SOFT WORKS - Abracadabra in Osaka
MoonJune Records MJR 112
Elton Dean (saxello, alto sax, Fender Rhodes); Allan Holdsworth (guitar); Hugh Hopper (bass); John Marshall (drums)
Recorded Namba Hatch, Osaka, Japan 11 August 2003.
This album documents a short but significant period in Soft Machine’s long and convoluted history. There are few bands that have had so many changing line-ups, not to mention a plethora of post-break-up groups featuring various combinations of ex-band members. Soft Works was one of these, and although short-lived (it recorded just one studio album and played fewer than a dozen gigs before disbanding), it was arguably the spark that would eventually lead to the Soft Machine name being reincarnated in 2015.
Before talking about the album, we need to mention Soft Machine super-fan Leonardo Pavkovic, whose hard work, patience and persistence brought this band together; got them a record deal along with worldwide distribution; arranged a world tour, and is responsible for this music being available today via his record label MoonJune (named after a Soft Machine tune).
The story of Soft Works and this recording is told in the excellent liner notes that accompany the album, written by Pavkovic (the album’s executive producer), writer Chris Hoard and mastering engineer Mark Wingfield. In 2002, Pavkovic had lined up Elton Dean, Hugh Hopper and John Marshall for a Soft Machine reunion band, but efforts to find a fourth member - a specialist keyboard player - floundered. Pavkovic was introduced to Allan Holdsworth, who jumped at the chance of working with John Marshall again (they had played together in Soft Machine).
Marshall had played with the other three band members, while Dean and Hopper had played together in Soft Machine, but neither had played with Holdsworth. Before the band members had even met each other, let alone played a note, Pavkovic secured a record deal with Universal Japan, and later arranged a worldwide headliner tour, which included major festivals. Sadly, most of these plans would fail to materialise.
Allan Holdsworth was without doubt, one of the most original, inventive and innovative guitarists ever to walk the planet. Leaving aside his amazing technical virtuosity, Holdsworth’s unique approach to harmony and chord progression, along with his jaw-dropping sound, astounded musicians, audiences and critics. John McLaughlin recalled going backstage to see Holdsworth and telling him: “If I knew what you were doing, I'd steal it!" Pat Metheny described Holdsworth as, “One of the greatest guitarists ever,” while Eddie Van Halen stated that, “Holdsworth is the best in my book. He's fantastic. I love him." Frank Zappa said, "One of the most interesting guys on guitar on the planet is Allan Holdsworth. I really respect his playing." For Robben Ford, Holdsworth was, “The John Coltrane of the guitar.”
In light of this, it seems criminal that Holdsworth never achieved the same level of recognition or commercial success as many other modern day jazz guitarists, such as John McLaughlin, George Benson, Pat Metheny, John Scofield and Mike Stern. Indeed, this present writer believes that Holdsworth’s name should be up there with the likes of Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page.
Holdsworth was always looking for ways of extending his musical palette and in the late 1980s, he embraced a new synthesiser technology, the SynthAxe, which looked like (a futuristic) guitar and could be played like one. The SynthAxe was a synthesiser controller that enabled a guitarist to control synthesisers to create sounds, effects, tones and textures that are just not possible with a conventional guitar. Holdsworth even used the SynthAxe with a breath-controller, allowing him to play the guitar more like a woodwind instrument (Holdsworth had originally wanted to play saxophone but couldn’t afford an instrument).
Holdsworth used the SynthAxe on Soft Works’ studio album, and although it is not listed on this album’s credits, there are sections where it sounds as if a SynthAxe is being played. In addition to playing with Soft Works and Soft Machine, Holdsworth also played with Nucleus, Bill Bruford, Stanley Clarke, UK, Level 42, Chad Wackerman, Jean-Luc Ponty and The New Tony Williams Lifetime. He also recorded a string of solo albums.
By all accounts, Holdsworth was a thoroughly decent man and many people have warm memories of him. One fan recalled going to see Holdsworth play while he was at university, and later on, him and his friend chatting to Holdsworth in the bar post-gig. When Holdsworth discovered they were both students, he insisted on buying them a pint. But there often seems to be a price to pay for having a tremendous gift or talent, and in Pavkovic’s words, Holdsworth was a: “Self-tortured genius.”
Holdsworth was a perfectionist, who was never really satisfied with how he played or sounded. It was if what he heard in his head could never quite be duplicated in the real world to his satisfaction. It didn’t matter that audiences loved his playing or that musicians were astounded by his sound, or that he was lauded by the critics and won awards – he was rarely happy with what he achieved. It was not unknown for Holdsworth to stop playing during a gig and apologise to the audience for his playing – even though everyone else in the room loved what he was doing.
The result was that Holdsworth rarely stayed long in any band or situation, and so it proved with Soft Works. The recording of the band’s only studio album – the well-received Abracadabra, released in 2003 – took place in London. Dean, Hopper and Marshall lived in London, but Holdsworth flew from his home in California to London. The plan was to record the album, get it out to the market and promote it on a world tour. But on the last day of scheduled recording – when Holdsworth was set to record his solos – the guitarist decided that he didn’t want to record his parts in London, but would prefer flying back to the US and record them in his home studio, where he felt he had more control over the sound.
His request was reluctantly granted, but it meant that the project’s momentum was lost – the album release date was pushed back by months and the tour dates were scrapped. Somehow, Pavkovic managed to retrieve some of the lost tour dates, and the band played 11 gigs in the US, Japan, Italy and Mexico, before Holdsworth left the band. Pavkovic obtained several soundboard tapes from the Japan concerts and decided that a performance in Osaka on 11 August 2003 was the best.
However, getting the music into a form that was suitable for release was a Herculean task for restorer and mastering engineer Mark Wingfield, who received the concert recording as a flat stereo mix on two CD-R discs. As Wingfield explains in the liner notes, there were significant issues with the sound quality, which was distant, muffled, booming and muddy, with the drums far too high in the mix. It is a testament to Wingfield’s hard work and expertise that this recording sounds excellent.
The physical version of this album comes in two CDs, with the music running time a little under two hours. There are eleven tracks and naturally, repertoire from the Abracadabra album dominates the set list (six of the eight tunes on the album are featured), along with four numbers from Soft Machine, plus an original composition by Holdsworth.
The opening number, ‘Seven Formerly,’ starts like many of the numbers on this album, slowly and quietly, and somewhat deceptively, because you are often unprepared for the musical firestorm that ensues. Dean’s breezy sax and Marshall’s delicate cymbal taps and fills are supported by Holdsworth’s synth-like sounds. Two minutes in, Marshall sets up a driving pulse and the rest of the band follows. This leads into some fierce sax playing, before Holdsworth lets rip with a cascade of notes – his tone and feel are second-to-none. Hopper plays a sold bass solo using a fuzz pedal, with Dean comping on the Fender Rhodes. It’s a strong opener and the cohesive nature of the performance makes it sound more like a band that has been playing together for years.
The title of Holdsworth’s composition ‘Alphrazallan,’ is inspired by the name of the tranquiliser Alprazolam, and it says something about the state of Holdsworth’s mind that he decided to substitute the last six letters with the letters of first name. But despite the subject title, and the haunting guitar chords at the intro, there is nothing somnolent about the music, although it does have a lazy, swinging feel. The live version of ‘Elsewhere’ has a harder, edgier feel than the studio recording, propelled by Marshall’s powerful drumming and featuring scorching sax and spiralling guitar lines.
There are also some slower, quieter numbers, such as ‘Baker’s Treat,’ and the eight-minute Soft Machine old favourite ‘Kings & Queen,’ which has Hopper playing a slow bass vamp for almost the entire track, with Dean’s saxello gliding above it. ‘Abracadabra,’ opens with explosive drumming and a forceful bass riff, before Dean’s saxello leaps out of the traps and scampers along. The song features yet more exquisite legato soloing from Holdsworth. ‘Madam Vintage Suite,’ is another track that packs more punch than the studio version, especially the closing section, with Holdsworth firing on all cylinders and Marshall playing as if he has an extra pair of hands.
‘Has Riff,’ with its dark, menacing bass riff, opens out with Dean blowing hard on alto and Holdsworth playing a smooth, fast solo, before Hopper plays another fuzz bass solo, with Hopper accompanying on Fender Rhodes. ‘First Trane,’ Hopper’s homage to Coltrane, naturally features lots of Coltrane-esque lines, as well as some soaring guitar – John Coltrane was one of Holdsworth’s heroes and this seems to have inspired his playing on this track.
The album ends with a 13-minute version of Hopper’s ‘Facelift,’ from the 1970 Soft Machine album Third. The tune has been radially rearranged, with the original psychedelic opening, featuring lots of manic organ playing, replaced by some soft blowing on saxello. This is a less agitated version, but that isn’t to say that it’s bland. On the contrary, the band builds up a head of steam, with Dean playing fast and energetically, and Holdsworth unleashing more guitar magic.
Sadly this is as far as the music would go with this band. John Etheridge replaced Holdsworth and remains in the band to this day. Soft Works became Soft Machine Legacy, and in 2015, Soft Machine was reborn. Of the four band members from Soft Works, only Marshall survives; Dean died in 2006; Hopper in 2009, and Holdsworth in 2017.
It is a shame that the band did not stay together longer, as there was much for potential for even greater things. But as the saying goes, better to have your audience wanting more than it being bored with you. The jazz world should be grateful to Leonardo Pavkovic, and for this recording, which documents one of the high points in the evolving history of Soft Machine.
Reviewed by George Cole
MoonJune Records MJR 112
Elton Dean (saxello, alto sax, Fender Rhodes); Allan Holdsworth (guitar); Hugh Hopper (bass); John Marshall (drums)
Recorded Namba Hatch, Osaka, Japan 11 August 2003.
This album documents a short but significant period in Soft Machine’s long and convoluted history. There are few bands that have had so many changing line-ups, not to mention a plethora of post-break-up groups featuring various combinations of ex-band members. Soft Works was one of these, and although short-lived (it recorded just one studio album and played fewer than a dozen gigs before disbanding), it was arguably the spark that would eventually lead to the Soft Machine name being reincarnated in 2015.
Before talking about the album, we need to mention Soft Machine super-fan Leonardo Pavkovic, whose hard work, patience and persistence brought this band together; got them a record deal along with worldwide distribution; arranged a world tour, and is responsible for this music being available today via his record label MoonJune (named after a Soft Machine tune).
The story of Soft Works and this recording is told in the excellent liner notes that accompany the album, written by Pavkovic (the album’s executive producer), writer Chris Hoard and mastering engineer Mark Wingfield. In 2002, Pavkovic had lined up Elton Dean, Hugh Hopper and John Marshall for a Soft Machine reunion band, but efforts to find a fourth member - a specialist keyboard player - floundered. Pavkovic was introduced to Allan Holdsworth, who jumped at the chance of working with John Marshall again (they had played together in Soft Machine).
Marshall had played with the other three band members, while Dean and Hopper had played together in Soft Machine, but neither had played with Holdsworth. Before the band members had even met each other, let alone played a note, Pavkovic secured a record deal with Universal Japan, and later arranged a worldwide headliner tour, which included major festivals. Sadly, most of these plans would fail to materialise.
Allan Holdsworth was without doubt, one of the most original, inventive and innovative guitarists ever to walk the planet. Leaving aside his amazing technical virtuosity, Holdsworth’s unique approach to harmony and chord progression, along with his jaw-dropping sound, astounded musicians, audiences and critics. John McLaughlin recalled going backstage to see Holdsworth and telling him: “If I knew what you were doing, I'd steal it!" Pat Metheny described Holdsworth as, “One of the greatest guitarists ever,” while Eddie Van Halen stated that, “Holdsworth is the best in my book. He's fantastic. I love him." Frank Zappa said, "One of the most interesting guys on guitar on the planet is Allan Holdsworth. I really respect his playing." For Robben Ford, Holdsworth was, “The John Coltrane of the guitar.”
In light of this, it seems criminal that Holdsworth never achieved the same level of recognition or commercial success as many other modern day jazz guitarists, such as John McLaughlin, George Benson, Pat Metheny, John Scofield and Mike Stern. Indeed, this present writer believes that Holdsworth’s name should be up there with the likes of Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page.
Holdsworth was always looking for ways of extending his musical palette and in the late 1980s, he embraced a new synthesiser technology, the SynthAxe, which looked like (a futuristic) guitar and could be played like one. The SynthAxe was a synthesiser controller that enabled a guitarist to control synthesisers to create sounds, effects, tones and textures that are just not possible with a conventional guitar. Holdsworth even used the SynthAxe with a breath-controller, allowing him to play the guitar more like a woodwind instrument (Holdsworth had originally wanted to play saxophone but couldn’t afford an instrument).
Holdsworth used the SynthAxe on Soft Works’ studio album, and although it is not listed on this album’s credits, there are sections where it sounds as if a SynthAxe is being played. In addition to playing with Soft Works and Soft Machine, Holdsworth also played with Nucleus, Bill Bruford, Stanley Clarke, UK, Level 42, Chad Wackerman, Jean-Luc Ponty and The New Tony Williams Lifetime. He also recorded a string of solo albums.
By all accounts, Holdsworth was a thoroughly decent man and many people have warm memories of him. One fan recalled going to see Holdsworth play while he was at university, and later on, him and his friend chatting to Holdsworth in the bar post-gig. When Holdsworth discovered they were both students, he insisted on buying them a pint. But there often seems to be a price to pay for having a tremendous gift or talent, and in Pavkovic’s words, Holdsworth was a: “Self-tortured genius.”
Holdsworth was a perfectionist, who was never really satisfied with how he played or sounded. It was if what he heard in his head could never quite be duplicated in the real world to his satisfaction. It didn’t matter that audiences loved his playing or that musicians were astounded by his sound, or that he was lauded by the critics and won awards – he was rarely happy with what he achieved. It was not unknown for Holdsworth to stop playing during a gig and apologise to the audience for his playing – even though everyone else in the room loved what he was doing.
The result was that Holdsworth rarely stayed long in any band or situation, and so it proved with Soft Works. The recording of the band’s only studio album – the well-received Abracadabra, released in 2003 – took place in London. Dean, Hopper and Marshall lived in London, but Holdsworth flew from his home in California to London. The plan was to record the album, get it out to the market and promote it on a world tour. But on the last day of scheduled recording – when Holdsworth was set to record his solos – the guitarist decided that he didn’t want to record his parts in London, but would prefer flying back to the US and record them in his home studio, where he felt he had more control over the sound.
His request was reluctantly granted, but it meant that the project’s momentum was lost – the album release date was pushed back by months and the tour dates were scrapped. Somehow, Pavkovic managed to retrieve some of the lost tour dates, and the band played 11 gigs in the US, Japan, Italy and Mexico, before Holdsworth left the band. Pavkovic obtained several soundboard tapes from the Japan concerts and decided that a performance in Osaka on 11 August 2003 was the best.
However, getting the music into a form that was suitable for release was a Herculean task for restorer and mastering engineer Mark Wingfield, who received the concert recording as a flat stereo mix on two CD-R discs. As Wingfield explains in the liner notes, there were significant issues with the sound quality, which was distant, muffled, booming and muddy, with the drums far too high in the mix. It is a testament to Wingfield’s hard work and expertise that this recording sounds excellent.
The physical version of this album comes in two CDs, with the music running time a little under two hours. There are eleven tracks and naturally, repertoire from the Abracadabra album dominates the set list (six of the eight tunes on the album are featured), along with four numbers from Soft Machine, plus an original composition by Holdsworth.
The opening number, ‘Seven Formerly,’ starts like many of the numbers on this album, slowly and quietly, and somewhat deceptively, because you are often unprepared for the musical firestorm that ensues. Dean’s breezy sax and Marshall’s delicate cymbal taps and fills are supported by Holdsworth’s synth-like sounds. Two minutes in, Marshall sets up a driving pulse and the rest of the band follows. This leads into some fierce sax playing, before Holdsworth lets rip with a cascade of notes – his tone and feel are second-to-none. Hopper plays a sold bass solo using a fuzz pedal, with Dean comping on the Fender Rhodes. It’s a strong opener and the cohesive nature of the performance makes it sound more like a band that has been playing together for years.
The title of Holdsworth’s composition ‘Alphrazallan,’ is inspired by the name of the tranquiliser Alprazolam, and it says something about the state of Holdsworth’s mind that he decided to substitute the last six letters with the letters of first name. But despite the subject title, and the haunting guitar chords at the intro, there is nothing somnolent about the music, although it does have a lazy, swinging feel. The live version of ‘Elsewhere’ has a harder, edgier feel than the studio recording, propelled by Marshall’s powerful drumming and featuring scorching sax and spiralling guitar lines.
There are also some slower, quieter numbers, such as ‘Baker’s Treat,’ and the eight-minute Soft Machine old favourite ‘Kings & Queen,’ which has Hopper playing a slow bass vamp for almost the entire track, with Dean’s saxello gliding above it. ‘Abracadabra,’ opens with explosive drumming and a forceful bass riff, before Dean’s saxello leaps out of the traps and scampers along. The song features yet more exquisite legato soloing from Holdsworth. ‘Madam Vintage Suite,’ is another track that packs more punch than the studio version, especially the closing section, with Holdsworth firing on all cylinders and Marshall playing as if he has an extra pair of hands.
‘Has Riff,’ with its dark, menacing bass riff, opens out with Dean blowing hard on alto and Holdsworth playing a smooth, fast solo, before Hopper plays another fuzz bass solo, with Hopper accompanying on Fender Rhodes. ‘First Trane,’ Hopper’s homage to Coltrane, naturally features lots of Coltrane-esque lines, as well as some soaring guitar – John Coltrane was one of Holdsworth’s heroes and this seems to have inspired his playing on this track.
The album ends with a 13-minute version of Hopper’s ‘Facelift,’ from the 1970 Soft Machine album Third. The tune has been radially rearranged, with the original psychedelic opening, featuring lots of manic organ playing, replaced by some soft blowing on saxello. This is a less agitated version, but that isn’t to say that it’s bland. On the contrary, the band builds up a head of steam, with Dean playing fast and energetically, and Holdsworth unleashing more guitar magic.
Sadly this is as far as the music would go with this band. John Etheridge replaced Holdsworth and remains in the band to this day. Soft Works became Soft Machine Legacy, and in 2015, Soft Machine was reborn. Of the four band members from Soft Works, only Marshall survives; Dean died in 2006; Hopper in 2009, and Holdsworth in 2017.
It is a shame that the band did not stay together longer, as there was much for potential for even greater things. But as the saying goes, better to have your audience wanting more than it being bored with you. The jazz world should be grateful to Leonardo Pavkovic, and for this recording, which documents one of the high points in the evolving history of Soft Machine.
Reviewed by George Cole
