SOFT MACHINE
“Y ou’ve made happy men very old,” quips guitarist John Etheridge at a very busy Jazz Café. Soft Machine have had many permutations since forming in 1966, but while they’re long in the tooth, they pull in a broad spectrum of fans.
The audience include a surprisingly large contingent in their 20s and 30s, far too young to have experienced Soft Machine’s early heydays but no less passionate about the group’s energetic jazz rock for that.
The set draws heavily from last year’s Hidden Details album, mixing in older cuts along the way. While Theo Travis switches between flute, sax, and keys, there’s no dedicated keyboard player in this line-up, but Etheridge has that covered by making his guitar sound like an organ. It’s mindboggling to think that drummer John Marshall and bassist Roy Babbington are almost 80. Marshall rivals be-bop legend Roy Haynes for the age-defying propulsion of his playing. Tony Williams’ influence can be heard in his approach to The Man Who Waved At Trains, keeping time on the hi-hat so he can use his ride cymbal for colour and melodic interaction. Marshall could rival Ginger Baker for his stony-faced demeanour, but occasionally Etheridge will catch his eye and play something that makes the drummer grin broadly.
Life On Bridges brings to mind late-60s electric Miles Davis – no one plays the beat as the band launch into a maelstrom of freeform improvisation with Etheridge’s guitar stabbing out noisy bursts. By contrast, Heart Off Guard is a melodic duet between Travis’ sax and Etheridge’s guitar, which serves as the prelude to the bluesy Broken Hill. New tune Fourteen Hour Dream and Kings And Queens, from 1971’s Fourth, bring out their Canterbury folk and psychedelic influences.
The former is a highpoint with a wicked bassline from Babbington and spirited soloing from Etheridge and Travis. The main set concludes with a medley of The Relegation Of Pluto, Tarabos, Sideburn, and Hazard Profile Part 1, featuring a surging solo from Marshall and Etheridge tearing up his guitar’s neck.
To save brains from melting, they ease back to encore with Chloe & The Pirates, before finishing with the fat and funky Gesolreut, a showcase for Travis’ glorious honking saxophone. No band of this vintage have any right to still sound so fearless and ferocious. Don’t miss them.