1978 – Orbit

John Aronowitz – keyboards & vocals
Hylton Reiff – bass & vocals
Lloyd Martin – drums & vocals

Orbit was one of the most challenging — and ultimately one of the most valuable — musical experiences of my early years in Cape Town. The music was technically demanding, complex and far more adventurous than anything I had played before.

Keyboardist John Aronowitz was an extraordinary musician and prolific composer. He was heavily influenced by Keith Emerson and Elton John and could seemingly play the most difficult music by bands such as Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Greenslade with ease. His original compositions combined progressive rock, jazz and classical influences and demanded a completely different level of playing from me as a bass player.

Lloyd Martin was an accomplished professional drummer who had developed his craft while playing with the South African Army Band. He was also a highly regarded jazz drummer in Cape Town, and playing alongside someone with his experience and technical ability was another tremendous learning experience for me.

Together we developed a style that was described at the time as “techno-rock” — progressive, classically influenced rock incorporating elements of jazz. It was ambitious music and often technically difficult, but that was exactly what made Orbit such an important part of my musical development.

Signs of the Zodiac

One of our most ambitious projects was a stage performance called Signs of the Zodiac. We created an individual piece of music inspired by each sign of the zodiac, resulting in a complete cycle of original compositions.

The recordings below include many of those pieces — Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius — together with other original compositions, rehearsals and jams from that period.

Orbit in the Press

Orbit received some welcome press coverage when we began performing in Cape Town. The newspaper article describes our concert debut at the Masonic Hall in Newlands and notes that we were appearing on a bill with the Lancaster Band.

Orbit was relatively short-lived, but musically it had a lasting impact on me. It stretched my abilities as a bass player and exposed me to a level of composition and musicianship that significantly broadened my musical horizons.