Dear All,
This Friday evening we start the new season with a bit of a coup, a
rare UK outing for the great Soft Machine Legacy. The following is by
John Styles from our sebsite:
John Etheridge Guitars
Theo Travis Saxes, flute, electronics
Roy Babbington Bass
John Marshall Drums
Our autumn kicks off with a remarkable quartet, including three
musicians who individually represent the cream of modern jazz from the
last thirty years, while also performing in arguably the premier
British jazz-rock band.
John Marshall was also in another contender, Nucleus, and went on to
work internationally with many other remarkable bands with Gil Evans,
Eberhard Weber, John Surman and others.
Roy was rooted in the pre-prog Canterbury scene by the age of 21, in
the band Delivery with Lol Coxhill and Pip Pyle, going on to play with
Keith Tippett and Mike Gibbs, before also joining the orbit of
Nucleus. Roy later cemented a huge reputation in jazz over several
years, gigging with Mose Allison, Stan Tracey and the BBC Big Band.
John and Roy's time in Soft Machine covers the significant, fertile
period from the album Fourth through to the Bundles and Softs
recordings, the latter being the entry point for John Etheridge,
another extraordinary musician. His early playing ranged from teenage
jams with Eric Clapton to offshoots of Curved Air (Wolf) and Deep
Purple (Warhorse); following his years in the later Soft Machine
line-ups, he has established bands with fellow guitarist John
Williams, Nigel Kennedy, Danny Thompson, Biréli Lagrène, Andy Summers
and, perhaps most notably, Stéphane Grappelli. Alongside this already
unmatchable variety, he's also established the Zappa tribute group
Zappatistas.
The first version of tonight's band featured the much-missed band
original Elton Dean; in his place we have Theo, already a highly
accomplished bandleader and composer before he became a fixture in
several prog bands. Theo has performed with Gong, Richard & David
Sinclair (of Caravan and Hatfield and the North), Robert Fripp and
David Sylvian; he appears on over 90 albums to date, including
Marshall Travis Wood with John Marshall and Meditations with Uri
Geller.
Atop these impeccable prog credentials is the fact that Theo has
collaborated with Jonathan Coe, who wrote the lyrics to two songs on
Theo's album Earth to Ether, to be sung by Richard Sinclair. Jonathan
has credited Theo's recording Slow Life as inspiration for The Rain
Before It Falls, to be heard later this month interpreted by Alex
Maguire, keyboard maestro in the reformed Hatfield and The North!
Having disseminated enough prog-jazz rockery for an A Level, we should
look forward to the gig itself, which could feature Hugh Hopper and
Mike Ratledge pieces as well as new material from the band; they are
planning new live and studio albums, with a current CD, Steam being
produced by prog legend Jon 'Colosseum' Hiseman.
For more information see:
www.johnetheridge.com,
www.theotravis.com,
and Roy Babbington and John Marshall's pages on Wikipedia.
Tickets, priced at £15 are sold on the door, in advance (up to 1pm on
the Friday of the performance) from The Dome Box Office (Tel: 01273
709709), and online through Brighton Ticket Shop
www.brightonticketshop.com Hope to see you there,
Very best wishes,
Tim
www.brightonjazzclub.co.uk