AAJ Review: Soft Machine, Hidden Details

[jkelman]

My review of Soft Machine's latest release, Hidden Details, today at All About Jazz.

Following a series of releases for Moonjune Records under the moniker Soft Machine Legacy, beginning with 2005's Live in Zaandam and concluding, most recently, with 2013's Burden of Proof, this quartet consisting largely of members from the classic Canterbury group Soft Machine has finally decided to drop the "Legacy" and go it with the original name alone.

And why not? For a group that began in the mid-'60s and, over the next 15 years or so, released eleven ever-evolving albums (ranging from post-Dadaist rock to free jazz and fusion) with equally shifting lineups that saw over twenty different players move through its revolving doors, the current incarnation not only features three players who played in Soft Machine back in the day; the Soft Machine of Hidden Details actually features three members who collaborated together on Softs (Harvest, 1976).

That, in itself, is reason enough to legitimately reassume the Soft Machine mantle, since early Soft Machine Legacy lineups may have featured all-SM alumni, but equally consisted of members who, in some cases, had never actually played together in the band.

Drummer John Marshall, who joined Soft Machine beginning with Fifth (Columbia, 1972), and guitarist John Etheridge, who replaced Allan Holdsworth for Softs and 1978's Alive & Well: Recorded in Paris (Harvest), were charter members of Soft Machine Legacy alongside bassist Hugh Hopper and saxophonist/pianist Elton Dean, two Soft Machine members who went even further back with the group. But with Dean's passing in '06, woodwind/reed multi- instrumentalist and keyboardist Theo Travis has become the only member of Soft Machine Legacy (and now, Soft Machine) who'd not played during the group's '60s/'70s heyday (a relative impossibility as he'd have been just turning twenty when the group broke up for good in 1984). And when Hopper died in 2009, the logical replacement was the same bassist who replaced him during Soft Machine's original run: bass guitarist Roy Babbington.

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[jamesmanzi]

Thanks for the heads up on this one. I knew they were on the road, didn't realize a new album was out.

[jkelman]

Thanks for the heads up on this one. I knew they were on the road, didn't realize a new album was out.

My pleasure...and good luck with your podcast!

[Sunlight Caller]

A mate of mine saw this current line-up play live in Manchester last night and he was blown away, previously he was not especially knowledgeable on Soft Machine at all but he does have an open mind and a thirst for music. I did pick this album up on release but never gave it enough time, it just got lost in the mix. However, since he shared some live clips with me yesterday, focussed mainly on John Etheridge, I decided to pull it out and listen anew. It's really a pretty excellent set, and I'm certainly looking forward to the upcoming Other Doors release.