JAZZ THE SOFT MACHINE LEGACY Spiegeltent, Glasgow, Wed 22 Jun_
Soft Machine was a band that meant many things to many people. The group emerged out of the Canterbury art-rock scene of the late 605 and went through a series of developments, from the original psychedelic song direction of Robert Wyatt and Kevin Ayers through more abstruse jazz-influenced experiments, and ultimately to a more commercial jazz-rock direction.
The personnel also came and went - key members included Wyatt and Ayers, guitarist Daevid Allen (founder of Gong), keyboard players Mike Ratledge (who is no longer involved in music) and Karl Jenkins (of Adiemus fame, or perhaps infamy), guitarist Allan Holdsworth, and the four musicians who form the Soft Machine Legacy.
Saxophonist Elton Dean, guitarist John Etheridge, bassist Hugh Hopper and drummer John Marshall were all members of Soft Machine, but never all at the same time. The stimulus to get together came from a long-time fan in the record business in New York who managed to get a recording project together in Japan, but Hugh Hopper is at pains to stress that this is not a straight Soft Machine tribute.
‘He was desperate to get the band to reform, which was never going to happen, but three years ago he managed to get together a recording with Universal
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JAZZ KYLE EASTWOOD Spiegeltent, Glasgow, Sat 18 Jun
JAZZ ENVISION©CCA CCA, Glasgow, Fri 17-Sat 25 Jun
At first glance you could be forgiven for thinking you had entered a time warp and been whisked back to a Glasgow Jazz Festival of the late 808. when Fred Firth and John Surman both headed maj0r projects for the event. Their inclusion in the Envision@CCA strand of the programme dedicated to ‘New Musical Perspectives' is not a backward-looking gambit, though: both these musicians are constantly evolving anyway. and that goes for the other major names involved in this more adventurous segment of the festival.
Graeme MacKenzie at CCA has consistently found space for innovative improvised music projects at the venue since it reopened in its refurbished premises in 2001. but the connection goes back all the way to the days of its predecessor in Sauchiehall Street, the old Third Eye Centre.
John Surman
Japan, with a band that had Allan Holdsworth on guitar. We did the album and a few gigs, but Allan lives in California and has his own stuff going on, and that made it difficult.
‘At the end of last year we started working with John Etheridge, and although we are going out as Soft Machine Legacy, people should be clear that it isn’t a straight Soft Machine tribute - we do a bit of a medley of older stuff at the end, things like ‘Kings and Queens’ and ‘Facelift’ and ‘As lf’, but most of the material is new.
Hugh admits that they did consider not using Soft Machine in the name at all, but acknowledged that the commercial value of such a recognisable entity outweighed their scruples.
‘People know the name, and it is an even bigger thing on the continent - we always played more there than in the UK anyway. We decided in the end to add Legacy, but once it’s out there the ‘Legacy’ gets smaller and smaller in people’s minds, and eventually you turn up to a gig somewhere in Italy and there it is billed as Soft Machine!
‘It will have something of the middle-to-Iate Soft Machine feel, but it’s not a recreation, because up until the final days Soft Machine was always keyboard or organ- based, so with this quartet it is always going to sound different. I think Soft Machine has been influential, but your hard-line jazzer wouldn’t say it was jazz, and rock fans wouldn’t recognise it as rock. (Kenny Mathieson)
The Glasgow lmprovisers Orchestra has become something of a focal point for that activity. and they WI“ be working with guitarist Fred Frith on the latest chapter in his ongoing collection of graphic scores. Stone, Brick. Glass. Wood, Wire (22 June). Frith WI” also play a solo concert the previous night.
Trumpeter Arve Henriksen and
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Yup. that Eastwood. Bassist and bandleader Kyle Eastwood is indeed the son of Clint. and his dad's well-aired love for jazz has clearly rubbed off. That process began at an early age in the Eastwood home in California.
‘Dad made sure I heard jazz. The music was always there at home. I remember hearing Miles Davis. Dave Brubeck and the Stan Kenton Big Band as a kid. and every year he took us to the Monterey Jazz Festival. One advantage of having a famous father was I got to go backstage. He introduced me to greats like Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis and Sarah Vaughan. and looking back on that, I can see how much the musicians I met there influenced my career.‘
He was in his late teens before he really began to take a stab at a serious involvement in playing music.
‘I played some guitar when l was really young. but when l was 18 I picked up electric bass and started jamming with friends. at first just for the fun of it. I played in a lot of different bands. with pop singers. in orchestras playing film score music. lots of stuff. but I'd say primarily I'm a jazz musiCian because that's the music I like the most That was all great experience. and I always keep an open mind about music. My roots remain in jazz. but l like adding all kinds of different flavours. Jazz is what I love to play. though. primarily because of the room for improvisation. All the instrumentalists get a chance to solo. and that's what I like most. I love performing live — depending on how responsrve it is. the audience can really bring you to another level.’ (Kenny Mathieson;
guitarist Eivind Aarset belong to a newer generation of techno-savvy improv artists. and they will kick off the series on the festival's opening night (17 June). John Surman performs on the second Saturday (25 June). and will also lead a workshop for intermediate to professional musicians.
Perhaps the most intriguing prospect of all. though, is an appearance by one of the best known names to emerge on the American improvisation scene of the late 60s and 70s. saxophonist and multi- instrumentalist Anthony Braxton. Always a controversial figure. he WI“ be joined by Taylor Ho Bynum (trumpet) and Tom Crean (guitarl for a concert the festival rightly sees as a major event in their history.
(Kenny Mathieson)
9—23 Jun 200:3 THE LIST 85