Skywhale -

Skywhale was an English jazz-rock band from Bristol that released the 1977 album The World at Mind’s End on Firebrand Records.

Members: Steve Robshaw (guitar, violin, synthesizer), Stan Thewils (flute, tenor saxophone), Paul Todd (soprano saxophone, flute, penny whistle), Dougall Airmole (bass), Mick Avery (drums, percussion), Gwyo Ze Pix (keyboards, synthesizer), John Schofield (percussion)

Background

Skywhale formed in Bristol in 1974 when guitarist-composer Steve Robshaw moved there from Huddersfield and assembled an instrumental group. His mother played piano at home, where bands led by an elder brother rehearsed and left Gibson and Fender guitars. Robshaw played in the Huddersfield group the Outrage with bassist Dave Hewitt, who later joined Babe Ruth. He also worked with flutist-saxophonist Stan Thewlis and percussionist John Schofield in Huddersfield before the three musicians met again in London during the late sixties.

Robshaw played in Bristol big bands and theatre orchestras. Skywhale rehearsed Robshaw compositions in a Clifton cellar with an early circle that included reedist Paul Todd, bassist Dougall Airmole, drummer Roy Dodds, violinist Pete Ridsdale, pianist Jon Beedell, and Schofield. The group added Thewlis during 1975 before keyboardist Howard Scarr entered after work with Zorch under the Gwyo Zepix name. Drummer Mick Avery replaced Dodds before the album sessions. The recording lineup comprised multi-instrumentalist Robshaw (guitar, violin, synthesizer), reedist Thewlis (flute, tenor saxophone), reedist Todd (soprano saxophone, flute, penny whistle), bassist Airmole, drummer Avery, keyboardist Scarr, and percussionist Schofield.

Skywhale worked the Bristol underground circuit and reached the 1977 Glastonbury Free Festival through a Bristol musicians jam that included several members of the group. Robshaw declined an Island Records offer under his own name and recorded with Skywhale. Dennis Mann gave Skywhale recording time at Mushroom Studios in Bristol, where Mann and Avery worked at the desk. Skywhale completed the 1977 Firebrand album The World at Mind’s End.

The World at Mind’s End

Skywhale released their only album, The World at Mind’s End, in 1977 on Firebrand Records.

The album contains six Steve Robshaw compositions in long-form instrumental settings, performed by guitarist and violinist Robshaw, bassist Dougall Airmole, drummer Mick Avery, percussionist John Schofield, reedists Stan Thewlis and Paul Todd, and keyboardist Gwyo Ze Pix. The pieces use electric rhythm sections, paired reed lines, violin passages, and synthesizer parts within extended forms shaped by unison figures, meter changes, and solo space.

“Epicure” coils from bright synthesizer lines into clipped unison figures and quick tempo shifts. “Hydralic Fever” surges through wiry ensemble passages with sharp turns and close-set solo breaks. “Two Budda Garage” pivots across off-center accents, with reed figures and guitar lines cutting through the sectional traffic. “The World at Mind’s End” glides through classically shaded passages before the arrangement tightens around electric haze and rising ensemble movement. “Eternal Optimist (The Rat)” darts through high-velocity changes, with extended solo space and interlocked lines. “Bogies” compresses the album’s buoyant side into a shorter close, with folk inflections and a lighter final cadence.

A1. “Epicure” (7:30)
A2. “Hydralic Fever” (7:20)
A3. “Two Budda Garage” (8:00)

B1. “The World at Minds End” (6:56)
B2. “Eternal Optimist” (9:22)
B3. “Bogies” (4:51)

Skywhale recorded the album at Mushroom Studios in Bristol with engineer Mick Avery and executive producer Dennis Mann. Mann operated Firebrand as a small Bristol independent and gave the group studio time for the project.

Carl Schofield designed the cover package and created the front image. The cover shows a skeletal couple embracing between rocky hills beneath a clouded sky, with an eagle near the large red Skywhale lettering.

Discography: