenre of progressive rock which developed in the UK in the early 1980s. The genre's most popular band, Marillion, achieved mainstream success in the decade. Several bands from the genre have c ...

group. They play guitar-driven rock with the use of synthesisers to add depth and atmosphere, and an emphasis on melody. They were previously signed to

InsideOut Music Inside Out Music is a German independent record label originally based in Kleve, North Rhine-Westphalia, and dedicated to the publication of progressive rock, progressive metal and related styles. In 2009, it formed a partnership with Century Med ...

. The name Jadis is taken from the novel ''The Magician's Nephew'' by

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

. The same character appears as the white witch in ''The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe''

History

Jadis were formed in 1982 and in 1987 self-released the cassette ''Jadis'', which was produced by Marillion's

Steve Rothery Steven Rothery (born 25 November 1959) is an English musician. He is the original guitarist and the longest continuous member of the British rock band Marillion. Outside Marillion, Rothery has recorded two albums as part of the duo the Wishing ...

. In 1992, ''More Than Meets the Eye'' was released and was received well in the

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. In ...

scene. Jadis are led by Gary Chandler (

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

), although generally the whole group are given songwriting credit. Other original members of the band were Trevor Dawkins ( bass), Pete Salmon (

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

) and Paul Alwin ( drums), who was replaced by Mark Law in July 1988. Later members were

Martin Orford Martin Orford (born 10 June 1959, Bitterne, Southampton) is an English keyboard player best known as the founder of progressive rock bands IQ and Jadis. He also worked with former King Crimson, U.K. and Asia bassist John Wetton, and has released t ...

(

John Jowitt John Jowitt is a British bass guitarist known for his work with several British neo-progressive rock bands, such as Ark, IQ, Arena, Jadis and Frost*, as well as substituting for Trevor Bolder in Uriah Heep in 2013. He has been awarded the Briti ...

( bass) and Steve Christey ( drums). Orford and Jowitt were also members of IQ during that time. In the late 1990s, Orford and Jowitt left the band for a while and were replaced by Mike Torr (

) and Steve Hunt ( bass), but they returned for

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

's ''Understand''. After completing their album ''Photoplay'' in 2006, Orford left the band for a second time because he retired from the music industry. He was replaced with Italian session pianist/keyboardist Giulio Risi. The same year, Jowitt also left the band again, and was replaced with session player Andy Marlow. The band released the album ''See Right Through You'' in 2012, and ''No Fear of Looking Down'' in 2016. Their latest studio album ''Starting Point'' was released in 2017. The band are based in Southampton.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Jadis'' (LP, 1989) * ''More Than Meets the Eye'' (1992) * ''Across the Water'' (1994) * ''Somersault'' (1997) * ''Understand'' (2000) * ''Fanatic'' (2003) * ''More Than Meets the Eye'' (Special Edition) (2005) * ''Photoplay'' (2006) * ''See Right Through You'' (2012) * ''No Fear of Looking Down'' (2016) * ''More Than Meets the Eye'' (25th Anniversary Edition) (2017) * ''Starting Point'' (2017)

EPs

* ''Once Upon a Time'' (1993) * ''No Sacrifice'' (1994) * ''Once or Twice'' (1996) * ''Racing Sideways'' (Promotional CD to support the "Understand" Album) (2000) * ''The Great Outside'' (Promotional CD to support the "Fanatic" Album) (2003)

Live and compilation albums

* ''As Daylight Fades'' (1998) (live) * ''Medium Rare'' (2001) (compilation of two earlier EPs, ''Once Upon a Time'' and ''Once or Twice'', plus some additional tracks) * ''Alive Outside'' (2001) (live) * ''Medium Rare II'' (2019)

Videos/DVD

* ''View From Above'' (2003)

References

External links

Official Jadis site
* * {{Authority control English progressive rock groups Metal Mind Productions artists Inside Out Music artists