Jazz Articles about Soft Machine

The Soft Machine Legacy: Live In Zaandam

by Glenn Astarita
November 17, 2005

This limited edition live set, recorded in the Netherlands, showcases the Soft Machine Legacy's bridging of previously explored horizons with a new outlook, firmed up by acclaimed British jazz guitarist John Etheridge. With three longstanding members of the early rendition of the Soft Machine carrying the torch, this album features richly lyrical jazz-rock architectures of various colors and flavors.

On the opening “Ash, Etheridge's understated electric guitar voicings provide an ethereal backdrop for Elton Dean's softly executed sax ...

Soft Machine: British Tour '75

by John Kelman
October 5, 2005

Recent years have seen a wealth of archival live releases by British jazz-rock legend Soft Machine. But the lion's share of this material has revolved around the period 1970-72, which saw the classic lineup of keyboardist Mike Ratledge, saxophonist Elton Dean, bassist Hugh Hopper, and drummer Robert Wyatt morph from a freewheeling high-volume exploratory quartet into a more straightforward riff-based fusion band; ex-Nucleus reedman/keyboardist Karl Jenkins would assume leadership, along with another Nucleus alumnus, drummer John Marshall. The artistic success ...

Soft Machine: Softstage: BBC In Concert 1972

by John Kelman
August 30, 2005

If a band exemplified the term mercurial, it was Soft Machine. Starting as a kind of post-Dadaist pop band in the late '60s only to end a little more than a decade later as a guitar-driven fusion group, Soft Machine went through so many personnel changes that it's a challenge, even in retrospect, to keep up. And while almost every recording represented some kind of significant directional shift, the recruitment of woodwind multi-instrumentalist/keyboardist/composer Karl Jenkins, previously a member of trumpeter ...

Soft Machine & Heavy Friends: BBC in Concert 1971

by John Kelman
July 23, 2005

Released briefly on Windsong in the mid-'90s before going out of print and commanding large sums on eBay, the BBC recording of Soft Machine's March 11, 1971 Paris Theatre show in London, England was a one-off performance that most fans of the classic lineup--keyboardist Mike Ratledge, saxophonist Elton Dean, bassist Hugh Hopper, and drummer Robert Wyatt--could previously only dream of hearing. Thankfully Hux, which has been responsible for rescuing all kinds of BBC recordings from the archives and making them ...

Soft Machine: Breda Reactor

by John Kelman
April 9, 2005

Breda Reactor finds British jazz-rock outfit Soft Machine in one of its many transitional stages. Between the septet that toured in late '69 and the emergence of the “classic" lineup--keyboardist Mike Ratledge, saxophonist Elton Dean, bassist Hugh Hopper, and drummer/vocalist Robert Wyatt--this incarnation was augmented by saxophonist/flautist Lyn Dobson. The quintet may have only lasted three months, but Dobson possessed a strong voice, providing interesting counterpoint to the more free-spirited Dean.

Recorded a month after the Croydon show documented on ...

Soft Machine: Facelift

by John Kelman
November 21, 2004

First, let's get one thing out of the way. Facelift , another in Voiceprint's ongoing series of live Soft Machine performances, comes from an audience recording by bassist Hugh Hopper's brother Brian. Not only is the quality decidedly lo-fi, but the tape machine actual slows down and speeds up on a couple of occasions, making this double-disc set absolutely for deeply committed fans only.

That being said, Facelift is yet another reason to re-examine Soft Machine within the broader context ...

Soft Machine: Live 1970

by John Kelman
November 20, 2004

Between Cuneiform Records and the Voiceprint/Blueprint label, Soft Machine fans have been exposed to a diversity of archival live material. Some of it may be of a decidedly lo-fi quality, but the performances and contexts far outweigh any sonic deficiencies. These live performances demonstrate how rapidly Soft Machine, through a plethora of personnel changes, evolved from a psychedelic pop band in '68 to an outstanding jazz rock ensemble in '70, a more free jazz outfit in '71/'72, and finally a ...