future of prog

I view the classic material, including the best things coming out since the '70s, the way I view classical and Jazz. I routinely go back to music as early as the Elizabethan era because John Dowland was the original rock star. Much of my current exploration focuses on newer prog releases, classic Jazz, and filling in the blanks in my classic collection. Charlie Parker, Django Reinhardt, and Ornette Coleman are every bit as relevant today as they were when they were active. Popularity fades, but quality art has timeless durability. As long as quality music remains available, it will be explored by the adventurous.

I like the term "Magic" you are using. That magic is what makes us play a song/album/symphony, etc. over and over again. That magic inspires other artists to continue pushing the envelope and coming up with new ideas/sounds/genres etc. That magic, that pure genius is what separates great music/artists, from the rest, and that's what keeps the wheel going around. That's the magic I'm sure will never disappear. 

How many of those are going to be any good though?

We need young musicians who actually listen to classical music (as the great prog musicians of the 70's did) and understand what makes a coherent composition. Absent that, you get a lot of the technical w**kery and "avant-garde" nonsense that we hear in recent years. The musicians may be very skilled, but they have no compositional sense.

Hi,

Or from the copies, and supposedly inspired by someone or something. In the end, the "magic" comes from within, not without!

The only strange thing is that I have always thought that music was always "progressive", as if the Stravinsky's and other 20th century composers did not move from the more standardized stuff into more adventurous material, only for the "music" to go backwards with the C. Berry's and such ... and then in the 1970's we finally decided that the new stuff out there was progressive. In essence, they came back to something that all music had lost due to the commercial era that would only play the simplest of melodies and songs for the audience.

All in all, for me, it has always been progressive, and that is the reason why sometimes I do not review or discuss many works, which to me are not really special in the history of it all. The only saddest thing is when an artist goes "backwards" because of bizarre comments by reviewers ... and while I can understand the need for a dollar or two, in the end, I tend to wonder where the heart truly lies ... repeating itself, instead of maintaining an independent creativity.

Maybe you haven't listened to the best releases? I agree that although for example 2023 was a magnificent year for prog, some many albums were (and are still being) released that it is more difficult to find the outstanding ones. 

This take is nonsense as it assumes that many young musicians who play music in the prog sphere don't listen to classical (many do, and "classical" is a pretty wide umbrella genre), AND that one HAS to listen to it to make good prog (many don't and the music is just as good). So widen your scope, not only of what newer prog you listen to, but of what qualifies as "prog" or "good prog" or even "good" music. If you can't handle a little experimentalism and prefer more structure, or just prefer older recording/production techniques, then just admit that it comes down to your taste rather than lambast musicians of my generation with uninformed opinions.