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Roy Babbington

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5
Album Review

Soft Machine: The Dutch Lesson

Read "The Dutch Lesson" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


Soft Machine had played in Rotterdam several times before this 1973 show in the small theater De Lantaren. But this version of the band was relatively new. One of the earliest shows by the quartet of electric bassist Roy Babbington, Karl Jenkins (on multiple horns and electric piano), keyboardist Mike Ratledge and drummer John Marshall was documented on NDR Jazz Workshop--Hamburg, Germany, May 17, 1973 (Cuneiform Records, 2010). By late October the band had become a potent live force. They ...

9
Album Review

Karl Jenkins: Penumbra II

Read "Penumbra II" reviewed by Chris May


Multi-instrumentalist Sir Karl William Pamp Jenkins CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) is a successful composer of classical, film and TV music. But before he went over to the Dark Side, the then plain old Karl Jenkins was a member of the Rebel Alliance and a pivotal presence in British jazz rock. He was a founding member of the pioneering Nucleus in 1969 and a member of Soft Machine from 1972 until the early 1980s.

13
Album Review

Mike Gibbs: Revisiting Tanglewood 63: The Early Tapes

Read "Revisiting Tanglewood 63: The Early Tapes" reviewed by Chris May


With British jazz in 2021 in better shape than ever before, record companies are being emboldened to revisit their tape libraries and reissue historic but long deleted albums. At the same time, recently formed specialist labels such as Jazz In Britain are making available club and radio broadcast recordings which have never been released before. The Rhodesian-born, Berklee-schooled orchestral-jazz composer Michael Gibbs, a truly iconic figure who continues to inspire young British musicians, is receiving attention on both fronts.

5
Album Review

Soft Machine: Live At The Baked Potato

Read "Live At The Baked Potato" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


European progressive jazz-rock ensemble Soft Machine seems to have run through more lives than even the luckiest tomcat. They've been first-rate musicians at every incarnation, and it's heartening to hear John Etheridge (guitar), John Marshall (drums), Roy Babbington (bass) and relative newcomer Theo Travis (piano, flute, saxophone) sound so vibrant as well as accomplished on Live at the Baked Potato. Baked Potato is a souvenir, recorded at Los Angeles' legendary musical hotspot, from the ensemble's 2019 tour of ...

10
Album Review

Soft Machine: Live At The Baked Potato

Read "Live At The Baked Potato" reviewed by Chris May


Live At The Baked Potato was recorded in Los Angeles in 2019 as part of Soft Machine's 50th Anniversary Tour. (Fact check: 2019 was the band's 53rd and this lineup's fourth anniversary). The latest album is a lot of fun even though it bears little resemblance to the music of the revolutionary 1966 -1969 lineups featuring Mike Ratledge on keyboards and flute, Robert Wyatt on drums and vocals, Kevin Ayers on guitar, bass guitar and vocals, Daevid Allen on guitar ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The Dutch Lesson

Cuneiform Records
2023

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Penumbra II

Jazz In Britain
2022

buy

Revisiting Tanglewood...

Jazz In Britain
2021

buy

NDR Jazz Workshop:...

Cuneiform Records
2010

buy

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