Ed’s Letter

As usual, the Progressive Music Awards was one hell of a lot of fun. It’s always great to see a mix of prog musicians, young and old, mingling, chatting, and sharing a drink and a joke. This year was no exception at a packed Underglobe in London. Al Murray proved himself to be a top host, his passion for the music evident, despite the odd good-natured jibe at some of the attendees – myself included! And, of course, the party ran long into the night for some. You can read all about what happened and hear from the winners on page 34!

Speaking of Mr. Murray, it’s a delight to welcome him as one of the contributors to this issue as well. Al had the enviable task of going to Pompeii to see King Crimson play live recently, and to report back on it for us as part of our cover feature. And he did such a great job (including, fellow contributors note, getting his copy in two weeks early!) that we’re hoping he’ll be back for the odd bit of writing for Prog in the near future.

Sid Smith chatted with various members of the band as they celebrate their rich history and look ahead to next year’s 50th anniversary. We also speak to a fine cross-section of the prog world, established and new, in this issue. I hope you enjoy all the features.

You can tell the year end is rapidly approaching simply by the amount of gigs there are. As usual, I had a terrific time at Summer’s End, and the next two months look pretty packed solid as far as gigs go. Hopefully I’ll bump into some of you along the way. Oh, and thanks for taking note of our request not to lambast us for your choices in the keyboard players issue! Admittedly we had one or two, but on the whole you got the point. Having done songs, albums and now keyboard players, I’d be interested in hearing what you’d like us to tackle next year.

I look forward to hearing from you…