Glass – Emergence

Musea FGBG 4994 $15 + $3 shipping

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Glass's fourth post-Reformation studio album brings in a few new elements—tenor sax on one track, vocals on another—but the basic ‘Glass sound’ of the trio of tightly-interwoven bass, drums and keyboards (Rhodes, organ & Mellotron) remains forefront. This time there are no 20-minute epics about star clusters or mythological heroes; the tracks here all clock in at under 5 minutes (except the 7:26 closer) and stick to exploring the boundaries defined within the opening moments of each song.

Over the two-year gestation of this release—which for Glass, is rather quick—the boys honed and polished their signature sound and play it with the confidence of a band that has been together for 46 years. This is not ‘flash-in-the-pan’ music, not today's flavor-of-the-month. This a mature distillation of everything these three unique musicians have fought to achieve over a lifetime.

Glass – Palindrome

Musea FGBG 4935 $15 + $3 shipping

Palindrome (2014) marks a return to a vintage live sound. Produced by Glass bassist Jeff Sherman, the album was recorded in the band's hometown in the space the band recorded in back in the mid-Seventies (Arcadia). It was recorded mostly live to two-track analog tape, using vintage analog instruments. In addition, three of the tracks were augmented by the incomparable sound of the 1889 Whalley Genung pipe organ which resides in the Port Townsend Presbyterian Church (Washington State). The vision here was to be as free of preconceptions as possible—for the three Glass members to produce a true Zen recording. The music here embodies all the classic music elements: great melodies, complex time signatures and musical experimentation that still sound fresh even in this over-hyped digital era. Fans of Glass' earlier, more jazz-influenced improvisational work should be doubly pleased by Palindrome.

View the Palindrome slideshow.

A lovely CD.
- Robert Wyatt

Palindrome sounds like no other album out there, not just in the progressive rock genre, but in any genre of music.
- Aural Innovations

What a cool record. It's so chilled out and moves through so many interesting spaces but never feels like bombast. Love it.
- Elaine DiFalco (Thinking Plague)

This is as close to "live in the studio" as you can get, as close to pure clear undistilled Glass as you can find.
- Bob Carlberg

It might take several spins to adjust your ears, as this CD sounds like nothing else on the market. The effort will be richly rewarded however with a glimpse of the musical vision of the world's most distinct symphonic progressive trio.
- Prog Archives

Glass – Spectrum Principle

Musea FGBG 4854 $15 + $3 shipping

Spectrum Principle (2010) finds the band breaking new ground in the direction of the electronic soundscapes and sound collages introduced on Illuminations. Loosely defined as a concept-album, Spectrum Principle offers a unique view into the worlds of particle physics, quantum theory, human abstract thought, and the possibility of alternate universes as seen through the unique perspective of Glass drummer and album producer Jerry Cook. All band members contribute equally to the writing and there's something here for all fans of Progressive rock music: the Canterbury School-influenced jazz-rock songs the band helped pioneer in the Seventies (complex time signatures, vintage Hammond Organ, Mellotron, Fender Rhodes, and Mini-Moogs abound), classic European symphonic Progressive rock, acoustic music, and much more.

Intelligent instrumental music that is not afraid to push a few boundaries along the way and an album that only enhances their already fine back catalogue.
- Dutch Progressive Rock Page

This is probably one of the most important albums I’ve ever had to review.
- Prognaut

Spectrum Principle is another masterpiece from Glass, and one which clearly shows that they really have no interest in resting on their laurels...
- Ryan Sparks, Sea of Tranquility

Ryan Sparks Best of 2010, ranked Number 1
- Sea of Tranquility

Spectrum Principle pushes the envelope, sounding at once like both a logical continuation of Glass's trademarked sound and a radical new expansion of possibilities.
- Bob Carlberg

...try out Spectrum Principle for some jazzy yet slightly off-kilter progressive goodness.
- New Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock

Glass – Live At Progman Cometh

Musea FGBG 4736 $15 + $3 shipping

Live At Progman Cometh presents two Glass performances from 2002 and 2003 at Seattle's Moore Theater, plus one bonus-track (No Stranger To The Skies) recorded at BajaProg in 2002. There are five instrumental compositions for more than 70 minutes of music. Sounds promising, doesn't it ? This is an opportunity to hear Glass playing on stage with such luminaries as Elton Dean, Hugh Hopper, Richard Sinclair, and the brothers Bill & Paul Kopecky. Mostly unreleased, the titles mix the legacy of Progressive rock, symphonic music, and Canterbury School in a unique blend of raw live energy and inspired performance. A timeless masterpiece!

This disc is an excellent musical document of the fascinating story of Glass, the little prog band that could, and did become a force to reckon with.
- Aural Innovations

Live At Progman Cometh is a truly stunning display of intelligent, well crafted music. This is Glass in their natural element, onstage interacting and feeding off of each other, carving out new sonic landscapes as they go along. This is a true delight from beginning to end.
- Sea of Tranquility

A worthy addition to the band’s discography, this release is equally a worthy addition to my personal collection of discs, and comes recommended to all those who appreciate both symphonic Art-Rock and Jazz-Fusion.
- Progressor

Oh, and you don't have to take my word as to the quality of the music on this disc. Ask the ex-members of Soft Machine or Hatfield and the North if you should take a moment to listen to the music of Glass.
- Progressive World

I’ll stop with the superlatives now and simply say that this is an excellent instrumental progressive-rock album. I won’t even add the adjective “live,” although it adds to the fun of the disc to realize that these performances were captured in front of an audience, because the tightness of the band makes the setting largely irrelevant to the listener.
- Dutch Progressive Rock Page

Glass – Illuminations

Musea FGBG 4594 $15 + $3 shipping

Illuminations (2005) is a real studio album indeed, showcasing a different side of Glass. If the music is still as majestic and impressive as it has been, it also displays evidences of a true maturity. Soloing is kept to a minimum in favour of huge instrumental sections that belie the arrangements complexity. Let's also note that the track Isle Of Dyslexia has been recorded with the help of Hugh Hopper (Soft Machine), as Gaia features Hatfield and the North's creative duet: Richard Sinclair & Phil Miller. Here's a new masterpiece that has to be part of every Progressive rock discography!

...the whole disc flows so easily from one track to another and what really impressed me was the way the band was able to create and paint such a large canvas of sound, using both the electronic and acoustic instruments to near perfection.
- Sea of Tranquilty

Glass proves that even after a 25-year absence from the studio, they are still a creative and vital force worth reckoning with on the progressive rock scene. Here's hoping we continue to hear much more from them in the future.
- Aural Innovations

...Illuminations is a fine piece of work, recommended to fans of progressive rock in general and highly recommended to fans of seventies progressive rock.
- Dutch Progressive Rock Page

This is a very special disc, an album out of its time, a timeless package perhaps. I'll ... give this album my highest recommendation.
- Progressive Land

The music is beautiful, complex, but presented with facility; it doesn’t sound complicated. I’m predicting this album is going to go far and bring the band quite forward to the publics attention.
- Guitar Noise

Considering the distinct originality of the band's sound, I can count Illuminations a good album overall...
- Progressor

Overall, Illuminations is a very good album, with lots of '70's musical mannerisms and 00's production quality.
- New Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock

Glass – No Stranger To The Skies

Both the Musea and original Relentless Pursuit pressings are out of print. Individually burned copies are available, but without the poster / liner notes from the original releases. Contact Jeff for more information.

Musea FGBG 4516 $22 + $3 shipping

Back in the Seventies, the brothers Greg & Jeff Sherman had a musical project called Glass. Unfortunately, nobody wanted to sign them, even when they decided to leave for the homeland of Progressive rock: Great Britain! Which is amazing of itself: the talent in this American band is quite obvious! Not only are they great musicians, but they are also great songwriters. Twenty-five years later, our two partners in crime decided to repatriate long recorded musical pieces and release them as a double-CD titled No Stranger To The Skies, partly recorded live and partly in the studio. The result is one superb album, reissued in the year 2004 by the Musea label. A mix of orchestral Progressive rock and jazz-rock fusion, this unique piece of work is a real delight for the fans of Mellotron and Fender Rhodes electric piano! The whole sounds as fresh as it had been recorded today...

Quite simply, Glass' archival release is one of the best examples of American progressive rock I've ever heard.
- Sea of Tranquility

Highly recommended, without any reservations.
- Progressor

...I thoroughly enjoyed this instrumental voyage back to the glory days of Progressive Rock, when keyboards were kings (this disc is saturated in moogs, mellotron and more).
- Dutch Progressive Rock Page

Always moving in unexpected directions, the album keeps you intrigued and asking for more.
- Guitar Noise

All in all, an excellent debut ... too bad it's taken so long to see the light of day!
- New Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock

Glass – No Stranger To The Skies Vol. III

Musea $15 + $3 shipping

On the third volume of No Stranger to the Skies, the boys feature more of their archival sessions (mostly live recordings from 1972-1977) which show a more energetic side of Glass. Heck, there's even a rare vocal track of a young (17 year old) Jeff Sherman which sounds great in my opinion.

I can't strongly recommend Glass enough...
- Prognaut

Greg Sherman – The Road Home

Musea DR 8448 $15 + $3 shipping

Greg Sherman is no other than one of the two brothers who founded Glass, one of the hidden treasures of American Progressive rock. Parallel to his busy schedule with his band, he offers today his second piano solo album, seven years after Zutique (2001). On the latter, there was a track named The Road Home, and that's precisely the title of the present opus! Published in the year 2008 on the Dreaming label, the thirteen compositions can be linked with the works of Keith Jarrett or other great improvisational piano players, but much more melodic and accessible. Apart from a percussionnist featured on some tracks, let's notice the guest-appearance of a certain Jeff Sherman (acoustic guitar) on Just To See You Shine. One can also say that every copy sold of this album will donate one Dollar to the National Coalition For The Homeless. To be discovered!

The pieces, gently flowing and exploring musical landscapes with mostly subtle and minor differences between them, are fascinating...
- Progressor

Sherman has a nice flow to his playing, and has a really good feel. He knows what notes should be highlighted and allowed to resonate and when to play softer and gentler to fill out that resonance with tones to create a rich and warm sound.
- RYM

It is extremely pleasant and enjoyable. Mainly played at a slow tempo, it is both very melodic and rhythmic in a hypnotic, relaxing sort of way.
- Sea of Tranquility

Greg Sherman – Zutique

RD 4131-2 $15 + $3 shipping

Greg carefully crafts each composition, with structure and melody to entice the listener actively rather than passively, drawing him or her into the mood of the piece. There are no notes thrown in randomly.
- Aural Innovations

First released in 2000 as Greg’s first solo piano CD, “Zutique” is re-released here by Relentless Pursuit records with three additional, never-before released songs from the same recording sessions that produced the original tracks for the CD.

...There is romanticism in every piece, each being mellow, relaxing compositions. It's perfect listening for digging into a good book or sitting with a loved one by a warm fire...
- Progressive World

Born in Seattle, Washington, in 1954, Greg grew up in the bucolic settings of rural Western Washington state. The atmospheres and scenes from this environment still are prominent in his writing today. In 1971, Greg attended The Evergreen State College, in Olympia, Washington, studying music.

...A beautiful collection of music...
- Progressive World

Jeff Sherman – Above & Beyond

RD 4133 $15 + $3 shipping

Above & Beyond is the first solo ambient electronic CD by Glass bassist / guitarist / keyboardist Jeff Sherman. It is the result of several years of accumulating material that was beyond the scope of what Jeff brought to the Glass body of work. Jeff’s starting point was somewhere between John Cage and Brian Eno with a healthy dose of some of the more notable Berlin School of Electronic Music masters like Klaus Schultz and Manuel Göttsching. Sherman starts from the premise that all sound is music, and extends outward from there. He calls his music “Progressive Ambient.”

There are aspects to Austasia Pt 1, especially at the beginning, that are absolutely beautiful. Hauntingly beautiful, in fact...This is a lovely, lovely album through and through. If symphonic, electronic music is your thing, then you should make Jeff Sherman's Above & Beyond your thing.
- Stephanie Sollow, ProgressiveWorld

Jeff Sherman shows off here that he is an amazing composer as well as a multi-instrumentalist, building music from scratch rather than totally relying on computers that are readily available for "one-man-bands."
- ProgNaut

From symphonic, to lushly ambient, to minimalist composition, to complex sound collage, Above & Beyond takes the listening on a far-reaching journey.
- Aural Innovations

Jeff Sherman – Home

RD 4135 $15 + $3 shipping

Home is the second solo ambient electronic CD by Glass bassist / guitarist / keyboardist Jeff Sherman. It continues his pioneering work in the sub-genre “Progressive Ambient,” a genre pioneered by Sherman. In August of 2002 Jeff met and became friends with ex-Soft Machine bassist/composer Hugh Hopper at the Progman Cometh concert in Seattle, Washington. As a result the two decided to record together in the near future as time and schedules would allow. The result—a feat achieved by the transcontinental sharing of music files—is a brilliant next chapter in the continuing musical saga of this musical visionary. Home was voted #1 in Aural Innovations Staff Top Picks For 2003 by staff member/reviewer Jeff Fitzgerald.

There’s something deeply personal about Home. Like that place where our lives exist and our memories dwell, the second solo effort from Jeff Sherman, keyboardist and bassist of progressive rock group Glass, is rich, warm, vibrant, cool, simple, complex, and colourful, and hints at memories both comforting and disconcerting. Another effort of what Sherman refers to as “progressive ambient music,” it’s ambient in the sense that, as the cover art suggests, the music is very impressionistic, and progressive in the sense that it never lapses into the background, remaining a consistently innovative and exciting listen throughout.
- Jeff Fitzgerald, Aural Innovations

Jeff Joad & the Joads – Time For A Change

RD 4126 $15 + $3 shipping

Released in 1990, Time For A Change the debut album by singer-songwriter Jeff Joad marked a watershed moment for the artist. Raised in the pristine spaces of the Pacific Northwest, Mr. Joad's re-location to the crowded, barrio area of Burbank, California in the San Fernando Valley awakened in him an awareness to many of the social ills that still plague our country today. Written and recorded almost entirely by Jeff and drummer Paul Black, this CD set the template for Jeff’s songwriting for the next ten years. A must-own for every fan of socially conscious folk-rock.

As his borrowed last name implies, Ojai singer-songwriter Jeff Joad (who recently performed in Highway 150 Revisited: Songs of Bob Dylan) is a spiritual descendent of John Steinbeck. His sometimes political music (laced with humor and heart) speaks truth to power as he sees it. His first album Time For A Change drew parallels between what is happening on the streets of our cities today and the social ills of The Great Depression. His follow-up album Judgment Of The Flame expanded on that idea. His music is passionate and compassionate
- The Ojai Valley News

The [Pull Down the] Wall lyrics particularly sharp—yes sir!
- Robert Wyatt