The next best thing

The unconventional instrumentation favoured by Tortoise is an indicator of how many different lineups have always jostled for space under the jazz umbrella. The national treasure that is The Pete Alle

PHOTOGRAPH: LOUIE BANKS. STYLING: BILLY LOBOS THE BEGINNING ...

In the British Isles, one of the strongest examples of community music making can be found in brass bands. Their proud tradition goes back almost 200 years, and their survival has never been more nece

CONCERT HEAVEN Stevens & Pound Silent Planet Suite (premiere); Holst Planets re-imagined by Stevens & Pound Stevens & Pound (percussion); Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Musicians from the Roy

There’s a trepidatious growl from the contra-bassoon. Soon, it is joined by French horns, strings and timpani; the sound rumbles, snowballs – and then: abrupt silence. The piano sings into the stillne

Marillion guitarist Steve Rothery embraced his more electronic side this year with Bioscope, his soundscape project with Tangerine Dream’s Thorsten Quaeschning. But he’s not ditching the day job: work is well underway on Marillion’s next studio album, and there’s his long-awaited collaboration with a certain Mr Hackett still to come.