UKZ is an international progressive rock

Progressive rock

Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

 band, that was formed in 2007 by keyboardist/violinist Eddie Jobson

Eddie Jobson

Edwin "Eddie" Jobson is an English keyboardist and violinist noted for his use of synthesizers. He has been a member of several progressive rock bands, including Curved Air, Roxy Music, U.K., and Jethro Tull. He was also part of Frank Zappa's band in 1976-77...

, who had played in UK

UK (band)

U.K. were a short-lived British progressive rock supergroup active from 1977 until 1980.The band was composed of Singer/Bassist John Wetton, formerly of King Crimson, Bryan Ferry's band and Uriah Heep, Keyboardist/Electric Violinist Eddie Jobson, formerly of Curved Air, Roxy Music and Frank Zappa's...

. The band also features former King Crimson

King Crimson

King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...

 guitarist Trey Gunn

Trey Gunn

Trey Gunn is an American musician, known for his membership in progressive rock band King Crimson from 1994 to 2003, playing Warr Guitar and Chapman Stick.-Biography:...

.

History

Eddie Jobson started his professional career with Curved Air

Curved Air

Curved Air are a pioneering British progressive rock group formed in 1970 by musicians from mixed artistic backgrounds, including classic, folk, and electronic sound. The resulting sound of the band was a mixture of progressive rock, folk rock, and fusion with classical elements...

, Roxy Music

Roxy Music

Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...

 and Frank Zappa

Frank Zappa

Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...

. Later in the 1970s, he was a member of the band UK, initially with King Crimson alumni John Wetton

John Wetton

John Kenneth Wetton is an English bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, singer and songwriter. He was born in Willington, Derbyshire, and grew up in Bournemouth. He has been a professional musician since the late 1960s...

 and Bill Bruford

Bill Bruford

William Scott "Bill" Bruford is an English drummer, percussionist, composer, producer, and record label owner. He was the original drummer for the progressive rock group Yes, from 1968-1972. Bruford has performed for numerous popular acts since the early 1970s, including a stint as touring...

, plus Allan Holdsworth

Allan Holdsworth

Allan Holdsworth is an English guitarist and composer. He has released twelve studio albums as a solo artist and played many different styles of music over a period of four decades, but first drew attention for his work in jazz fusion...

. The band later consisted of Jobson, Wetton and Terry Bozzio

Terry Bozzio

Terry John Bozzio is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons and Frank Zappa.-Biography:Terry Bozzio was born December 27, 1950 in San Francisco, California. He started at age 6 playing makeshift drum sets. At the age of 13 he saw The Beatles premier performance on The Ed...

. After UK, and a short period with Jethro Tull

Jethro Tull (band)

Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...

, Jobson went on to solo projects, including releasing The Green Album under the project name Zinc. Jobson did not perform live for many years, focusing instead on soundtrack work. Attempts at a UK reunion failed. The Legacy project began life as a planned UK reunion, but morphed into a Jobson solo work, with Aaron Lippert, former vocalist for Expanding Man

Expanding Man

Formed in Long Island, New York, Expanding Man began as Aaron Lippert , Dave Wanamaker , Chris Hancock and Peter Armata . In 1992, the group moved to the Boston area, where they were joined by second guitarist, Bill Guerra...

, lined up to handle vocals, replacing Wetton. However, the project subsequently stalled and was abandoned.

The UKZ name references both UK and Zinc. Jobson is again joined by a King Crimson alumnus in Trey Gunn, while Machacek and Minnemann have both previously worked with Bozzio.

The new band was announced in October 2007, with first studio effort, Radiation, released on 24 March 2009.

Releases

The band released an instrumental

Instrumental

An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....

 MP3 track, entitled "Tu-95" (after the Soviet airplane), for download on 30 September 2008. An EP, "Radiation", was released in 2009 via Ryko Distribution, and earlier release via the band's website.