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

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

What an incredible 2025 it’s been in the world of prog. This year, we’ve taken a different approach to our Critics’ Choice and instead of printing our writers’ Top 20 lists, we’ve pooled them to create a definitive Top 50 with profile pieces on some of the key players. Did your favourite make the cut? We look forward to reading your thoughts on the results.

Since they drifted into our world a few years ago, EBB have gone from strength to strength and on their hotly anticipated second album, The Mirror , the Scotland-based collective have flexed their muscles even further.

Since his previous English album My Name Is Michael Holbrook limped into the UK charts at No.57 in 2019, Mika has appeared to focus on the French side of his Paris/London dual upbringing. In 2023, Que

CRAFTING AN APPEALING guitar solo for a song is always a creative challenge. There are many different approaches one can take: Do I follow the chord changes so that the notes line up perfectly with th