According to Field, the process was not unlike "...trying to build a cathedral with the sort of things you'd find in your back yard," but still, as it turned out, formed a blueprint for Jade Warrior's music throughout their career.

Meanwhile, in a parallel line of development, Tom Newman (later the engineer for Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells),[1] Alan James, Pete Cook and Chris Jackson had formed the Tomcats.

[3] In 1965, both bands split up, Lyons joining Alex Spyropoulos in a (then) duo Nirvana, which released five LPs (with Jade Warrior members guesting on 1972's Local Anaesthetic).

When Havard and Duhig returned from Persia, they and Field set about recording a series of demos that laid the foundation for the initial Jade Warrior albums.

Working along those lines, we sat down in Jon's living room and drew up two lists, one comprising words we identified with the quieter, meditative side of the band, and the other expressing the heavier, more menacing aspect.

[8] "If Jade Warrior's second album has any overwhelming flaw, it is that its predecessor traveled so far off the conventional beaten tracks of early-'70s prog that anything less than absolute reinvention could only be regarded as a rerun of past glories", AllMusic argued years later.

[10] Taken as a whole, the first three albums saw the band creating and perfecting an innovative style, which (according to Dave Platt and Charles Wilkinson's biography) "had its base in rock music… with a Jethro Tull flavour, and significant admixtures of what we'd probably call 'world music' influence today".

Around this time the band were filmed at the Marquee Club in London as part of a visual showcase for several acts represented by Gaff Masters management, including Rod Stewart and Long John Baldry.

According to AllMusic, "[The] sheer diversity of sounds and moods, the constant clash or gentle intermingling of Eastern and Western styles, and the set's glittering atmospheres made Floating World an undeniable masterpiece".

[8] The album consisted of a single composition, divided into two parts (each taking up an LP side); this, according to AllMusic, proved "a nightmare for radio programmers who might have provided Waves with the airplay it desperately needed to push Jade Warrior beyond cult status".

[14] 1976's Kites recorded with guest musicians, Fred Frith among them, presented the band at their most musically abstract and progressive, each side being essentially a long concept piece, inspired by Paul Klee's painting "The Kingdom of the Air" and 9th century China's wandering Zen master Teh Ch'eng.

[2][8] The last of the four Island albums, Way of the Sun, represented a spatial, cinematic sound journey to Latin America, described by AllMusic as an "incredibly vibrant set that quivers with emotion and life itself".

[15] Personal issues, illness, and Duhig moving house to set up a recording studio, meant that the next album to be released was the 1979 compilation, Reflections, taken from their Vertigo years and containing some (at the time) unreleased tracks.

It was not until 1984 that any new material emerged with the release of Horizen on Pulse Records, described as definitely a "Tony Duhig project": he wrote all of the music, while Field performed on only a few of the tracks being largely replaced by long-time woodwind ace Gowan Turnbull.

[6] Glyn Havard commented, "It was basically a cynical attempt to generate some cash in the "ambient" sector, as far as I can see, the album had no artistic value whatsoever ...." This was followed by another long hiatus until Jade Warrior started their next project with new band members Colin Henson (guitar) and Dave Sturt (fretless bass).

This trio then released a follow-up album Distant Echoes in 1993, with guest appearances from Theo Travis of Gong (saxophone), David Cross of King Crimson (violin) and Tom Newman.

[21] All five albums recorded during the band's Vertigo era (Jade Warrior, Released, Last Autumn's Dream, Eclipse and Fifth Element) are currently available on the Repertoire label.