French violinist, Magma member and student of Stephane Grappelli, Didier Lockwood has passed away at the age of 63. From his Facebook page:
"Son épouse, ses trois filles, sa famille, son agent, ses collaborateurs et sa maison de disque ont la douleur de faire part de la disparition brutale de Didier Lockwood dans sa 63 ème année."

Hard to believe, but the strawberrybricks.com is celebrating its 7th year with the new design. Thank you to Robert Gomez and Ajenda Interactive for their help, and you the visitor for your support!

From author Christian Wheeldon's blog site:
"DEEP DISTANCE - THE MUSICAL LIFE OF MANUEL GÖTTSCHING IS NOW AVAILABLE TO ORDER.
Update: December 2017 - Still in stock and into a third print run! Well over six years in the writing, this has been painstakingly pieced together but was also a real labour of love for me.
Here's some information about the book:
-156 pages
-95,000 words
-Four pages of colour photographs
-12 black and white photographs/images throughout the text
-Limited edition print run

Bassist Jim Rodford, a founding member of Argent and longtime bassist for The Kinks, passed away on January 20th. My condolences to his wife and two sons, and his cousin Rod Argent. RIP, Jim. (Photo from The Zombies Facebook page).

Sadly, Christian Buchard, the founder of the German jazz-rock-world collective Embryo passed away. My condolences to his family and in particular his daughter Marja, I hope she continues the torch!
"Der Multiinstrumentalist und Gründer der Weltmusik- und Krautrockband Embryo ist am 17. Januar 2018 im Alter von 71 Jahren verstorben. Christian erlitt vor etwa zwei Jahren einen Schlaganfall und konnte nicht mehr auftreten. Seitdem hat seine Tochter Marja die Bandleitung übernommen. Im Jahr 2008 erhielt Embryo (gegründet 1969) den Deutschen Weltmusikpreis 'Ruth'.
R.I.P Christian"

Just the other day I was playing a compilation called Early Blues on Compleat Records. Love those early recordings of The Moody Blues, and of course, where would we all be without Days of Future Passed...

From Cherry Red/Esoteric:

Happy Holidays and New Year to all, thank you for your purchase of the new edition of The Strawberry Bricks Guide to Progressive Rock, and to all the kind words that have been said about it. -- charles