The Cornerstone of Your Prog Supergroup

JohnnyCanuck3 wrote: My cornerstone for a super prog group would be Neal Morse. Why? 1.  He's already a cornerstone for several groups, including Spock's Beard, Transatlantic, Neal Morse Group, Flying Colors, etc. 2.  He is obviously able to work with a diverse array of artists, as evidenced by the various groups he is in.  Seems to get along well with others, and seems to be well liked. 3.  A prolific songwriter and seems to be comfortable spending endless hours in the studio and/or on tour. 4.  A great musician, playing keyboards, guitar, mandolin, and who knows what else. 5.  Able to work in a number of different styles/genres of music.

^I'm shocked that you didn't read my post! I'm not talking about innovations, I'm talking about song writing. I'm not sure how much input Levin had on the 80's KC albums, and Tony's solo material is not good to my ears. That is what I'm talking about - his ability to write good songs. 

Edited by Grumpyprogfan - January 25 2022 at 11:46

richardh wrote: Predictably from me, the late great Keith Emerson but second choice would be Steve Howe. Such a shame those 2 never worked together.

I believe I read sometime that, well, Keith Emerson wanted his keyboard driven trio from the beginning, but if he could have had one guitar player with him, he would have liked Steve Howe.

For my own choice…

Firstly, I’d exclude from my band all the egotists who had to be the dominant voice, all those who were unreliable because of drink / drugs / mental instability, all those whose vision of music was too narrow to accommodate a variety of approaches, and all those who are known to be ‘difficult’ (i.e. arseholes). You lose a lot of visionaries that way including the likes of Emerson and Fripp, but if you want a working all-star band then it’s a price I think you have to pay.

I’d look for people with a very distinctive contribution to make as both a player and a writer, and who have shown versatility in the kind of musical situations they can operate in. Multi-instrumentalism would be a benefit but not a requirement. Kerry Minnear is a contender, and might well make the band, but the fact that so far as progressive music is concerned he mainly just worked in the context of GG mitigates against him being the cornerstone. Other names that have crossed my mind are Bruford, Levin and Jon Hiseman. But I really feel like picking Mike Keneally. Brilliant on both guitar and keyboards, writes fascinating music, has worked in a multitude of contexts, and seems like a lovely chap.



Edited by Mascodagama - January 25 2022 at 23:07

BrufordFreak wrote: Lewian wrote: So I have my band headed by a surprise (?) selection, namely Kate Bush. Of course Kate is only known for her solo work, but many good musicians have contributed to it, so she can play well in a team, too, and I'd really be super curious what she could come up with having behind her a band full of prog genuises with their own strong ideas. One reason why I go for her rather than some of the seemingly more obvious candidates is that I'd expect this band to come up with a unique synthesis, something that is really different from what Kate as well as her collaborators have done up to now, so something that would make me really curious. I hope she'll accept Jaki as a drummer (Bruford is unavailable because he has to tour with different supergroups; also both Kate and Jaki are known for exercising witchcraft, so that'll be a good fit and they can hopefully keep each other within limits), and we can talk about the rest later. Wow! this is a really clever and unexpected idea! I LOVE it! I agree: Kate would be an amazing band leader/cornerstone. Kate Bush, Chris Cutler, Keith Emerson, and Tony Levin (and perhaps Martin Barre)! I like the sound of those choices!

BrufordFreak wrote: Manuel wrote: Martin Barre. An underrated orchestrator, who can go from blues to rock, classic, jazz, etc. Sadly, this is an artist that is brought up frequently that I do not appreciate well enough. If it weren't so much for the fact that I find Jethro Tull music so irritating, I might explore more. Do you have any suggestions of his play outside of Tull?

Mascodagama wrote: Nogbad_The_Bad wrote: Mascodagama wrote: Nogbad_The_Bad wrote: I'd probably go with Chris Cutler, the drummer of Henry Cow, he's got beautiful technique, has played with a ton of different bands and style, from what I've read he'd been a good organizer. A very interesting choice, but one that would limit the kind of music that would be played and thus who else could feature in the band. Make no bones about it, Cutler views the music of mainstream prog bands like ELP, Yes, King Crimson and GG as very much beneath him, and he would not be involved with a project which had that kind of music in scope. Well it is MY supergroup True enough! I would actually be interested to hear who else would get into it.

Edited by Nogbad_The_Bad - January 26 2022 at 06:59

Lewian wrote: ... The next candidate is from my favourite band, Jaki Liebezeit of Can. Outside Can Jaki has done a lot of stuff (very little if anything of which is on PA). ... So I have my band headed by a surprise (?) selection, namely Kate Bush. Of course Kate is only known for her solo work, but many good musicians have contributed to it, so she can play well in a team, too, and I'd really be super curious what she could come up with having behind her a band full of prog genuises with their own strong ideas. ...

Nogbad_The_Bad wrote: Mascodagama wrote: Nogbad_The_Bad wrote: Mascodagama wrote: Nogbad_The_Bad wrote: I'd probably go with Chris Cutler, the drummer of Henry Cow, he's got beautiful technique, has played with a ton of different bands and style, from what I've read he'd been a good organizer. A very interesting choice, but one that would limit the kind of music that would be played and thus who else could feature in the band. Make no bones about it, Cutler views the music of mainstream prog bands like ELP, Yes, King Crimson and GG as very much beneath him, and he would not be involved with a project which had that kind of music in scope. Well it is MY supergroup True enough! I would actually be interested to hear who else would get into it. Chris Cutler - Drums Robert Fripp - Guitar Michel Berckmans - Bassoon/Oboe Carla Kihlstedt - Violin William Kopecky - Bass Dave Stewart - Keys Lars Hollmer - Accordion Shabaka Hutchins - Sax Geordie Greep - vocals

Edited by Mascodagama - January 26 2022 at 09:39

dr wu23 wrote: Well...I'm a Crimson fan so I would probably say Fripp.....other than him I would pick Steven Wilson...assuming he would commit to doing a prog thing for more than an album.  ;)