’70s prog-rock band Captain Beyond plays at Ace’s in Bradenton

Forty-five years ago, a semi-super group called Captain Beyond released a self-titled debut album that, at the time, was more famous for its 3-D cover than for its music. The music didn’t get much airplay in 1972, but its reputation grew as people started to discover its ambitious blend of rock, metal and jazz.

Captain Beyond’s members were veterans of Iron Butterfly, Deep Purple and Johnny Winters’ band. Members came and went (and at least a couple died) over the years, and Captain Beyond broke up and reformed several times. The current incarnation has been around since 2013, and this newest version of Captain Beyond will perform at Ace’s Live in Bradenton on Saturday.

The only original member who’s in this current lineup is drummer Bobby Caldwell. He’s the one who had previously played with Johnny Winter, and he left Captain Beyond after its first album to play with Rick Derringer. He returned for the third Captain Beyond album. Bassist Jeff Aratbasy joined the band in 1998 and guitarists Jeff “Boday” Christensen, Don Bonzi and Simon Lind, all came on board in 2013.

Besides being the drummer, Caldwell was one of the main songwriters for the early versions of Captain Beyond, and co-wrote all but one of the songs on the band’s first album and on its third and last, 1977’s “Dawn Explosion.”

Details: 7 p.m. June 3, Ace’s Live, 4343 Palma Sola Blvd., Bradenton. $25 advance, $30 at the door: 941-795-3886, aceslivemusic.com.

This story was originally published May 31, 2017 at 4:49 PM with the headline "’70s prog-rock band Captain Beyond plays at Ace’s in Bradenton."