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Jazz Articles about Roy Babbington
About Roy Babbington
Instrument: Bass, electric
Related Articles | Concerts | Albums | Photos | Similar ToSoft Machine: The Dutch Lesson
by Mark Sullivan
Soft Machine had played in Rotterdam several times before this 1973 show in the small theater De Lantaren. But this version of the band was relatively new. One of the earliest shows by the quartet of electric bassist Roy Babbington, Karl Jenkins (on multiple horns and electric piano), keyboardist Mike Ratledge and drummer John Marshall was documented on NDR Jazz Workshop--Hamburg, Germany, May 17, 1973 (Cuneiform Records, 2010). By late October the band had become a potent live force. They ...
read moreKarl Jenkins: Penumbra II
by Chris May
Multi-instrumentalist Sir Karl William Pamp Jenkins CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) is a successful composer of classical, film and TV music. But before he went over to the Dark Side, the then plain old Karl Jenkins was a member of the Rebel Alliance and a pivotal presence in British jazz rock. He was a founding member of the pioneering Nucleus in 1969 and a member of Soft Machine from 1972 until the early 1980s.
read moreMike Gibbs: Revisiting Tanglewood 63: The Early Tapes
by Chris May
With British jazz in 2021 in better shape than ever before, record companies are being emboldened to revisit their tape libraries and reissue historic but long deleted albums. At the same time, recently formed specialist labels such as Jazz In Britain are making available club and radio broadcast recordings which have never been released before. The Rhodesian-born, Berklee-schooled orchestral-jazz composer Michael Gibbs, a truly iconic figure who continues to inspire young British musicians, is receiving attention on both fronts.
read moreSoft Machine: Live At The Baked Potato
by Chris M. Slawecki
European progressive jazz-rock ensemble Soft Machine seems to have run through more lives than even the luckiest tomcat. They've been first-rate musicians at every incarnation, and it's heartening to hear John Etheridge (guitar), John Marshall (drums), Roy Babbington (bass) and relative newcomer Theo Travis (piano, flute, saxophone) sound so vibrant as well as accomplished on Live at the Baked Potato. Baked Potato is a souvenir, recorded at Los Angeles' legendary musical hotspot, from the ensemble's 2019 tour of ...
read moreSoft Machine: Live At The Baked Potato
by Chris May
Live At The Baked Potato was recorded in Los Angeles in 2019 as part of Soft Machine's 50th Anniversary Tour. (Fact check: 2019 was the band's 53rd and this lineup's fourth anniversary). The latest album is a lot of fun even though it bears little resemblance to the music of the revolutionary 1966 -1969 lineups featuring Mike Ratledge on keyboards and flute, Robert Wyatt on drums and vocals, Kevin Ayers on guitar, bass guitar and vocals, Daevid Allen on guitar ...
read moreSoft Machine: NDR Jazz Workshop: Hamburg, Germany May 17, 1973
by AAJ Italy Staff
Amburgo è una città speciale per i Soft Machine. Nel 1966, proprio nella città tedesca, si tenne il primo concerto della band inglese che in quel periodo era un quartetto guidato da Daevid Allen. Nel 1973 i Soft Machine ritornarono nella città alla foce del fiume Elba poche settimane prima di registrare l'album Seven e il concerto fu decisamente speciale. Il bassista Hugh Hopper aveva appena lasciato la band ed era stato sostituito da Roy Babbington, un amico della band ...
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