ASIA VENUE ROSS CORN EXCHANGE, ROSS-ON-WYE, HEREFORDSHIRE DATE ...

Big Big Train cofounder Gregory Spawton on the records, artists and gigs that are of lasting significance to him.

Guitar virtuoso Pat Metheny is on a roll. Not only has he launched Uniquity Music as a home for his material new and old, but he’s also released a new studio album, Side-Eye III+ , a record he proudly describes as the best he’s done. He tells Prog why it’s so important to bring fresh talent to the spotlight and the unexpected ways he turns his old instruments into art.

Simon Neil leads a back on top Biffy ...

The prolific Bill Nelson ’s taken a brief pause from his solo work to turn his attention towards a project of a different kind. Orchestra Futura was a live improv trio that also included Theo Travis and Dave Sturt. Although they never released any studio recordings, a selection of material has just been collated and issued as Live At Nelsonica & Clothworkers Hall . Prog caught up with its members to find out more and uncover Nelson’s plans for the future.

Had Robin Holloway published Music’s Odyssey—described by its author as “an invitation to the glorious long voyage of Western classical music”—30 years ago, he might well have got away with it. By day