This needs a thread of its own. John Marshall was one of the key musicians of the British progressive jazz era which stretches from about 1963 to perhaps the mid to late 1970s. He was a co-founder of Nucleus, worked with John Surman, Graham Collier, Jack Bruce, Mike Gibbs, Mike Westbrook, Alexis Korner, Keith Tippett etc – and, from 1972, was the drummer for Soft Machine (and was touring with them as late as 2019, aged 78). He was also involved with the ECM label, recording predominantly with Eberhard Weber.
In The Rough Guide to Jazz, Ian Carr (with whom Marshall co-founded Nucleus) wrote: “Marshall is a drummer of consummate ability, able to handle difficult asymmetrical time signatures as well as common time at any tempo, and he is at home with the whole gamut of contemporary styles: jazz, rock, ethnic, Indian, free improvisation, small group and big band. He is also a paradox: despite his intellect and wit, he is one of the most emotional drummers of all and can erupt in an explosion of gargantuan energy. But he is capable of great subtlety, too, and it is this wide range of ability which has led to the extraordinary variety of his working contexts.”
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Originally Posted by Trane
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