Quiet Sun were an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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. Init ...

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

from the

Canterbury scene 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 styl ...

consisting of

Phil Manzanera Phillip Geoffrey Targett-Adams (born 31 January 1951), known professionally as Phil Manzanera, is an English guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the lead guitarist with Roxy Music, and was the lead guitarist with 801, and Quiet Sun. ...

(guitars),

Bill MacCormick William MacCormick (born 15 April 1951) is an English bassist and vocalist. He is also a politician and author. Early life He is the second son of Ewen and Olwen MacCormick who married in 1946 after serving together in the RAF. His older broth ...

(bass), Dave Jarrett (keyboards) and Charles Hayward (drums).

History

Having originated from a Dulwich College band by the name of Pooh and the Ostrich Feather, Quiet Sun was formed in 1970 after MacCormick had made friends with

Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...

, from manzanera.com the son of a friend of his mother's. The band integrated jazz elements and sparkling keyboard sounds into their complex music, in many ways similar to contemporaries

Soft Machine Soft Machine are a British rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Mike Ratledge (keyboards, 1966–1976), Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals, 1966–1971), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals, 1966–1968) and Daevid Allen (guitar, 1966–196 ...

. However, energetic guitar by Manzanera was a distinguishing feature from Soft Machine, who tended to use saxophone as their main melodic element alongside keyboards, and who did not feature

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

before the 1975 release of '' Bundles''. Quiet Sun split up in 1972, Manzanera to

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera ...

, MacCormick to

Matching Mole Matching Mole were an English progressive rock band associated with the Canterbury scene. Robert Wyatt formed the band in October 1971 after he left Soft Machine and recorded his first solo album, '' The End of an Ear'' (4 December 1970). He c ...

, Hayward to

This Heat This Heat were an English experimental rock band, formed in early 1976 in Camberwell, London by multi-instrumentalists Charles Bullen (guitar, clarinet, viola, vocals, tapes), Charles Hayward (drums, keyboards, vocals, tapes) and Gareth Willi ...

, and Jarrett began to teach mathematics. In 1975, Manzanera booked a studio for 26 days to record his album ''Diamond Head'' and got Quiet Sun together again to record an album from their old composed material in the studio at the same time. from manzanera.com This first and only album of theirs, with participation of

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

and the late Ian MacCormick, titled ''

Mainstream Mainstream may refer to: Film * ''Mainstream'' (film), a 2020 American film Literature * ''Mainstream'' (fanzine), a science fiction fanzine * Mainstream Publishing, a Scottish publisher * ''Mainstream'', a 1943 book by Hamilton Basso Mu ...

'', was critically acclaimed and became the

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

' album of the month. Reworked versions of "Rongwrong" and "Mummy was an asteroid, Daddy was a small non-stick kitchen utensil" both appear on the album ''

801 Live ''801 Live'' is the first live album by 801. It was originally released by Island Records in the UK (cat. no. ILPS 9444) in November 1976. It was subsequently released by Polydor Records in North America (cat. no PD-1-6148) in March 1978. In ...

'' (the latter is consolidated with a track from ''Diamond Head'', "East of Echo", with the result titled "East of Asteroid").

Discography

Filmography

* 2015: '' Romantic Warriors III: Canterbury Tales'' (DVD)

References

External links

* from manzanera.com * from manzanera.com
Bill MacCormick
- a 1995 interview with Bill fo
Facelift
illustrating his musical development from 1966 through the early 1980s, with many details from various musicians' activities over the years

Collapso - Canterbury Music Family Tree
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quiet Sun English progressive rock groups Jazz fusion ensembles Canterbury scene Island Records artists