Canterbury Prog: The Other Side of Jazz-Rock

In the 1960’s and 1970’s a clique of bands in the town of Canterbury in southern England – often sharing members throughout their ever changing lineups – existed that has since earned the name “The Canterbury Scene”.

The associated bands and acts combined British psychedelia, progressive rock and modern Jazz in innovative ways. The musical styles they invented became the sibling of the more well known progressive rock – e.g. King Crimson, Yes, Gentle Giant.

Similar in some ways but very different in others.

In this e-book I’d like to present most of the important acts in that scene, describe its development briefly and touch upon its legacy.

The Wilde Flowers formed in 1964 by Kevin Ayers (voc), Brian Hopper (voc, gtr), Richard Sinclair (gtr), Hugh Hopper (bs) and Robert Wyatt (dr). They had no official releases but some records nevertheless survived. They borke up in 1967.