Quiet Sun were an English

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 ...

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 ...

band from the Canterbury scene consisting of Phil Manzanera (guitars), Bill MacCormick (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, 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 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 ...

. 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 (lead vocals/keyboards/principal songwriter) and Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson (bass). By the time the band recorded their Roxy Music (album), first albu ...

, MacCormick to Matching Mole, Hayward to This Heat, 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 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 ...

and the late Ian MacCormick, titled '' Mainstream'', was critically acclaimed and became the

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

' 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'' (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 British jazz fusion ensembles Canterbury scene Island Records artists