Friday September 4th 2015, 8pm
Keynes College, University of Kent, Canterbury

Free entry

Canterbury in the 1960s and 1970s was a hotbed of musical creativity. A community of musicians and bands connected to the city shared an artistic curiosity that encompassed rock, jazz, soul, poetry, folk and contemporary classical music. With a sound that mixed eccentric psychedelia with Miles Davis-style jazz-rock bands such as The Wilde Flowers, Soft Machine, Caravan and Gong had a lasting impact on music in Canterbury and further afield.

This performance features two contemporary bands that share a passion for the Canterbury Sound. Jack Hues and the Quartet are the result of a warped experiment involving an 80’s pop singer (frontman of Wang Chung), a jazz-punk rhythm section (drummer and bassist from Mercurynominated Led Bib) and a classically trained pianist. The younger generation of Canterbury-Sound-influenced bands are represented by The Boot Lagoon, a quartet with incredibly diverse musical paths that converge in joyfully restless jazz-rock riffs.

These bands will each perform a mini set before joining forces to perform the monumental Soft Machine/Hugh Hopper composition ‘Facelift.‘ They will be joined by saxophonist Brian Hopper, who played on the first recording of ‘Facelift’ for the John Peel sessions in 1969.

The original Canterbury Scene emerged in the mid-late 1960s, in parallel with the founding of the University of Kent; indeed the Hopper brothers were raised in Tanglewood, a house which now forms part of the University’s Canterbury campus. Fittingly, the New Canterbury Sound appears as part of the University’s 50th Anniversary Festival, 4-6 September 2015.

The flyer for the event can be found here.

For information on other events happening throughout the weekend see the 50th Anniversary Festival Website.

Thanks to the Development Office, the School of Arts, and the School of Music and Fine Art at the University for their support.