Spontaneous | en

The Spontaneous Music Ensemble (SME) was a loose collection of free improvising musicians convened beginning in the mid-1960s by the late South London-based jazz drummer/trumpeter John Stevens and alto and soprano saxophonist Trevor Watts. SME performances could range from Stevens-Watts duos to gatherings of more than a dozen players. One can loosely divide the group's history into two periods: the more horn-oriented earlier ensembles (typically with some combination of Watts, Evan Parker and Kenny Wheeler), and the later string-based ensembles with guitarist Roger Smith (who became as central to the second edition of SME as Watts was to the first)...

Formed in 1971 in Poole, Dorset by brothers Gary (guitar and vocals) and Tristan Margetts (bass, synth and vocals) and drummer Tony Brock, the band, originally called Transient Sand, signed to Harvest Records and released a Greg Lake-produced eponymous album in 1972. This album, and its follow up "Triad" (released that same year), won criticial acclaim but little success and the band split in early 1973. Brock featured in Strider and The Babys before joining Rod Stewart's band whilst Tristan Margetts joined Lake's band. .