Glass is a

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

trio from the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

. The group consists of Greg Sherman (born 1954) on keyboards, vibes and

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

, his brother Jeff Sherman (b. 1952) on

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

bass pedals Bass pedals are an Electronic instrument, electronic musical instrument with a foot-operated pedal keyboard with a range of one or more octaves. The earliest bass pedals from the 1970s consisted of a Pedal clavier, pedalboard and analog synthesi ...

and keyboards, and their childhood friend Jerry Cook (b. 1953) on

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

and

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

History

Glass began in the 1960s as a

Port Townsend Port Townsend is a city on the Quimper Peninsula in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,148 at the 2020 United States Census. It is the county seat and only incorporated city of Jefferson County. In addition ...

-based rock band called The Vaguest Notion, playing covers and the occasional original piece. On September 6, 1968, they attended a

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

concert at the

Seattle Center Coliseum Climate Pledge Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is located north of downtown Seattle in the entertainment complex known as the Seattle Center, the site of the 1962 World's Fair, for which it was ...

where the opening act was the British band The

Soft Machine Soft Machine are an English Rock music, rock band from Canterbury, Kent. The band were formed in 1966 by Mike Ratledge, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Daevid Allen and Larry Nowlin. Soft Machine were central in the Canterbury scene; they became o ...

. They were transfixed by The Soft Machine, a guitar-less power trio. Shortly thereafter The Vaguest Notion changed their name to Glass and began playing originals exclusively. In 1970 Jeff and Greg attended the Famous Arrangers Clinic in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, further refining their songwriting skills. Moving to

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington. It had a population of 55,605 at the 2020 census, making it the state of Washington's 23rd-most populous city. Olympia is the county seat of Thurston County, and the central city ...

in 1971 to attend The

Evergreen State College The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a ...

, they quickly became favorites on campus for their spirited performances. Numerous live performances in and around Olympia, Seattle, Tacoma, Bellingham, Port Townsend and other Pacific Northwest venues (including the first-ever live broadcast concert on KAOS-FM) gave them considerable local attention and accolades. They received their best reception at the first Jimi Hendrix Memorial Concert in Seattle (January 22, 1971 at the Eagles Auditorium Building), where they were the only band to play totally original material. Professional studio recordings were made in 1975, which they then shopped to various record labels in an attempt to land a record contract.

Dissolution

The mid-1970s was not a good time for rehearsal-intensive progressive rock. The music industry was being taken over by

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

and

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

to the point where even well-established rock acts were being dropped from their labels. Despite their well-honed local reputation, Glass was not offered a contract by any of the dozens of labels they approached on the West Coast and in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Two members even undertook a trip to London in the summer of 1975 to speak with industry representatives in the birthplace of progressive rock, but if anything the economic and musical depression was even worse in England. In 1977 additional recordings were made at Seattle's premiere Kaye-Smith Studios, but despite positive comments from everyone who heard them, no recording contract was forthcoming. Disappointed and disillusioned, the band officially went into remission rather than compromise. The band members went their separate ways, to pursue solo careers (see Jeff Sherman), start families and generally pretend to be normal people.

Re-emergence

By the mid-1990s a full-scale progressive rock revival was brewing, thanks to the internet and the new economics of CD releases. Glass contemplated a comeback and tested the waters, contacting old fans and making new business connections. In 1999 rehearsals began, and the old spark was still there. Their old tapes were dusted off and

digitized Digitization is the process of converting information into a digital (i.e. computer-readable) format.Collins Dictionary. (n.d.). Definition of 'digitize'. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english ...

. Glass started their own small-run record label, Relentless Pursuit Records, to release Glass music and solo recordings by the band members. After considerable digital cleanup and editing, a 2-CD set of all of their professional (and some amateur) recordings from 1973 to 1977 was released, entitled ''No Stranger To The Skies''. Following the success of that release a third volume was released the following year. Several concerts were arranged and performed, not only in the Pacific Northwest ( Progman Cometh Festival in 2002 and 2003) but also in Mexico ( BajaProg Festival in 2002 and 2004) and Claremont, CA (ProgWest Festival, 2001).

Contract at last

The acclaim garnered by their live performances attracted the attention of French independent progressive rock label Musea Records, who in 2004 offered to re-release ''No Stranger To The Skies'' and distribute it worldwide. This release brought Glass global recognition. Simultaneously the Sherman brothers were brimming with ideas for new music, and began writing and rehearsing new material for their "first all-original album in 27 years." That album, ''Illuminations'', was produced by keyboardist Greg Sherman and featured a cover photo by Glass's longtime engineer and sound man Erik Poulsen. It was released by Musea in 2005 to great reviews. ''Illuminations'' features guest appearances by some of the

Canterbury scene The Canterbury scene (or Canterbury sound) is a musical scene that originated in the city of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Associated with progressive rock, the term describes a loosely-defined, improvisation ...

's best musicians—the same movement that had sparked the formation of Glass some 37 years earlier—including

Hugh Hopper Hugh Colin Hopper (29 April 1945 – 7 June 2009) was a British progressive rock and jazz fusion bass guitarist. He was a prominent member of the Canterbury scene, as a member of Soft Machine and other bands. Biography Early career Starting i ...

(ex-Soft Machine),

Richard Sinclair Richard Stephen Sinclair (born 6 June 1948) is an English progressive rock bassist, guitarist, and vocalist who has been a member of several bands of the Canterbury scene. Biography Born in Canterbury, England, both his father (Dick Sinclair) ...

and

Phil Miller Philip Paul Miller (22 January 1949 – 18 October 2017) was an English progressive rock/jazz guitarist and a central part of the Canterbury scene. He was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is ...

In October 2007 Glass embarked on their first European tour to support their newly released live recording on Musea, ''Glass Live at Progman Cometh''. Glass returned to the recording studio in 2008 and 2009 to record their fourth album for Musea, entitled ''Spectrum Principle''. It was released worldwide on October 15, 2010. Produced by drummer Jerry Cook, it is a departure from their previous studio album, ''Illuminations'', featuring a wilder, more experimental sound. In April 2011 Glass came back to their hometown of

Port Townsend, Washington Port Townsend is a city on the Quimper Peninsula in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,148 at the 2020 United States Census. It is the county seat and only incorporated city of Jefferson County. In addition ...

to record a "live in-the-studio" album. They booked the old Arcadia Barn, where they had recorded thirty-eight years earlier, now renovated and called The Palindrome. Produced by bassist Jeff Sherman, the album was recorded in

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

style; the band did not undergo the usual months of pre-recording preparations but instead came together in the studio and played whatever ideas came to mind. These recordings were made largely on period instruments, in the old-fashioned way, directly to a two-track analog tape recorder, just as they had in 1973. They were also given permission to record inside The First Presbyterian Church of Port Townsend on their 1849 Whalley-Genung pipe organ. The album, titled ''Palindrome'', was mastered by Michael King (engineer and author of ''Wrong Movements: A

Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is an English retired 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 ...

Biography'') and released in 2014 on Musea Records. During March and April 2015 Glass laid down basic tracks for a new album, entitled ''Emergence''. Produced by Greg Sherman, the album went through a long two-year gestation of being honed and edited, eventually adding some sax and vocals by three guest musicians. The album was released January 5, 2018. Glass has a cameo in the 2015 film about the

, '' Romantic Warriors III: Canterbury Tales'', and appears more extensively (over 26 minutes of performance footage, plus two interviews) in the companion disc ''Romantic Warriors III: Special Features DVD'', both from Zeitgeist Media. With the decline in physical media, in 2022 Glass began making their back catalog available on platforms such as

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

, and

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

Discography

* 2001: ''No Stranger To The Skies, Vol.s I & II'' (Relentless Pursuit Records RD4128) and

* 2002: ''No Stranger To The Skies, Vol. III'' (Relentless Pursuit Records RD4128-III) * 2004: ''No Stranger To The Skies'' (re-issue, Musea Records FGBG 4516.AR) * 2005: ''Illuminations'' (Musea Records FGBG 4594.AR) (feat.

) * 2007: ''Glass Live At Progman Cometh'' (Musea Records FGBG 4736.AR) (feat.

Elton Dean Elton Dean (28 October 1945 – 8 February 2006) was an English jazz musician who performed on alto saxophone, saxello (a variant of the soprano saxophone) and occasionally keyboards. Part of the Canterbury scene, he featured in Soft Mach ...

, William Kopecky, Paul Kopecky) * 2010: ''Spectrum Principle'' (Musea Records FGBG 4854) * 2014: ''Palindrome'' (Musea Records FGBG 4935) * 2018: ''Emergence'' (Musea Records FGBG 4994) (feat.

on one track) * 2022: ''BajaProg 2004'' (feat.

) (

) * 2022: ''Out Of Time: The Wayne Barker Session'' (recorded 1971) (

) * 2022: ''No Stranger to the Skies, Vol. IV'' (recorded 1972–1976) (

) * 2022: ''After Playing at Lester's'' (recorded 1969) (

) * 2022: ''The Arcadia Tapes'' (recorded 1973 & 1975) (

) * 2022: ''Going Far Away'' (recorded 1988) (

) * 2022: ''The Border'' (by Greg Sherman) (

) * 2022: ''Canterburied in Seattle 2002'' (excerpts from the 2002 Progman Cometh concerts) (

) * 2022: ''

Peninsula College Peninsula College is a public community college in Port Angeles, Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. It is part of the Washington Community and Technical Colleges system and offers Bachelor of Applied Science in Management and Behavioral Heal ...

'' (recorded 1978) (

) * 2022: '' PTHS'' (recorded 1972, 1973 & 1975) (

) * 2022: ''Progman 2003'' (the complete 2003 Progman Cometh festival) (

) * 2022: ''Glassampler'' (a free sampler from the band's 50-year history) (

) * 2022: ''Zeitgeist'' (recorded 2016) (

) * 2022: ''The Robert Lang Session'' (featuring

and

in 2003 after Progman Cometh) (

) * 2022: ''Live in Europe'' (recorded 2007) (

) * 2022: ''The Lost Rehearsals'' (recorded in 1973) (

) * 2022: ''The HHR Tape'' (recorded 1975, remixed 1999) (

) * 2023: ''Chaos Insight'' (

) * 2023: ''Lecture Hall 1'' (recorded 1972) (

) * 2023: '' NSCC'' (recorded 1973) (

) * 2023: ''The Europa Suite'' (recorded 2002) (

)

Filmography

* 2015: '' Romantic Warriors III: Canterbury Tales'' (DVD) * 2016: ''Got Canterbury? Romantic Warriors III: Special Features DVD'' (DVD)

References

External links

Glass official websiteRelentless Pursuit official websiteMusea Records official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glass American progressive rock groups