Showing posts with label Soft Machine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Soft Machine. Show all posts

Thursday, September 5, 2024

Soft Machine’s THEO TRAVIS “AELOUS” One Hour Duduk Meditation CD/Blu-ray Featuring Production and Soundscapes by Steven Wilson Available September 6th, 2024

Theo Travis is widely known due to his work with his own bands and (among others) Soft Machine, Steven Wilson, Robert Fripp, Gong, Porcupine Tree and many more
Theo’s previous releases of duduk music on YouTube have become something of a sensation. The piece “Ancient Soul, Modern Times” (which is included on the Blu-ray) has amassed over 1 million listens
Steven Wilson is one of the world’s most sought-after producers, mix engineers and remixers of multi-channel Surround Sound and Dolby Atmos audio
Both artists enjoy a significant fan-base

When Theo Travis began experimenting with long-form improvised instrumentals for duduk - a woodwind instrument from Armenia sometimes described as ‘the saddest sounding instrument in the world’ - he could hardly have imagined a world in which such a one-hour piece would clock up in excess of a million plays on YouTube. Yet that is precisely what happened, with the multi-functional music finding fans purely in its own terms as well as for an array of uses from meditation to yoga, to relaxation and more. Something about the sound, the performances, the context, found, built and maintained a much wider audience than most, far more mainstream music. All of this was achieved without hype, marketing or a dedicated record label supporting the release.

Extending the idea, earlier this year Theo worked with producer Steven Wilson, (who has previously mixed and mastered many of Theo’s solo recordings and in whose band Theo has played) to produce a new duduk improvisation in multi-channel audio as well as stereo, with soundscapes assembled by Steven Wilson from Theo’s alto flute playing. The result is a stunning and utterly unique piece of work which helps to define new possibilities for so-called “immersive audio”, without losing focus on the pure sound and inherent musicality of the duduk improvisations which have struck such a chord with a wide and growing audience online.

The new piece “Aeolus” (again, one hour long) appears in Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround Sound and 24/96 high resolution stereo on the Blu-ray and in standard 16/44 audio on the accompanying CD.

Watch the promotional trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0ceR1EkiO4

TRACKLISTING:

CD:
Aeolus (60mins)

Blu-ray:
Aeolus (60 mins)
Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD MA Surround (5.1) & 24/96 LPCM stereo

Aeolus (4 min edit)
24/96 LPCM stereo.

Ancient Soul, Modern Times (60 mins)
24/96 LPCM stereo.

AEOLUS: Composed by Theo Travis and Steven Wilson
Theo Travis – Duduk and Alto flute
Steven Wilson – Production & Soundscapes

Ancient Soul, Modern Times: Composed by Theo Travis
Theo Travis – Duduk & Soundscapes

To pre-order: https://burningshed.com/theo-travis_aeolus_cd_blu-ray?filter_name=aeolus&filter_sub_category=true

For more information: https://www.theotravis.com/

For further information, please contact: info@panegyric.net

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158 (USA), glassonyonpr@gmail.com


Friday, August 25, 2023

Music Legends Soft Machine Release New Album “Other Doors” and Announce Forthcoming Tour Dates

Five years after the release of their last studio album, legendary UK musical institution, Soft Machine, return with a brand new album, “Other Doors.” Boasting new material and two numbers drawn from their extensive historical repertoire, “Other Doors” finds the band in their usual fiery form.

Featuring John Etheridge (guitars), Theo Travis (saxes, flutes, Fender Rhodes piano, electronics), Fred Thelonious Baker (Fretless bass), John Marshall (drums), Other Doors also features two guest appearances from long-serving bassist Roy Babbington, who retired from the band in 2021.

“Other Doors” was recorded at Temple Music Studios, a facility owned by the late Jon Hiseman during July and August 2022. It’s a location of which the band is particularly fond, explains John Etheridge. “Working at Jon Hiseman’s studio was special, especially with Ru Lemer who is a brilliant engineer. He’s fantastically quick and that’s very good as we record mainly live in the studio. It’s come out really well and I think it sounds great.”

That ability to work quickly on takes as an ensemble has resulted in a fresh-sounding series of top-flight performances whose typically knotty and sometimes complex themes frequently give way to explosively discursive improvisations. As Theo Travis observes, “The interesting thing about recording free improvisations is you're not playing to a plan or a grid or a blueprint, so you don’t know what's coming, and you don't know what's coming until it's gone. At which moment you're thinking about the next thing.”

The album is brimming with that fast-moving creativity. It’s been a kind of tradition with the group to include new arrangements of older Soft Machine numbers from the band’s illustrious back catalogue. These have included numbers as varied as “Chloe and the Pirates,” “Kings and Queens,” “Out-Bloody-Rageous,” etc.

Along with exciting new compositions, on “Other Doors” they’ve revisited the very first album, originally released in 1968, to include Kevin Ayers’ “Joy Of A Toy.” Fred Baker, makes his studio debut with Soft Machine. A well-known figure on the Canterbury Scene not only is he the perfect choice for the group but he’s also a long-term fan of the repertoire.

The album also contains “Penny Hitch,” a track originally heard on 1973’s Soft Machine “Seven.” This features the first of two appearances of Roy Babbington who provides the bass lines underpinning Karl Jenkins’ composition while Fred plays the sinuous lead melody on his fretless bass. The pair also worked together as a duo on “Now! Is The Time,” a number originally based on a theme Babbington brought into the sessions, with Fred and Roy both adding and expanding the scope of the piece.

If the album ushers in a new member in the shape of Fred Baker, it also acts as a fond farewell to drummer John Marshall, who joined Soft Machine midway through the recording of 1972’s “Fifth.” At the age of 81 Marshall has decided to retire making “Other Doors” his final studio album with the group, and the final album of his glorious career. Indeed, Marshall is in whip-cracking form throughout the album bringing his trademark musicality and decisive presence. With “Other Doors,” he brings his distinguished career to a rousing conclusion.

Intense, celebratory, and consistently impressive. “Other Doors” is the sound of a group determined to press forwards with an integrity and sense of purpose that’s quintessentially and definitively Soft Machine.

Photo by Wolfgang Gonaus

JOHN ETHERIDGE - guitars
THEO TRAVIS - tenor & soprano sax, flutes, Fender Rhodes, electronics
FREDDY BAKER - fretless bass guitar
JOHN MARSHALL - drums
special guest
ROY BABBINGTON - bass guitar (tunes 2 and 9)

The updated tour dates are (with Asaf Sirkis permanently substituting John Marshall who has retired):

After the first world tour date in Toledo at the MoonJune Festival

Sep 29 - Toledo, Spain (Circulo de Arte)

North American Tour
Oct 04 - Sellersville, PA, USA (Sellersville Theater)
Oct 05 - Baltimore, MD, USA (Keystone Korner)
Oct 06 - New York, NY, USA (Iridium)
Oct 07 - New York, NY, USA (Iridium)
Oct 08 - Woodstock, NY, USA (Colony)
Oct 10 - Rochester, NY, USA (Lovin’ Cup)
Oct 11 - Syracuse, NY, USA (Average Joe)
Oct 12 - Albany, NY, USA (Linda WAMC)
Oct 13 - Quebec City, QC, Canada (Salle d’Youville)
Oct 14 - Quebec City, QC, Canada (Salle d’Youville)
Oct 16 - Ottawa, ON, Canada (Rainbow)
Oct 17 - Toronto, ON, Canada (Garrison)
Oct 18 - Waterloo, ON, Canada (Jazz Room)
Oct 19 - Detroit, MI, USA (Joy's Manor)
Oct 22 - Milwaukee, WI, USA (Shank Hall)
Oct 24 - Chicago, IL, USA (Reggie’s)
Oct 25 - Cincinnati, OH, USA (Ludlow Garage)
Oct 26 - Indianapolis, IN, USA (Irving Theater)

Europe:
Nov 05 - Hull, UK (Wrecking Ball)
Nov 06 - Kinross, UK (Green Hotel)
Nov 10 - Royal Tunbridge Wells, UK (Forum)
Nov 11 - Lewes, UK (Conservative Club)
Nov 14 - Milton Keynes, UK (The Stables)
Nov 17 - Luton, UK (The Bear)
Nov 19 - Exeter, UK (Phoenix Art)
Nov 23 - Katowice, Poland (Rialto Theater)
Nov 24 - Warsaw, Poland (Hybrydy Klub)
Nov 25 - Bydgoszcz, Poland (Kuźnia Klub)
Nov 26 - Poznań, Poland (Culture Ctr)
Nov 30 - Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg (Rockhal)
Dec 02 - Tilburg, Netherlands (Paradox)
Dec 03 - Zoetermeer, Netherlands (Boerderij)
Feb 07 - Guildford, UK (Boileroom)
Feb 08 - London, UK (Signature Brew)
Feb 09 - Canterbury, UK (Gulbenkian Theatre)
Feb 11 - Market Harbough, UK (Jazz Club)
Feb 18 - Farsley, UK (Old Woollen)
Feb 19 - Manchester, UK (Band On The Wall)
Feb 20 - Wolverhampton, UK (Robin 2)
Feb 21 - Brighton, UK (The Chalk)
Feb 22 - Cardiff, UK(Stepping Stones)
Feb 24 - Cheltenham, UK (DEYA Brewery)

More gigs to be announced, in the UK, Europe, Japan, South America as well another tour in the USA in the Summer of 2024.

To purchase Soft Machine “Other Doors”: https://softmachine-moonjune.bandcamp.com/merch/soft-machine-other-doors

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, Billy James, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com

Friday, March 3, 2023

Hugh Hopper of Soft Machine’s Legacy Enhanced With the Re-Release of “Jazzloops” and “The Stolen Hour”, Featuring his Soft Machine Bandmates – OUT NOW!

Hugh Hopper was a key member of Soft Machine and an accomplished solo artist but passed away in 2009. His legacy is now being celebrated with the re-release of two of his solo albums which had been hard to find until now.

Both “Jazzloops” and “The Stolen Hour” feature his Soft Machine bandmates guesting throughout including: Robert Wyatt, Elton Dean and John Marshall.  Other guests include Gong alumni Didier Malherbe and French guitarist Patrice Meyer.

This double disc re-mastered set includes “The Stolen Hour’s” comic, created by Matt Howarth, in the booklet and has been endorsed by Christine Janet Hopper, Hugh Hopper’s wife, who also plays trumpet on some of the recordings.

Peter Pardo of Sea of Tranquility reviewed the original releases of these albums by saying, “Hearing Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean, Robert Wyatt and John Marshall, all former Soft Machine members, jamming together again is another reason to celebrate…”

The albums are OUT NOW and available from:
Amazon 2 CD Set: https://geni.us/HH2CD
Jazzloops Spotify: https://geni.us/HHjazzloopsSP
Jazzloops Apple Music: https://geni.us/HHjazzloopsAM
The Stolen Hour Spotify: https://geni.us/HHstolenhourSP
The Stolen Hour Apple Music: https://geni.us/HHstolenhourAM

This double disc set is also available directly from Cherry Red: https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/hugh-hopper-jazzloops-the-stolen-hour/

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 1-828-350-8158 (US), glassonyonpr@gmail.com

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Soft Machine Announce New Album Hidden Details & World Tour Dates, with First North American Dates Since 1974!


NYC - In support of their forthcoming new album, British music legends Soft Machine will embark on their first North American tour since 1974 in October 2018, followed by the second North-American leg of the tour in January/February 2019. In concert, their set list will include material from all parts of the band's repertoire from 1970 onwards, but this is emphatically not a nostalgia act resting on its laurels. Last weekend Soft Machine played their first two shows in North America since 1974 (it was in 1974 they toured USA and Canada during the Bundles/Allan Holdsworth era). Both shows, at the Montreal Jazz Festival and Quebec City, were exceptionally well received by the enthusiastic audience and local press.

Hidden Details is a new studio album of Soft Machine, recorded at the late great Jon Hiseman's Temple Studio in Surrey, England, last December 2017, and it will be released in September 2018 on MoonJune Records (North America; on CD and HD Download), on John Etheridge's Dyan Records (UK/Europe on CD, and iTunes), and on Vivid Records (Japan), exactly 50 years since the release of the band's 1968 debut album The Soft Machine. Limited and highly collectible vinyl edition of only 200 coloured vinyl (orange, blue and tour edition orange & blue marbled) will be released on the Dutch label Tonefloat, on September 8, 2018.

“'Hidden Details' is very much the product of an active, contemporary sounding outfit striking out with its own agenda. Though informed by the past, the music here is neither weighed down nor beholden to it. Animated with the same ineffable and inquisitive spirit that has always made this group throughout its fifty years such a compelling experience, it’' good to have a new Soft Machine with us in 2018. The yearning tenderness of 'Heart Off Guard' and the come-down reveries of 'Broken Hill' and 'Drifting White' showcase the more intimate aspects of Soft Machine's personality while in contrast, 'One Glove' gives the more pugilistic side of John Etheridge's playing an outing. The terse angularities of the title track and 'Life on Bridges' highlight a fearless disposition, as does the buzzsaw interplay heard during 'Ground Lift' and 'Flight of the Jett,' both featuring Roy Babbington's decisive interventions. The surging lyricism of 'Fourteen Hour Dream' flirts with an almost popish sensibility, underscoring the sense that this is a quartet that is fundamentally at ease with itself. The return of what some older fans of the band have called 'cosmic tinkles’'– the appearance of layers of cyclical electric piano motifs – is especially welcome. Their brief manifestation on 'The Man Who Waved at Trains' and Third-era, 'Out-Bloody-Rageous,' both stone-cold Mike Ratledge-composed classics, adds an extra spacey dimension to the overall sound. Travis' use of looping technology with his flutes creates its own beguiling world and can be heard to powerful effect on the beautiful and enigmatic 'Breathe,' where his hovering notes are underpinned by Marshall's oblique yet atmospheric percussion.” - Sid Smith

Soft Machine:
JOHN ETHERIDGE - guitar
THEO TRAVIS - sax, flute, Fender Rhodes
ROY BABBINGTON - bass guitar
JOHN MARSHALL - drums
with special guest GARY HUSBAND drums on selected dates


photo by Geoff Dennison

2018 North American Tour Dates:
October 6 - Orion Studios - Baltimore, MD, USA [John Marshall on drums]
October 7 - Theater Of Living Arts - Philadelphia, PA, USA
October 9 - Roxy's & Duke - Dunellen, NJ, USA
October 10 - Darryl's House - Pawling, NY, USA
October 12 - The Iridium - NYC, NY, USA
October 13 - The Iridium - NYC, NY, USA
October 14 - The Iridium - NYC, NY, USA
October 16 - Mod's Club - Toronto, ON, Canada [Gary Husband on drums]
October 17 - The Tralf - Buffalo, NY, USA [Gary Husband on drums]
October 18 - Beachland Music Hall - Cleveland, OH, USA [Gary Husband on drums]
October 19 - The Irving Theater - Indianapolis, IN, USA  [Gary Husband on drums]
October 21 - Progtober Festival - Reggie's - Chicago, IL, USA [Gary Husband on drums]
October 22 - Shank Hall - Milwaukee, WI, USA [Gary Husband on drums]

2019 North American Tour Dates: 
January 24 - Freight & Salvage - Berkeley, CA, USA
January 25 - Flynn's - Santa Cruz, CA, USA
January 27 - Alberta Rose Theater - Portland, OR, USA
January 28 - Triple Door - Seattle, WA, USA
January 29 - Triple Door - Seattle, WA, USA
January 31 - The Baked Potato (2 shows) - Los Angeles, CA, USA
February 1 - The Baked Potato (2 shows) - Los Angeles, CA, USA
February 2 - Scottsdale Performing Arts Center - Scottsdale, AZ, USA
February 4-9 - Cruise To The Edge - Key West, FL / Cozumel, Mexico

2018 confirmed shows in Japan & Europe:
July 7 - Montreal Jazz Festival - Monument National - Ludger Duvernay - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
July 8 - Salle Jean-Paul Tardif - Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
July 28 - Billboard Live Tokyo - Tokyo, Japan (2 shows) [special guest Gary Husband, keyboards]
July 29 - Billboard Live Tokyo - Tokyo, Japan (2 shows) [special guest Gary Husband, keyboards]
July 30 - Billboard Live Osaka - Osaka, Japan (2 shows) [special guest Gary Husband, keyboards]
September 6 - Cosmopolite - Oslo, Norway
September 8 - De Boerderij - Zoetemeer, The Netherlands
September 9 - Musikbunker - Aachen, Germany
September 10 - Franzis - Wetzlar, Germany
September 12 - Muhle Hunziken - Rubigen, Switzerland
September 13 - La Casa Di Alex - Milano, Italy
September 14 - Club Il Giardino - Verona, Italy
September 16 - Porgy & Bess - Vienna, Austria
September 17 - Museum - Bratislava, Slovakia
September 18 - Akropolis - Prague, Czech Republic
September 19 - Kulturbanhof - Jena, Germany
November 3 - Marlow Theater - Canterbury, UK
November 6 - Sage - Gateshead, UK
November 8 - Green Hotel - Kinross, Scotland, UK
November 9 - Hebden Bridge Townhall - Hebden, UK
November 10 - The Trade's Club - Howden, UK
November 16 - Borderline - London, UK
November 17 - West End Center - Aldershot, UK
November 18 - Lews Con Club - Lewes, UK
November 20 - Epic Studios - Norwich, UK
November 22 - Trading Boundaries - Fletching, UK
November 25 - Talking Heads - Southampton, UK
December 15 - Peppel - Zeist, The Netherlands
December 16 - Harmonie - Bonn, Germany

Soft Machine is a legend and an institution of British music, a band who included Robert Wyatt, Daevid Allen, Mike Ratledge, Kevin Ayers, Andy Summers (later of The Police), Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean, Roy Babbington, John Marshall, Karl Jenkins, Allan Holdsworth, John Etheridge, Percy Jones, Rick Sanders, Dave McRae and Jack Bruce among others (Jimi Hendrix briefly jammed with the band in 1968!). Since its creation in 1966, this band pioneered Psychedelic and Progressive Rock, led the 'Canterbury' trend, pioneered jazz-rock, and then guitar-led fusion (launching the guitar god Allan Holdsworth in 1974), influenced generations of musicians. Disbanded in 1978, recreated in few occasions in 1981 and 1984, the band resurfaces in 1999 under the name of Soft Ware. Much was said about this band with a very complex intriguing history of constant personal changes during the 1966-1978 period. The band resurrected in 1999 under the name of Soft Ware, then as Soft Works 2002-2004 and Soft Machine Legacy 2004-2015. In December 2015, it was confirmed that the band had dropped the “Legacy” tag from their name, as the band featured three of the group's 1970s era members –  guitarist John Etheridge, drummer John Marshall and bassist Roy Babbington (from the seminal 1976's album Softs), in addition to flute and sax player Theo Travis – returning to the original name from 2015, and performing numerous concerts all around Europe, South America and Japan.

To pre-order Soft Machine's Hidden Details CD and HD 24bit Download:
https://softmachine-moonjune.bandcamp.com/album/hidden-details-hd ;
All CD orders come with HD 24bit downloads.
Pre-ordered CDs will be shipped in the end of August 2018.
Pre-ordered Downloads will be released the first week of September.
Those who purchased either the CD or HD Download, will receive instant download of one tune before the official release date. Downloads of two more tunes will be released on August 4 2018, and the full album download will be released on September 7 2018.
$15 for the CD + shipping (from USA) and $10 for HD 24bit Download.

Pre-orders are also available on Theo Travis' website:
www.theotravis.com/index.php/shop/recordings/soft-machine
£10 for the CD plus shipping (from U.K.).
Special package is also available comprising: the CD signed by all 4 members of Soft Machine - John Etheridge, John Marshall, Roy Babbington and Theo Travis; an exclusive color photo print of the band signed by all 4 members; high resolution bonus track only otherwise available on the vinyl edition. £22 plus shipping (from UK).

A special 2LP vinyl edition on Tonefloat Records which includes a whole side of six bonus studio tracks from the same recording sessions as the main album. The vinyl double album comes in 3 editions - blue vinyl, orange vinyl and a special limited edition of orange and blue marbled vinyl only available at concerts on the Soft Machine Hidden Details world tour. (29.99 Euros + shipping)
https://tonefloat.com/2018/06/28/soft-machine-new-studio-album-with-vinyl-only-bonus-tracks-out-on-tonefloat

MoonJune Records: http://www.moonjune.com/

Soft Machine's Official Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/softmachinelegacy

Current Soft Machine's BandCamp:
https://softmachine-moonjune.bandcamp.com

John Etheridge's Soft Machine page:
https://www.john-etheridge.com/bands/soft-machine

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158 (US), glassonyonpr@gmail.com