Quiet Sun

(′kwī·ət ′sən)

(astrophysics) The sun when it is free from unusual radio wave or thermal radiation such as that associated with sunspots.

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Artist: Quiet Sun

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Group Members:

Phil Manzanera, Bill McCormick, Dave Jarrett, Charles Hayward

Similar Artists:

Alan Gowen

Followers:

Mike Wexler

Formal Connection With:

Phil Manzanera

Genres: Jazz

Biography

Quiet Sun originally formed around Dulwich College in 1970 as a four-piece progressive rock band featuring Phil Manzanera (guitar), Bill MacCormick (bass), Charles Hayward (drums), and Dave Jarrett (keyboards). The band name came from an article on sunspots and solar flares that MacCormick's brother Ian had been reading, called "The Year of the Quiet Sun." The group managed to score a rehearsal space from Warner Bros. and toured around the south of England gaining a small following, but were never signed. In 1971, Manzanera left to join Roxy Music, MacCormick joined Matching Mole, Jarrett went into teaching, and Hayward joined Gong. Three years later, Manzanera was riding high on Roxy Music and decided to reform Quiet Sun while spending the latter part of 1974 working on a solo album to be known as Diamond Head. Manzanera booked 12-hour studio days, recording his solo album for eight and Quiet Sun for four, resulting in Mainstream. The group mostly re-recorded the songs they had rehearsed back in 1970, though several songs from that time instead found their way onto Diamond Head, including "Frontera" (later re-recorded by Robert Wyatt as "Team Spirit" on Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard) and "Alma." Both albums formed the basis of much of 801's live shows, which featured Manzanera and MacCormick. Hayward left to form This Heat. For a while, after initial pressings of Mainstream went out of print, the CD of the album was only obtainable through an expensive Japanese import. In 1999 Mainstream was re-released on Manzanera's own label, while a number of the early, pre-Roxy Quiet Sun demos were released in 2000 on Manzanera's Rare One. ~ Ted Mills, All Music Guide

Wikipedia: Quiet Sun

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Quiet Sun were an English progressive rock/jazz fusion band from the Canterbury Scene consisting of Phil Manzanera (guitars), Bill MacCormick (bass), Dave Jarrett (keyboards) and Charles Hayward (drums).

1 History
2 Discography
3 References
4 External links

History

Having originated from a Dulwich College band by the name of Pooh and the Ostrich Feather, Quiet Sun was formed in 1970 after MacCormick had made friends with Robert Wyatt, the son of a friend of his mother's. The band integrated jazz elements and sparkling keyboard sounds into their complex music - similar to Soft Machine - but Manzanera's energetic guitar made their music very different from the Softs' who had not been using any guitar (other than bass guitar) on their regular albums before the 1975 release of Bundles, and had used reeds as the main other melody instruments aside of keyboards.

Quiet Sun split up in 1972, Manzanera to Roxy Music, MacCormick to Matching Mole, Hayward to This Heat, and Jarrett began to teach mathematics.

In 1975, Manzanera booked a studio for 26 days to record his album Diamond Head and got Quiet Sun together again to record an album from their old composed material in the studio at the same time. This first and only album of theirs, with participation of Brian Eno and the late Ian MacCormick, titled Mainstream was critically acclaimed and became the New Musical Express' album of the month. One of Quiet Sun's songs appears on Robert Wyatt's Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard, under the name "Team Spirit". Additionally, reworked versions of "Mummy was an asteroid, Daddy was a small non-stick kitchen utensil" and "Rongwrong" both appear on the album "801 Live" ("Mummy was an asteroid, Daddy was a small non-stick kitchen utensil" appears under the name "East of Asteroid").

Discography

Mainstream (1975)
Manzanera Archives: Rare One (2000, includes four previously-unreleased Quiet Sun demos)

References

External links

Biography at www.smoothjazz1043.com
Phil Manzanera - Recordings at manzanera.com
Quiet Sun Press Pack at manzanera.com
Bill MacCormick - a 1995 interview with Bill for Facelift, illustrating his musical development from 1966 through the early 1980s, with many details from various musicians' activities over the years
Charles Hayward interview
Collapso - Canterbury Music Family Tree

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Learn More

	International Quiet Sun Year (geophysics)
	A Year of the Quiet Sun (1984 Drama Film)
	Manzanera Archives: Rare One (2001 Album by Phil Manzanera)

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		Sci-Tech Dictionary. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms. Copyright © 2003, 1994, 1989, 1984, 1978, 1976, 1974 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
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