To many fans of the larger genre, the Canterbury music scene is often linked with British Progressive Rock. There are far too many differences, however, between them for me to make any such link. The Canterbury scene was, for the most part, much freer, much jazzier, far more influenced by American free jazz and fusion than by classical style and structure. The only band that really linked the two, because it refused to consider itself a part of any movement, was King Crimson, who are too often called "prog", but were a hybrid of jazz, heavy metal, and English beer hall that sought to force the muse to serve them, rather than vice-versa.
The quintessential Canterbury band was Soft Machine. Here they are from a 1970 French television appearance, and you will see what I mean.
Some of Soft Machine's back catalog has been remastered and released on CD, which I found yesterday.
Robert Wyatt was Soft Machine's leader, and he left the band to form another even more eclectic group called Matching Mole. If anyone stumbles across this post and knows where I can find CD copies of Matching Mole, please let me know.
