Soft Machine Legacy: Theo Travis (tenor and sopranos saxes, flute), John Etheridge (electric guitar), Hugh Hopper (electric bass) and John Marshall (drums, percussion). From the album Steam (2007).
From 1977 to 1981 Marshall was part of Colors of double bassist and composer Eberhard Weber, one of the representatives of the ECM Records sound, participating in Silent Feet (1977), Pop Jazz (1979) and Little Movements (1980), and touring the United States, Europe, New Zealand and Australia. During the 1980s he played with jazz musicians such as singer Sarah Vaughan, tenor saxophonist Ben Webster and composer Gil Evans among others. In the mid-1980s he returned to Nucleus and participated in Live at Theaterhaus (1985) and Ian Carr’s Old Heartland (1988). He also contributed with modal jazz and free jazz saxophonist John Surman in The Brass Project (1992 ) and Stranger than Fiction (1993).
John Marshall
In 2000 he played in a trio with pianist, composer and conductor Vallilis Tsabropoulos and double bassist Arild Andersen in Achirana and in 2004 in The Triangle. In 2002 he joined Soft Works with former members of Soft Machine and the group published Abracadabra (2003). In 2004 guitarist Allan Holdsworth was replaced by John Etheridge and the band was renamed Soft Machine Legacy, which launched Live in Zaandam (2005), Soft Machine Legacy (2006), Live at the New Morning (2006), Steam (2007), Live Adventures (2010) and Burden of Proof (2013). In 2015 the quartet decided to remove the last word from its name, calling itself Soft Machine again and recording Hidden Details
Hidden Details cover
At first you hear dark noises produced by Etheridge with the guitar and special effects. After a while Travis enters with the soprano sax producing strange sounds. Next Marshall appears playing with energy and the three of them engage in an unbridled experimental adventure without limits. Finally Marshall and Etheridge are left alone and the latter begins to make a gloomy solo while Hopper joins in and both play a repetitive riff in unison. Then Etheridge continues with a powerful rock speech with Hopper insisting on the riff repeatedly. Later Travis comes in playing the riff with the tenor saxophone in unison with Hopper, and Etheridge keeps improvising unstoppable around the riff. At some point Travis takes his own way, but Etheridge still carries the lead playing impetuously. In the end Travis catches up with Etheridge and the quartet fall into a collective maelstrom that suddenly stops and Travis devise the last sentence.
© MoonJune Records