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Soft Machine: Tales of Taliesin: The EMI Years Anthology 1975-1981
by John Kelman
With the release of Bundles (Harvest, 1975), Soft Machine moved more definitively into the riff-based fusion territory that keyboardist/reed man Karl Jenkins had begun pushing the band since his arrival on Six (Sony, 1973). With reeds becoming increasingly less dominant, and the group's only remaining founding member, keyboardist Mike Ratledge, relegated to a backline position, this ...
Festival International Musique Actuelle Victoriaville 2011
by Kurt Gottschalk
Festival International Musique Actuelle Victoriaville Victoriaville, Canada May 19-22, 2011 The 27th annual Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV) was a remarkably consistent four days of concerts. It held high points, to be sure (the Ex, Zeena Parkins, Jaap Blonk), and inevitable low points as well. But there was also ...
James Farm: James Farm
by John Kelman
A byproduct of special event programming at jazz festivals is that sometimes lead to greater things. When guitarist Pat Metheny reunited with vibraphonist Gary Burton's mid-'70s quartet as part of his By Invitation series at the 2005 Montreal Jazz Festival, there were no plans to tour the world in subsequent years and release Quartet Live (Concord, ...
Mama Africa
by Chris M. Slawecki
If you wanted to travel to--oh, let's just say--Tanzania and then from Tanzania to India, then to Puerto Rico, to England, then Spain, to Peru, then to South Africa, to personally experience their musical varieties both garden and exotic, you could do it by cashing in, with rounding, about 28,690 frequent flier miles. Or ...
Planeta Imaginario: Stretches in Spain
by Mark Redlefsen
Recently from Barcelona, Spain, members of the jazz/rock improv group Planeta Imaginario discussed their new recording Optical Delusions (Cuneiform Records, 2011) and the group's history. Keyboardist and group leader Marc Capel, who speaks Catalan, shared his thoughts through drummer and chief translator Vasco Trilla. Fretless bassist Dimitris Bikos also sat in for the interview.
Soft Machine Legacy: Live Adventures
by Chris M. Slawecki
Many have found elements of jazz in the music of European progressive rock artists such as Gong, Can, King Crimson and even, to a certain improvisational extent, Yes. Soft Machine Legacy continues this...umm, legacy with an amoeba-like lineup (mostly) from alumni of the original progressive instrumental group Soft Machine: guitarist John Etheridge, bassist Roy Babbington and ...
Planeta Imaginario: Optical Delusions
by Mark Redlefsen
The term “progressive," when used to describe jazz fusion/rock, suggests a constant forward movement in the music. On Optical Delusions, Planeta Imaginario's third release (and the group's second for international distribution outside of their homeland of Spain), there is a shift towards a sort of larger jazz group sound. The Barcelona-based group delivers thirteen intricate compositions ...
Soft Machine: Alive & Well: Recorded in Paris
by John Kelman
Despite the controversy that plagued the ever-shifting musical persona of Soft Machine during its 15-year run, the benefits of time and hindsight have largely proven the value of every incarnation--albeit best assessed independently, rather than as part of a single continuum. 1978's Alive & Well: Recorded in Paris was the last of a three-record run on ...
Theo Travis: All I Know: An Anthology
by John Kelman
He's been on the scene for twenty years, but it's only been in the past few that Theo Travis has risen to prominence beyond the expanding group of musicians who call him up when they need a saxophonist/flautist with jazz chops but a rock sensibility--and an appreciation of the organic marriage of technology with acoustic instruments ...
Piccho dal Pozzo: A_Live
by John Kelman
In the continually expanding world of progressive rock--an expansion facilitated through global communities created via the internet over the last decade-and-a-half--it's increasingly common to find groups garnering far more (and, often, well-deserved) attention than they did back in their time. Italy's Picchio dal Pozzo only released two albums back in the day--Picchio dal Pozzo (Grog, 1976) ...
