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$13 US/Canada (including shipping)
$16 Elsewhere (including shipping)
(jewel-case with 4 page booklet)
Live in Zaandam MJR006
Video Clips Album Profile Artist Profile Reviews Photos
1. Ash 11:41  |
| 2. One Two One Two 12:04 |
| 3. Baker's Treat 6:55 |
| 4. Kings & Queens 9:14 |
| 5. Two Down 2:43 |
| 6. Big Creese 8:32 |
Elton Dean saxello, alto sax, Fender
Rhodes el. Piano
John Etheridge guitar
Hugh Hopper bass guitar
John Marshall drums
Recorded live on May 10, 2005 at De Kade, Zaandam (Holland)
Ratlift
Seven For Lee
Baker’s Treat
Strange Comforts
Two Down
Powerfull jazz-rock fusion, British “Canterbury” style, from the legendary Soft Machine alumni. Live in Zaandam is the first salvo from Soft Machine Legacy, combining visceral grooves with sizzling solos and telepathic interplay. Founding SML members Hugh Hopper (bass), John Etheridge (guitar), John Marshall (drums) and the late Elton Dean (1946-2006; sax/electric piano) deliver six open-ended compositions where structure is but a framework for intrepidly expanding the possibilities of fusion, while remaining undeniably accessible. Bristling with unrestrained energy, Soft Machine Legacy demonstrates that “spirit, not a style, is truly Soft Machine’s greatest legacy.”
British jazz-rock pioneers John Etheridge, Elton Dean, Hugh Hopper and John Marshall are known for their work with the legendary UK band Soft Machine. Since its creation in 1966, this band pioneered Progressive Rock, led the 'Canterbury' trend, pioneered jazz-rock, and then guitar-led fusion (launching the guitar god Allan Holdsworth in 1974), influenced generations of musicians. Disbanded in 1978, recreated in few occasions in 1981 and 1984, the band resurfaces in 1999 under the name of SOFT WARE (Dean, Hopper, Marshall, Tippett), having the brief blast under the name of SOFT WORKS (Hopper, Dean, Holdsworth, Marshall) between 2002 and early 2004, and assuming the final shape in the Fall of 2004 under the name of THE SOFT MACHINE LEGACY (Dean, Etheridge, Hopper, Marshall). After the premature death of Elton Dean in February of 2006, his place was taken by young British saxophone/flutist lion Theo Travis (Gong, Palle Mikkelborg, Tangent, David Sylvian).
SOFT MACHINE - British Music Institution
From their humble, mid-late London 60s pop/psychedelic origins, with charismatic vocalists, Kevin Ayers and Daevid Allen, the Soft Machine evolved into an incredibly significant jazz and progressive rock machine. The original drummer Robert Wyatt’s falsetto vocals equated to a combined force that meshed modern jazz drumming with whispery lyricism. It was the unique charm and chemistry that imprinted a signature sound and line of attack that set this ensemble apart (on a global basis) from many of its peers. With the advent of the so called “Canterbury scene”, emanating from bassist Hugh Hopper and other budding artistes regional gigs in the U.K., the early 70s Soft Machine featuring Wyatt, saxophonist Elton Dean, keyboardist Mike Ratledge and Hopper molded the wit and whimsy of British progressive rock, with a wily and highly imaginative approach to jazz. For example, Ratledge’s infamous, dirty-organ sound and silky smooth Fender Rhodes piano work loomed as an identifying factor, coupled with Hopper’s occasional magic fuzz-bass lines. Then of course saxello and alto saxophonist maestro Elton Dean’s quasi free-jazz improvisations added yet another compelling perspective to the band’s majesty. Yet a factoid that doesn’t always ring clear to many, pertains drumming great John Marshall, the British jazz drum legend, in the band since 1972, who in effect, remains the longest standing member of the core unit. OK, so what’s all the fuss about, some thirty-years onward? Well, other than your typical, legendary type connotations, the band’s genesis has been something akin to the planting of a seed that germinates and develops into a tree that is very much alive and growing. Think of the limbs and branches in musical terms. Therefore, Soft Machine’s evolvement through various iterations, featuring among others guitar god Allan Holdsworth, saxophonist/keyboardist Karl Jenkins, bass godzillas Roy Babbington and Percy Jones, guitar virtuoso John Etheridge, electric bass monument and rock icon Jack Bruce, plus various offshoot or splinter groups, render an irrefutably, compelling story. To complement the early ensemble’s historical past, is to be mentioned periodic jam sessions with Jimi Hendrix and former Policeman Andy Summers (both in 1968). Personnel changes ensued yet the premise or perhaps aura is perpetuated by the ensembles’ continuing legacy, steeped within nouveau type reengineering processes. For instance, check out recent forays such as Dean and Hopper’s involvement with superb French jazz musicians for the group “Polysoft”. Then we have the wonderful 2002/2003 and short-lived Soft Works quartet with Holdsworth, Dean, Hopper and Marhsall. Folks, there are countless other albums, spanning the years, such as “soft bands” led by Hopper and Dean (Soft Head, Soft Heap, Soft Ware, Soft Mountain, Soft Bounds), but we think you get the idea. However, independent record labels such as UK’s Voiceprint and Hux, and especially USA based Steve Feigenbaum’ Cuneiform Records, have been instrumental, in unearthing and re-mastering important live recordings from the Soft Machine 1970s archives, proving beyond a doubt that this band’s inventive formulas sound as fresh and heady, decades later. One of the more interesting components of the band’s history is rooted within its uncanny attraction to both modern/free jazz aficionados and the progressive-rock/fusion crowds. Essentially, these elements offer a foundation for this stage of the Soft Machine legacy. With that notion in mind, the legacy continues with British guitarist extraordinaire John Etheridge, joining Dean, Hopper and Marshall in October of 2004, along with a new and perhaps all-encompassing band moniker: The Soft Machine Legacy. The heritage, strongly and passionately wanted and made possible by New York based MoonJune Record’s guru Leonardo Pavkovic, combined with a rather sovereign rite of passage continues onward. This mindset applies to both reincarnation of this British music institution, Soft Works and The Soft Machine. It all reverts back to that distinct aura, which intimates a cyclical rebirth of sorts. It’s not an old and worn-out scheme to make a few extra bucks (if that is at all possible these days?). But it’s more of a resurgence of great music and ideas that refuses to be dampened or laid to rest. Therefore, the willing listener or progressive rock, jazz, jazz-rock, jazz-fusion, jazz whatever or jam-rock, can enjoy the muse that continues to be reshaped and set in motion. How many bands can boast such triumph? Yet, it really isn’t all about the band these days. It’s more about the school of thought and the mark of invention that flows forth into this young millennium.- GLENN ASTARITA, journalist and contributor to Downbeat Magazine, AllAboutJazz.com and JazzReview.com
AllAboutJazz.com, USA - 1
AllAboutJazz.com, USA - 2
Home Of Rock, Germany
Smarter.com, USA
Rotter’s Club, Italy
Kalporz, Italy
Progressor, Uzbekistan
Let It Rock, Israel
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