Riff Raff was an English jazz-rock band that released the 1973–74 RCA albums Riff Raff and Original Man. Pre-contract, they recorded an album that later appeared as Outside Looking In. Keyboardist Tommy Eyre made three subsequent albums with Zzebra. Members: Bud Beadle (saxophone), Aureo de Souza (drums), Tommy Eyre (keyboards, vocals), Pete Kirtley (guitar, vocals), […]
Mirage was an English jazz-rock band that released the 1977 album Now You See It… on Compendium. They featured journeyman guitarist Brian Godding (Blossom Toes, Julie Driscoll, Centipede, Magma), saxophonist George Khan (Mike Westbrook Orchestra, Solid Gold Cadillac, Arthur Brown, Robert Wyatt), drummer Dave Sheen (Ben, Jonathan Kelly’s Outside), and bassist Steve Cook (CMU, Gilgamesh). […]
Head was a Scottish jazz-rock band from Glasgow that released the 1973 album GTF on SRT Productions Ltd., followed by the 1975/77 albums Red Dwarf on Canon Records and Blackpool Cool on the group’s eponymous self-press. Members: Billy Kyle (drums), Graham Mince (bass), John Davies (keyboards, trumpet), Charles Alexander (guitar), Howard Copland (saxophone), Lachlan McColl […]
Wilding/Bonus were an English jazz-rock duo that issued the 1978 album Pleasure Signals on DJM (U.K.) and Passport-subsidiary Visa (U.S.). The duo consisted of flutist Danny Wilding and guitarist Pete Bonus, augmented on select tracks by ex-Traffic percussionist Rebop Kwaku Baah, future-Dream Academy oboist Kate St. John, and members of Automatic Man and Brand X. […]
Steps was an English jazz-rock band that released a 1977 self-titled album on French EMI. Keyboardist Steve Franklin later partook in Phil Miller’s In Cahoots and appeared on two noughties-era releases by Hugh Hopper. During the 1980s, drummer Roy Dodds provided backing for the sophisti-pop combos Weekend, Working Week, and Fairground Attraction. Saxophonist Steve Mulligan […]
Semuta was an English Latin-jazz/rock band that released a 1979 self-titled album on Lee Lambert Records. Members: Ian Ballantine (vibraphone, marimba), Alan Cook (piano, electric piano), Dave Tyas (drums), Frank Dawkins (bass, guitar), Dave Bartle (tenor saxophone), Sergio Castillo (percussion) Background Semuta emerged on the northern English jazz circuit in the late 1970s under vibraphonist–marimbist […]
Gilgamesh was an English jazz-rock band led by keyboardist and composer Alan Gowan. In 1975, they released the album Gilgamesh, a mix of suites, songs, and interludes produced by Dave Stewart (Egg, Hatfield & the North). Gowan and Stewart teamed in the initial lineup of National Health. Despite his early departure, he wrote and performed […]
Poliphony was an English jazz-rock band that released a 1973 self-titled album on the Birmingham small-press Zel-la Records. Members: Bob Boucher (bass), Richard Bremner (guitar), David Fear (percussion), Dave Bristow (piano, flute) Background Poliphony formed around 1971 in Birmingham when Aston University student and pianist Dave Bristow invited guitarist Richard Bremner into a developing lineup […]
