Artist/ Band: The Soft Machine Legacy
Title: Live In Zaandam
Label: Moonjune Records
Year of Release: 2005
Artist/ Band Link (click for details/ ordering)

The Review:

Soft Machine Legacy is a band made up of past members of The Soft Machine. The rooster of the original band included such notable musicians as Robert Wyatt, Mike Ratledge, Kevin Ayers, Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean, John Marshall, Allan Holdsworth and John Etheridge. The Soft Machine lasted from 1968 until 1978 when it disbanded. They were one of the first bands to help pioneer the Progressive Rock movement, first within the 'Canterbury' and jazz-rock, then the guitar-led fusion (thanks to Holdsworth).

Various versions of the band resurfaced several times, most notably in1999 as Soft Ware (Dean, Hopper, Marshall, Tippett), then again in 2002 as Soft Works (Hopper, Dean, Holdsworth, Marshall). Soft Works lasted up until early 2004. Then in late 2004, another line-up change happened and they became The Soft Machine Legacy (Dean, Etheridge, Hopper, Marshall).

Since my limited exposure to the original band (I have their first three studio albums) I can’t give much comparison to all their eras other than to say, the Live in Zaandam cd would be a great place for longtime fans to revisit the band as well as those of us that are new to the Machine. The music on this live album leans more towards a soft jazz fusion style. There’s even a new composition from Hugh Hopper called 1212, which fits perfectly with the other songs.

It should be noted that this is a limited edition release cd, so get your copy ASAP!

Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on November 26th, 2005

Tracks:

1. Ash
2. 1212
3. Baker's Street
4. Kings & Queens
5. Two Down
6. Big Creese

Reviewed Discography

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