Jack Lancaster was a British composer, record producer and musician. In the late 1960s, Lancaster co-founded the British rock group

Blodwyn Pig Blodwyn Pig was a British blues rock musical ensemble, band, founded in 1968 by guitarist–vocalist–songwriter Mick Abrahams. Career Abrahams left Jethro Tull (band), Jethro Tull after their debut album, ''This Was'', was released, due to a ...

with Jethro Tull guitarist

Mick Abrahams Michael Timothy Abrahams (born 7 April 1943) is an English guitarist, singer, and band leader, best known for being the original guitarist for Jethro Tull from 1967 to 1968 and the leader of Blodwyn Pig. Jethro Tull Abrahams was born in ...

and in the late 1970s he was a member of the British

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 ...

group

Aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

with former Jethro Tull drummer

Clive Bunker Clive William Bunker (born 30 December 1946) is a British drummer. He is best known as the original drummer of the rock band Jethro Tull, playing in the band from 1967 until 1971. Never a self-professed technical drummer, Bunker engaged with ...

, former

Manfred Mann's Earth Band Manfred Mann's Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's "For You (Bruce Springsteen song), For You", "Blinded by the Light" an ...

guitarist Mick Rogers, and former

Caravan Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Campervan, a type of vehicle also known as a motor caravan *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Caravan (trail ...

and

Quantum Jump Quantum Jump were a 1970s British band, consisting of singer and keyboard player Rupert Hine, guitarist Mark Warner, bass player John G. Perry (then of Caravan), and drummer Trevor Morais (who had previously played in The Peddlers). The ba ...

bassist John G. Perry that released two albums on the

EMI America Records EMI America Records was launched in 1978 by EMI as their second label in the United States after Capitol Records, relying on Capitol only for pressing, distribution, and international liaison. In 1987, EMI America merged with Manhattan Records ...

label (Lancaster appeared only on the band's debut). In between these high-profile projects, he collaborated with keyboardist

Robin Lumley Robin Lumley (17 January 1948 – 9 March 2023) was a British jazz fusion musician, keyboardist, record producer, and author who was a member of the band Brand X with drummer Phil Collins, guitarist John Goodsall, and bassist Percy Jones. He w ...

in the studio band The Soul Searchers with a line-up that included guitarists

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career, he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, Heavy metal music, heavy ...

and

John Goodsall John Goodsall (15 February 1953 – 10 November 2021As far as the exact date of death is concerned, numerous false statements are circulating on the internet. The only reliable reference is the photocopy of the death certificate provided by John ...

, bassist Percy Jones, and drummer

Bill Bruford William Scott Bruford (born 17 May 1949) is an English drummer and percussionist who first gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving Yes in 1972, Bruford spent the rest of the 1970s recording and tou ...

. This group released one 7" single Scaramouche b/w Head Stand in 1975 for

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...

. Lancaster performed on two

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

records with Lumley that were released by

RSO Records RSO Records was a record label formed by rock and roll and musical theatre impresario Robert Stigwood and record executive Al Coury in 1973. The letters "RSO" stood for the Robert Stigwood Organisation. RSO managed the careers of several ma ...

in the mid-1970s. The first was ''

The Rock Peter and the Wolf ''Peter and the Wolf'' is an album adapting Sergei Prokofiev's ''Peter and the Wolf'' by Jack Lancaster and Robin Lumley released in 1975. It features a rock arrangement of Prokofiev's music. Performers on the album include Jack Lancaster, Rob ...

'' (1975), a rock version of Russian composer

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

's ''

Peter and the Wolf ''Peter and the Wolf'' ( rus, Петя и волк, Pétya i volk, p=ˈpʲetʲə i volk) Op. 67, a "symphonic tale for children", is a Program music , programmatic musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. The narrator tells a ...

'', and the second was '' Marscape'' (1976); both albums featured the contributions of members of what would become Lumley's future band

Brand X Brand X were a British jazz rock band formed in London in 1974. They were initially active until 1980, followed by reformations between 1992–1999 and 2016–2021. Despite sometimes being considered to be a Phil Collins side project (due t ...

(John Goodsall, Percy Jones, and

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

on drums). In 1979, Lancaster and Dutch keyboardist

Rick van der Linden Rick van der Linden (5 August 1946, Badhoevedorp, North Holland - 22 January 2006, Groningen) was a Dutch composer and keyboardist. Van der Linden first gained fame as a member of Ekseption, but he played in several other bands including most n ...

released the electronic album '' Wild Connections'' on the Acrobat Records label that featured former

Blue Mink Blue Mink were a British six-piece pop group that existed from 1969 to 1977. Over that period they had six top 20 hit singles on the UK Singles Chart, and released five studio based albums. According to AllMusic: "they have been immortalised o ...

drummer Barry Morgan and The English Chorale. 1980, he released a solo album on the Kamera Records label titled '' Skinningrove Bay'' that included

Rod Argent Rodney Terence Argent (born 14 June 1945) is an English musician. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Argent came to prominence in the mid-1960s as the keyboardist, founder and leader of the rock band the Zombies, and went on to form the ba ...

, Clive Bunker, Phil Collins, Robin Lumley, Gary Moore, John G. Perry, Mick Rogers,

and Bernie Frost. Subsequently he performed live on tour, composed for television and film, performed as a

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

and produced, wrote and arranged recording sessions with artists including

, Phil Collins,

Anthony Phillips Anthony Edwin Phillips (born 23 December 1951) is an English musician and composer who gained prominence as the original lead guitarist of the rock band Genesis, from 1967 to 1970. He left in July 1970 and learned to play more instruments, bef ...

Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, five Grammy Awards, and has been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards and a Tony ...

Stéphane Grappelli Stéphane Grappelli (; 26 January 1908 – 1 December 1997) was a French jazz violinist. He is best known as a founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands. ...

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

The View ''The View'' is an American talk show created by broadcast journalist Barbara Walters. , in its 28th season, the show has aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC as part of the network's ABC Daytime, daytime programming block since August ...

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (, ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; , ), was a Greek musician, composer, and producer of electronic, progressive, ambient, and classical orchestral music. He composed ...

and

. Lancaster died on May 4th, 2025.

Discography

With Blodwyn Pig

* 1969: ''

Ahead Rings Out ''Ahead Rings Out'' is the debut album by British blues-rock band Blodwyn Pig, released in 1969. The band had been formed in 1969 by Mick Abrahams, the former guitarist of Jethro Tull, and sales of ''Ahead Rings Out'' rivalled those of Jethro Tull ...

'' * 1970: '' Getting to This'' * 1997: ''Live at The Lafayette'' * 1997: ''The Modern Alchemist'' * 1999: ''On Air'' * 1999: ''Live at the Fillmore West'' * 2000: ''The Basement tapes'' * 2002: ''Live At The Marquee Club London 1974 (The Official Bootleg)'' * 2004: ''Pigthology''

Soul Searchers

* 1975: "Scaramouche" / "Head Stand" – Single

Aviator

* 1979 : ''Aviator''

Solo recordings

* 1975: ''Peter & The Wolf'' – with Robin Lumley, Phil Collins, Bill Bruford, Stéphane Grappelli, Alvin Lee, Gary Moore, etc. * 1976: ''Marscape'' – with the musicians of Brand X – Robin Lumley, John Goodsall, Percy Jones & Phil Collins. * 1979: ''Wild Connections'' – with Rick van der Linden, with The English Chorale. * 1980: ''Skinningrove Bay'' – with Gary Moore, Phil Collins, Bernie Frost, John G. Perry, Clive Bunker, Mick Rogers, Rod Argent, Rick van der Linden, Robin Lumley, etc. (Re-released under the title ''Deep Green'' in 1991.) * 1995: ''The Deathray Tapes'' – with Mick Farren, Brad Dourif. * 2016: ''Carnival of the Animals'' – with Phil Collins, Rod Argent, Gary Brooker, John Kramer, Mick Abrahams, etc.

External links

* Blodwyn Pig Discography: https://www.discogs.com/fr/artist/458854-Blodwyn-Pig * Blodwyn Pig ''On air'': http://www.progboard.com/Blodwyn-Pig/On-air-19691989-/8368 * Blodwyn Pig ''Live at The Filmore West'': http://www.progboard.com/Blodwyn-Pig/Live-at-the-Fillmore-West-1970-/8367 * Blodwyn Pig ''Pigthology'': https://www.discogs.com/fr/Blodwyn-Pig-Pigthology/release/6320574 * The Soul Searchers: http://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/the_soul_searchers/scaramouche___head_stand/
Interview
with Jack Lancaster by Dmitry M. Epstein
Jack Lancaster's discography with album releases & credits
at

Discogs.com Discogs ( ; short for "discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''The N ...

A brief history about Jack Lancaster & Robin Lumley and albums ''The Rock Peter and the Wolf'' (1975) & ''Marscape'' (1976)
at Dutch Progressive Net Page (www.DPRP.net) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lancaster, Jack Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Living people English rock musicians RSO Records artists EMI Records artists Harvest Records artists English session musicians Blodwyn Pig members