Soft Machine - Six

After cutting Fifth with the Soft Machine, Elton Dean, who was dissatisfied with replacement of Phil Howard with John Marshall on drums, quit and Marshall ushered in Karl Jenkins (keyboards, oboe, saxophones). This double album, consisting of live and studio disks, continues in spades with the austere jazz improvisations on Fifth, but the sense of free-form is vanishing, as Jenkins' approach to playing and composing is far more slicker and sedater than improvised madness of Dean. While listening to the live rendition of "All White", it is noticeable how mild and unassertive Jenkins' oboe soloing sounds. He certainly sounded nothing like Elton Dean.

With Dean and eccentric drummer Robert Wyatt (who quit in 1971) gone, and Jenkins+Marshall in their places, the Soft Machine's jazz-fusion sound is lacking the same free-form mania prominent on other Softs live sets like Noisette or Virtually. Having said that, there's a lot of worthwhile material. "Riff" is indeed one of the catchiest and most arresting moments on the live disk, with Hugh Hopper playing a tricky bass-line and Marshall showing how the most difficult time signatures could groove and Mike Ratledge contributing an acidic organ solo. "37 1/2" is another fine odd-metered groove, although Jenkins' oboe soloing is an acquired taste, especially considering he plays the head on baritone sax, but switches to oboe on some reason for his solo. "Gesolreut" gets real funky and this tune is reminiscent of some of the groovier jazzy moments to be heard on Hopper's 70s solo albums. "Stumble" is possibly one of the most rock-oriented moments on the whole album. Marshall gets a drum solo ("5 from 13...") lasting for five minutes and as such is a filler.

The studio disc is even more interesting than the live one. "Soft Weed Factor" sounds very ambient and hypnotic, a genuine slow Riley inspired trance-rock piece. "Stanley Stamps Gibbon Album" is a fast-paced vehicle for Ratledge's organ soloing. "Chloe and the Pirates" again fuses ambient and jazz-rock, even recalls In a Silent Way era Miles.

But the most intriguing and the best composition is the final composition by Hugh Hopper who would leave the band soon because "Softs had became a rather ordinary jazz-rock group without enough quirks or weirdness". "1983" indeed is the last time one could hear real weirdness on a Soft Machine album. It is similar to Hugh Hopper's first solo LP 1984 with hypnotic loops, manipulated and angular bass motifs plus weird sound effects.

In conclusion, while it lacks the impact of the earlier works of Soft Machine, Six has its moments and proves one need not write all Jenkins-era material off as garbage, although some of it most certainly sounded a bit dull and it's questionable whether the Soft Machine deserved to go on with that name even when Hopper and Ratledge were both out. Jenkins-era Soft Machine is a classic case of a band that did not know when to quit.

Melvin-Soo-Remmel-Julm - Geografix

Brian Melvin, percussionist of American origin, has always been interested in combination of jazz with ethnic influences and anything else that is interesting. For the Geografix project he enlisted Mart Soo on guitar, Taavo Remmel on double bass and DJ P. Julm. Although the latter is known as a house music producer, here he is responsible for the more ambient electronic effects on one hand, and organic sounding samples on the other.

Geografix, however is a largely natural sounding modern ethno-jazz album wherein the sound effects and samples add color to the textures of acoustic instruments (including percussion). For proof of the possibilities of making interesting music with acoustic instruments, check out the drums and double bass interplay on "Gates to the Abstract". This easily outshines a lot of the more computer-based drum&bass productions.

In addition to his talented and multifaceted percussion skills, Brian Melvin is also a fine composer. His Indian-influenced compositions "Darsana" and "Elephant God" are the most memorable pieces here and they are potent enough to arouse interest in ethnic music from India itself. Occasionally the album reduces itself to background music. It's still the best kind of background music one could hope for. Recommended for traveling.

*This review was published in Estonian in a journal called Postimees. This is the English translation

Elton Dean - Just Us

The late Elton Dean was the most free-jazz oriented principal Soft Machine figure ever. While he was pushing his parent band into the according direction in the early seventies, he recorded his first solo album in 1971 that is something of a lost classic. It has some affinity to the avant garde jazz orientation of the fifth Soft Machine album and thus, it's easier to judge it on its own merit for those who refuse to take post-Wyatt Soft Machine music seriously. With the dread of the bastardization of Soft Machine's moniker out of the picture, we can appreciate this Elton Dean jazz group album for what it is: an early seventies British avant-garde jazz album, and very good at that. It does, though, feature many Softs alumni or formally connected people: besides Dean himself on alto, saxello and electric piano, there are Marc Charig (cornet), Nick Evans (trombone, on bonus tracks), Roy Babbington (acoustic bass), Phil Howard (drums), Neville Whitehead (el. bass, he played on Robert Wyatt's almost similar solo album End of an Ear) and Mike Ratledge guesting on electric piano and organ.

The similarities between this album and Soft Machine's Fifth are apparent, most notable example being the 15min album opener "Ooglenovastrome" that, after 5 minutes of free playing, picks up a groove reminiscent of "Drop" from Fifth. Hearing more Phil Howard drumming than is available on few recordings from his stint with the Machine (1st side of Fifth plus a Peel Session from November '71) is a real treat as well. However, Just Us is more about free-spirited improvisation as opposed to the cold, almost Weather Report-ian clinical minimalist ambiance on Fifth. This album also provides a studio version of "Neo-Caliban Grides", a setlist mainstay for Soft Machine during the Fourth era. The Cuneiform reissue also offers 2 live bonus tracks from 1972, "Banking on Bishopsgate" and "Fun Cup".

Just Us is a recommended item to the music collection for anyone interested in either improvised free-jazz music, solo works by Soft Machine alumni, particularly that of Elton Dean, hearing more drumming by under-rated Phil Howard or for all of the above reasons.