Jazz Articles

Möbius Strip: Möbius Strip

by Roger Farbey
May 11, 2017

The progressive-meets-jazz nexus has traversed many incarnations since its inception in the heady mid-late 1960s with Soft Machine and Caravan being two classic exemplars of the Canterbury wing of Prog. All were characterised by their adherence to the rock element of prog, whilst embellishing it with jazzy overtones. This tack is at odds with bands populated by seasoned jazz musicians who migrated to a jazz rock idiom, including the likes of Nucleus and If. There were obviously variations in the ...

Pierre Moerlen's Gong: Pentanine

by John Kelman
February 19, 2006

French percussionist Pierre Moerlen, who passed away at the all-too-young age of 52, may never have garnered the attention he deserved, but amongst fans of the British Canterbury movement he was a renowned presence. If he'd done nothing more than play on the psychedelic jamband Gong's Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy, he'd have been assured a place in the annals of progressive rock history.

The history of Gong is long and complicated, with a plethora of related projects, including most notably ...

Soft Bounds: Live at Le Triton 2004

by John Kelman
September 1, 2005

When the legendary Canterbury group Soft Machine--with a variety of recent archival live releases generating renewed interest--dissolved with a whimper in the late '70s, it had arguably gone through more stylistic shifts in its ten-year run than anyone except perhaps Miles Davis. Best remembered for the classic lineup that released Third and Fourth--keyboardist Mike Ratledge, saxophonist Elton Dean, bassist Hugh Hopper and drummer Robert Wyatt--the group's successful cross-pollination of jazz and rock was as much about individual differences, which created ...

Polysoft: Tribute to Soft Machine Live at Le Triton 2002

by John Kelman
November 25, 2004

Collectif Polysons is a French Collective that, as the liner notes to Tribute to Soft Machine Live a Le Triton 2002 describe, “consists of four musicians-soloists- composers, exists as a forum involving various guest artists who assemble for concert events with one common denominator: improvisation." So when Polysons recruited two ex-Soft Machine members, bassist Hugh Hopper and saxophonist Elton Dean, for this tribute to one of Britain's most influential historical jazz/rock outfits, they became Polysoft, performing their tribute first in ...