Marscape (2022 Expanded & Remastered Edition) Jack Lancaster & Robin Lumley

• 1 Take-Off (2022 Remaster) 03:09
• 2 Sail On Solar Winds (2022 Remaster) 02:48
• 3 Arrival (2022 Remaster) 01:51
• 4 Phobos And Deimos (2022 Remaster) 04:46
• 5 With A Great Feeling Of Love: Inner Warmth And Feelings Of Affinity (2022 Remaster) 02:50
• 6 With A Great Love: Marscape (2022 Remaster) 02:12
• 7 Olympus Mons (2022 Remaster) 05:19
• 8 Homelight (2022 Remaster) 03:25
• 9 Hopper (2022 Remaster) 04:30
• 10 Dust-Storm (2022 Remaster) 03:27
• 11 Blowholes (The Pipes Of Mars) (2022 Remaster) 03:04
• 12 Realisation (2022 Remaster) 06:12
• 13 Release (2022 Remaster) 02:21
• 14 With A Great Feeling Of Love ((Single Version) [2022 Remaster]) 03:35
• 15 Hopper ((Single Version) [2022 Remaster]) 03:20
• Total Runtime 52:49

Info for Marscape (2022 Expanded & Remastered Edition)

Newly remastered of the wonderful 1976 album ‘Marscape’ by Jack Lancaster And Robin Lumley.

This excellent album was recorded and released in 1976 and was composed and conceived to mark the landing on Mars of Nasa’s Viking 2 Explorer in September of that year.

For the sessions, saxophonist and woodwind player Jack Lancaster and keyboard player Robin Lumley were joined by John Goodsall on guitars, Percy Jones on bass and Phil Collins on drums.

The finished album was an incredible work and paved the way for the formation of the acclaimed group Brand X soon after.

This new edition of ‘Marscape’ has been remastered from newly discovered original master tapes.

"Lancaster is the former sax player in Blodwyn Pig, but this album is better-known for its side-players: Robin Lumley, John Goodsall, Percy Jones, Phil Collins, Morris Pert... in short, Brand X! Fans of Brand X actively search out this album expecting a pre-Brand X Brand X album. Well, yes and no. One can certainly hear the Brand X style in embryonic form on some songs, but we must remember, this is really Lancaster's show. Lancaster primarily plays sax, but he also plays a lot of Lyricon, an early wind synthesizer. Sometimes, it's hard to tell which synth lines were played by Lumley or Lancaster, although others have a definite "reedy" quality to their sound (i.e., you can tell by the phrasing that the notes came out of a wind instrument and not a keyboard). Other guest appearances include Penguin Cafe Orchestra mainstay Simon Jeffes on koto, while vocalist Bernie Frost graces some songs with his eerie falsetto, though none of the songs has any lyrics. The songs fall into two distinct categories: 1) Soft and atmospheric with gentle melodies expressed on sax/Lyricon/flute backed by Lumley's keyboards (usually piano) and 2) Jazz-fusion somewhat in the Mahavishnu mold with prominent sax and energetic rock backing. The latter passages are those which will be of greatest interest to Brand X fans, Percy Jones' distinctive bass playing being most prominent. One can't help but wonder if the program music on this album was perhaps originally intended to be a soundtrack of some sort. Worth getting if you know what to expect." (Mike Ohman)

Jack Lancaster, lyricon, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, alto flute, flute (bamboo, glass), violin, gong, panpipes
Robin Lumley, piano, electric piano, harmonium, synthesizer, autoharp, Hammond organ
Percy Jones, double bass, fretless bass, sequencer
Philip Collins, drums, percussion
John Goodsall, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Simon Jeffes, koto
Morris Pert, percussion
Geoff Leach, programming ARP synthesizer
Bernie Frost, vocals
Simon Jeffes, string quartet (arrangement)

Produced by Robin Lumley, Jack Lancaster

Digitally remastered

Jack Lancaster and Robin Lumley
are two musicians who in the seventies made a name for themselves working on various albums within the progressive rock as well as the jazz rock sphere. Together Jack Lancaster and Robin Lumley formed a team, composing music for TV and playing together in various sessions. Between 1975-1976 they teamed up to release two albums, with the help of other illustrious names, that have left their mark on the progressive rock world.

The first band that seems to have existed which sees both Lancaster and Lumley together was a studio band called The Soul Searchers which also included within its line-up John Goodsall (guitar), Gary Moore (guitar), Percy Jones (bass) and Bill Bruford (drums). Lancaster and Lumley wrote the two songs that appeared as a single in 1975, Scaramouche / Head Stand (1975, EMI). Of these two musicians, it was Lancaster who had already made a name for himself playing with Mick Abraham's in Jethro Tull break away band, Blodwyn Pig, releasing two albums that are still considered as progressive rock classics.

This album contains no booklet.