Martin
Orford (born 10 June 1959, Bitterne, Southampton) is
an English keyboard player best known as the keyboardist
and founder member of progressive rock bands IQ and
Jadis.
He also worked with former King Crimson, UK and Asia bassist
John Wetton, and released a solo album, Classical Music
and Popular Songs in 2000.
Orford appeared on two Big Big Train albums, "Goodbye
To The Age of Steam" and "English Boy Wonders" plus
guested on flute for the Guy Manning album "One Small
Step..." .
Orford won the "Best Keyboard Player" category
at the Best of the Year Classic Rock Society Award in 2004.
Orford's latest solo album The Old Road (GEPCD1037) was
released in October 2008. The album features guest appearances
from John Wetton, Nick D'Virgilio and Dave Meros (Spock's
Beard), Steve Thorne, John Mitchell (It Bites/Arena), Gary
Chandler (Jadis), Dave Oberle (Gryphon), David Longdon
and Andy Edwards (IQ)
Orford
announced that he would quit the music industry completely
at the end of 2008, citing disillusionment with internet
piracy and the 'free music' culture as the principal
reason (source Orford 16 October 2008). However, he
continues to perform live occasionally, most recently
at MelloFest 2009 where he performed tracks from The
Old Road as well as some IQ numbers.
He
still runs his mail order music business, Giant Electric
Pea, which serves as an outlet for bands including
IQ, Jadis, Big Big Train and Steve Thorne.
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