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Soft Machine: Softstage: BBC In Concert 1972
ByFirst, saxophonist Elton Dean had left not long before, apparently frustrated at both the group's summary dismissal of drummer Phil Howardwho had replaced departed founding member Robert Wyatt for the first half of Fifthand its clear discomfort at the freer direction that he and Howard were forging. While bringing in John Marshall, another Nucleus alumnus, would prove a consolidating movethe brief Ratledge/Hopper/Dean/Marshall version was nicely documented on Cuneiform's double set Live in Parisit was Jenkins' more dominating compositional presence that would ultimately force bassist Hugh Hopper to exit, with only keyboardist Mike Ratledge left from the classic lineup that released Third and Fourth. Curious to be sure, considering it was Hopper's suggestion to recruit Jenkins in the first place.
But Jenkins' writing style pushed the group into a more riff-based and distinctly fusiony direction that was at clear odds with Hopper's vision of jazz-rockalbeit one where the riffs were of a complex, metrically-challenging variety. But when this recording took place in July '72, the Softs' new incarnation was still fresh, hungry and working things out. This was, in fact, their fifth performanceeven exposing a misstep by Jenkins as the opening "Fanfare" segues into "All White." Perhaps that explains why this recording is rawer, more immediate and vital than the live recording that took up the first half of Six, the first commercial release to feature the new lineup and Hopper's swan song with the band.
The majority of the music on Softstage comes from Ratledge's penHopper is only represented by a brief version of the more open-ended "MC" that links a radically altered "Slightly All The Time" to "Drop," and Jenkins is only beginning to flex his compositional muscle. But while change is in the air, this is a clear and logical link from the group that recorded Fifth to the one that would release Six and beyond.
The nature of the group's spontaneous approach to musical invention would inexorably shift, but Softstage proves that Soft Machine was still a powerful improvising band. It would continue as one almost to its ultimate with-a-whimper demise at the end of the '70s.
Track Listing
Fanfare; All White; Slightly All The Time; MC; Drop; Stumble; One Across; As If; Riff; Gesolreut.
Personnel
Soft Machine
band / ensemble / orchestraHugh Hopper: bass; Karl Jenkins: baritone saxophone, oboe, keyboards; John Marshall: drums; Mike Ratledge: piano, organ.
Album information
Title: Softstage: BBC In Concert 1972 | Year Released: 2005 | Record Label: Hux Records
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About Soft Machine
Instrument: Band / ensemble / orchestra
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