Martin Orford (born 10 June 1959, Bitterne, Southampton) is an English keyboard player and singer. He is best known as the founder of progressive rock bands IQ and Jadis. He also worked with former King Crimson, U.K. and Asia bassist John Wetton, and has released two solo albums, Classical Music and Popular Songs (2000) and The Old Road (2008). [1] Orford appeared on two Big Big Train albums, Goodbye to the Age of Steam and English Boy Wonders .
Orford won the "Best Keyboard Player" category at the Best of the Year Classic Rock Society Award in 2004. [2]
Orford's most recent solo album, The Old Road (GEPCD1037), was released in October 2008. The album features guest appearances from John Wetton, Nick D'Virgilio and Dave Meros (Spock's Beard), Steve Thorne, John Mitchell (Arena/Frost*/It Bites), Gary Chandler (Jadis), Dave Oberle (Gryphon), David Longdon (Big Big Train) and Andy Edwards (IQ/Frost*).
Orford announced his retirement from the music industry in October 2008. [3] He made a return for MelloFest 2009, performing tracks from The Old Road as well as some IQ numbers. [4]
Asia are an English rock supergroup formed in London in 1981. The most commercially successful lineup was its original, which consisted of four members of different progressive rock bands who had enjoyed great success in the 1970s: lead vocalist and bassist John Wetton, guitarist Steve Howe (Yes), keyboardist Geoff Downes and drummer Carl Palmer. Their debut album, Asia, released in 1982, remains their best-selling album and went to number one in several countries. Billboard listed it as the top album in the U.S. in 1982. The lead single from the album, "Heat of the Moment", remains their top charting and best-known song, reaching the top 40 in over a dozen markets. It peaked at #4 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
Spock's Beard is an American progressive rock band formed in Los Angeles.
IQ are a British neo-prog band founded by Mike Holmes and Martin Orford in 1981 following the dissolution of their original band The Lens. Although the band have never enjoyed major commercial success and had several lineup changes, IQ have built up a loyal following over the years and are still active as of 2022, currently with the original recording line-up. In 2021/22, IQ performed a series of concerts in the UK and Europe celebrating their 40th anniversary.
Jadis are a British neo-progressive rock group. They play guitar-driven rock with the use of synthesisers to add depth and atmosphere, and an emphasis on melody. They were previously signed to InsideOut Music.
John Kenneth Wetton was an English musician, singer and songwriter. Known for his dexterous bass playing and booming baritone voice, Wetton first began to gain fame in 1971 when he joined Family for a short time before joining King Crimson in 1972.
William Wyman Sherwood is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, singer, record producer and mixing engineer. He is best known for his tenures in the English progressive rock band Yes as guitarist and keyboardist in 1994 and from 1997 to 2000 and as bassist since 2015, following the death of original bassist Chris Squire. He is also known for working with former and current Yes members on other projects.
Phillip Geoffrey Targett-Adams, known professionally as Phil Manzanera, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He is the lead guitarist with Roxy Music, and was the lead guitarist with 801 and Quiet Sun. In 2006, Manzanera co-produced David Gilmour's album On an Island, and played in Gilmour's band for tours in Europe and North America. He wrote and presented a series of 14 one-hour radio programmes for station Planet Rock entitled The A-Z of Great Guitarists.
Nick Awde Hill is a British writer, artist, singer-songwriter and critic. He lives in London and Brussels.
Thomas Lang is an Austrian drummer. He is the founding member of the Los Angeles–based progressive/avant garde metal band stOrk and is known for his international session work on a wide variety of genres such as rock, pop, jazz, and heavy metal with artists such as Robert Fripp, and Sugababes, among many others.
John Young is a British rock musician hailing from Liverpool. He is currently the keyboardist and singer for the progressive rock band Lifesigns.
Geoffrey Downes is an English keyboardist who gained fame as a member of the new wave group the Buggles with Trevor Horn, the progressive rock band Yes, and the supergroup Asia.
Big Big Train are an English progressive rock band formed in Bournemouth in 1990. The current line-up includes band founder Gregory Spawton, along with Nick D'Virgilio and Rikard Sjöblom. Until 2009, the band were active as a predominantly studio project led by Spawton and co-founder Andy Poole, who departed the band in 2018, with changing line-ups and guest musicians. They have released fourteen studio albums and six EPs.
Tales from the Lush Attic, released in 1983, is the debut album by neo-progressive rock group IQ, following the cassette-only demo Seven Stories into Eight. It was also among the first neo-progressive releases, alongside Marillion's Script for a Jester's Tear, released in the same year.
Guy Manning is an English multi-instrumentalist and singer, best known for his own album releases (Manning), the DAMANEK band albums and for his membership of progressive rock bands Parallel or 90 Degrees, The Tangent and The United Progressive Fraternity (UPF).
Anne-Marie Helder is a British singer and songwriter, best known for fronting the UK rock band Panic Room. She has also performed internationally as a solo artist and with various bands since circa the year 2000.
Diamond Head is the first studio album by English rock musician Phil Manzanera. It was released in 1975, originally on Island Records in the UK and in the US on Atco Records. The sound quality on the US album was deemed to be worse than the UK album, so the UK import became a popular seller in the speciality record shops who sold Roxy Music and other UK bands. The diesel locomotive featured on the cover art is an EMD E9.
Tinyfish is an English progressive rock band, founded in 2004. The band members are Simon Godfrey, Jim Sanders, Paul Worwood (bass), Robert Ramsay and Leon Camfield.
Giant Electric Pea is an independent music label based in London and Berlin. Their releases consist of progressive rock, neo-prog and progressive metal music albums.
Caught in the Crossfire is the debut solo album by the English rock musician John Wetton, released in 1980 by E.G. Records. Featuring guitarist Martin Barre, drummer Simon Kirke, as well as saxophonist Malcolm Duncan, whom Wetton had played with in Mogul Thrash. The album's release took place during a transitional period in Wetton's career, after he had left U.K. but before he joined Wishbone Ash and then formed Asia.