Glass began in the late 1960s as a Port Townsend-based rock band named The Outcasts, playing covers and the occasional original piece. On September 6, 1968 they attended a Jimi Hendrix concert at the Seattle Center Coliseum where the British band The Soft Machine was the opening act. They were transfixed by The Soft Machine, a guitar-less power trio. Shortly thereafter they changed their name to Glass and began playing originals exclusively. Moving to Olympia, Washington in 1971 to attend The Evergreen State College, they quickly became favorites on-campus for their spirited performances. Numerous live performances in and around Olympia, Seattle, Tacoma, Bellingham, Port Townsend, and other Pacific Northwest venues (including the first-ever live broadcast concert on KAOS-FM) gave them considerable local attention and accolades. Professional studio recordings were made in 1975, which they then shopped around to various record labels at home and abroad in an attempt to land a recording contract.
Unfortunately the mid-1970s was not a good time for rehearsal-intensive progressive rock. The music industry was being taken over by punk rock and disco to the point where even well-established rock acts were being dropped from their labels. Despite their well-honed local reputation, Glass found themselves unable to attract a recording contract.
Disappointed and disillusioned, the band officially called it quits in late 1976 rather than compromise their vision.
Twenty years passed. By the mid-1990s a full-scale progressive rock revival was brewing, thanks to the Internet and the new economics of CD releases. Glass began contemplating a reunion and started testing the waters by contacting old fans and making new business contacts. In 1999 band rehearsals began, proving the magic was still there. Old tapes were dusted off and prepared for an archival release. The record label Relentless Pursuit was set up to release Glass music and solo recordings by the band members. After considerable digital cleanup and editing, a 2-CD set of recordings from 1973-1977 was released, entitled No Stranger To The Skies. Following the resounding success of that release a third volume was released the following year. Several concerts were arranged and performed, not only in the Pacific Northwest but also in Mexico (BajaProg Festival in 2002 and 2004), ProgWest Festival (Claremont CA, 2001), and Progman Cometh Festival (Seattle 2002 and 2003).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progman_Cometh
The acclaim that their live performances garnered attracted the attention of French independent progressive rock label Musea Records, who in 2004 offered to re-release No Stranger To The Skies and give it worldwide distribution. Simultaneously the Sherman brothers were brimming with ideas for new music, and began writing and rehearsing brand new material for their "first all-original album in 27 years." This album, Illuminations (with cover photo by soundman Erik Poulsen) was released by Musea in 2005 to great reviews. Bringing the music full circle, it features guest appearances by some of the cream of the British progressive rock movement, including Hugh Hopper, (ex-Soft Machine), Richard Sinclair and Phil Miller.
In October 2007 Glass embarked on their first-ever European tour to support their newly released live recording on Musea, Glass Live At Progman Cometh.
Glass returned to the recording studio in 2008 and 2009 to finish their 4th album for Musea entitled Spectrum Principle. It was released worldwide on October 15, 2010. Produced largely by drummer Jerry Cook, it is a departure from their last studio album Illuminations.
In April 2011 Glass returned to their hometown of Port Townsend, Washington, to record a "live in-the-studio" album. They booked the old Arcadia Barn, where they had recorded thirty-eight years earlier, now renovated and called "The Palindrome." Produced by bassist Jeff Sherman, the album was recorded in Zen style—the band did not undergo the usual months of pre-recording preparations but instead came together in the barn and played whatever ideas came to mind. They were also given permission to record inside The First Presbyterian Church of Port Townsend on their magnificent 1849 Whalley-Genung pipe organ. These recordings were recorded directly to two-track analog master tapes, mastered by Michael King (author of Wrong Movements: A Robert Wyatt Biography), and released in 2014 on Musea Records as Palindrome.
www.guitarnoise.com/blog/glass-interview/
www.aural-innovations.com/issues/issue21/glass02.html
Recording details behind each song. Original analog recordings engineered by Erik Poulsen. Additional engineering by Don McKinney, Bob Moore, Dick Maltby and Reed Ruddy. Digital remastering by Billy Cobb at Billy Cobb Recording, February 1999 to November 2000.
All titles published by Relentless Pursuit Music, BMI. © 2001 All Rights Reserved.
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
No Stranger to the Skies is a 2 CD set of handpicked numbers from their heyday in the mid '70s, disc one from the studio and disc two a semi-live collection. 'Domino' is the essence of gradual as it sneaks through a web of twined keys showing the Softs' influence and a general fondness for the Canterbury sounds of National Health, Gilgamesh and even Quiet Sun. Disc two features the half-hour 'Broken Ears' suite which blossoms into an escapade of hot symphonic jazz that twists down a road of bass, mellotron, synths and drums. 'Changer' follows, a satisfying keyboard/bass/drums bit that brings to mind Mike Oldfield's early stuff. Glass was clearly on the right track and was just a bit too late on the scene to have the time to evolve professionally (and probably would have done better in Europe had they released a proper record).
- Atavachron
The first thought that ran through my head as I gave No Stranger to the Skies its first spin was "who are these guys and why haven't I heard of them before?!" Quite simply, Glass' archival release is one of the best examples of American progressive rock I've ever heard. Comprising two CDs of first class material recorded between 1973 and 1977, it is all the more amazing to realize that these recordings never saw the light of day until the band released them independently in 2000. Reissued again in 2004 by Musea, the music of Glass is more accessible to symphonic rock fans than ever before.
Hailing from Washington state, Glass were/are a three piece instrumental keyboard driven band, but they do not fit the "power trio" tag at all. The few descriptions I did see compared them to Emerson Lake and Palmer, which just isn't true. So what do they sound like? Well, at various times I was reminded of Happy the Man, Schicke Führs and Fröhling, King Crimson and even Goblin here and there.
Beautifully packaged in a fold out sleeve that includes a vintage montage of the band in the studio and on stage as well as copious liner notes detailing the troubled history of the band and we have a candidate for reissue of the year. Happily, Glass have recently reformed and are at work on a new studio recording as I write this. Richard Sinclair of Caravan fame was intrigued enough to ask them to play with him at BajaProg 2004. With all these factors in place, Glass may finally be on the verge of the success that they so deserved in the first place.
- Steve Pettengill, Sea of Tranquility
Always moving in unexpected directions, the album keeps you intrigued and asking for more.
- Guitar Noise
Back in the mid to late 70's, American progressive rock band Glass made a number of recordings. But in an era that had become dominated by disco and slick and breezy pop tunes, they had difficulty finding a record label, and the recordings remained un-released, languishing on the shelf for 20 years after the break up of the band. But now, Glass are back together, and have compiled their recordings into a lavish 2-disc set, the first disc consisting of studio recordings, the second of live recordings. Glass plays spacey, instrumental, keyboard heavy progressive rock. Their music will have fans of the mellotron drooling, as the vintage instrument is featured on almost every track. Glass take their cue from British progressive rock, but unlike most of their contemporaries who treated synthesizers as little more than fancy organs, this trio embraces the new technologies of their time, letting them expand their sound in directions that few others were doing at the time. If you have any inclinations towards this kind of music, you owe it to yourself to check out this undiscovered gem. You won't be disappointed.
- Jeff Fitzgerald, Aural Innovations
www.aural-innovations.com/issues/issue18/glass01.html
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
released December 27, 2000
Personnel:
Jeff Sherman: Alembic Bass Guitar, Rickenbacker Bass Guitar, Fender Rhodes Electric Piano, Moog Taurus Bass Pedals, Fender Stratocaster Electric Guitar, Gibson J200 Acoustic Guitar, Acoustic 6- and 12-String Guitars, '52 Fender Precision Bass Reissue
Greg Sherman: Mellotron, ARP 2600 Synthesizer, Baldwin Grand Piano, Baldwin Electro-Pro Piano, Upright Tack Piano, Hammond A-100 Organ, Clavinet D6, Yamaha Grand Piano, ARP Pro Soloist Synthesizer, ARP Odyssey Synthesizer, Oberheim Sequencer, Oberheim Synthesizer, Elka String Synthesizer
Jerry Cook: Drums, Moog Drum Pad through a Minimoog, Moog Snare, Concert Gong, Concert Timpani, Triangle
Paul Black: Drums, Bells, Space Flute (track 1)
Cover image courtesy NASA Hubble Space Telescope