After the sad losses of both saxophonist Elton Dean and bassist Hugh Hopper, Soft Machine Legacy carried the Soft Machine '70s fusion-era torch into the 2010s with a pair of albums released, as expected, by Leonardo Pavkovic's MoonJune label: 2010's Live Adventures and this album, 2013's Burden of Proof. The two records featured identical lineups, including three Soft Machine alumni (heard together on 1976's Softs) -- drummer John Marshall, who joined SM in 1971; bassist Roy Babbington, a member of SM beginning in 1973; and ...
Read More
After the sad losses of both saxophonist Elton Dean and bassist Hugh Hopper, Soft Machine Legacy carried the Soft Machine '70s fusion-era torch into the 2010s with a pair of albums released, as expected, by Leonardo Pavkovic's MoonJune label: 2010's Live Adventures and this album, 2013's Burden of Proof. The two records featured identical lineups, including three Soft Machine alumni (heard together on 1976's Softs) -- drummer John Marshall, who joined SM in 1971; bassist Roy Babbington, a member of SM beginning in 1973; and guitarist John Etheridge, who joined SM in 1975 -- along with saxophonist/flutist/keyboardist Theo Travis, a relatively youthful newcomer to the fold who first appeared on the 2007 Soft Machine Legacy album, Steam. The first studio-recorded outing by this particular quartet, Burden of Proof demonstrates the bandmembers' individual skills and collective unity of purpose as they reflect Soft Machine's history while charting their own path forward. The SM "Legacy" surfaces in a spacy version of Hopper's "Kings and Queens" (from Soft Machine's Fourth) with Travis on flute, and also in Travis' delay-echoed Fender Rhodes introduction to the leadoff title track, not to mention the tune's intersection of Babbington's streamlined modal walking bass with the sax-guitar unison melody line, as Marshall swings and rolls loosely through the tune's angularity. Elsewhere, several short bridging tracks provide atmosphere, and the group also ventures into lengthier group improvisations, sometimes searching, sometimes tumultuous, as on "Voyage Beyond Seven," "Green Cubes," and "Fallout," the latter bookended by a theme hinting at a fragmented "21st Century Schizoid Man," although far more relaxed. Again touching on '70s Soft Machine, Travis brings arpeggiated Rhodes to the intro and chorus of album highlight "Black and Crimson" -- also a showcase for Etheridge's wide vibrato-laden phrasing -- then pushes his tenor sax to the limit on the slam-bang sax-drums duo "The Brief," which also proves that Marshall can still be a percussive dynamo. Meanwhile, "Pump Room" has a heavy boogie-rock beat along with its jazzy interludes and heated interplay between Etheridge and Travis, and the saxophonist wails away R&B style on the roadhouse jazz-blues-flavored "Pie Chart," drifting rather far afield from the Soft Machine oeuvre . The group members seem to be enjoying themselves here, and out to prove nothing except how to have a good time. Burden of Proof's scattered forays outside expected Soft Machine territory notwithstanding, this quartet -- with its previous SM members and clear sonic touchstones to the '70s-era group's exploratory sounds and spirit -- would drop the "Legacy" from its name in late 2015. The quartet's next recording, 2018's Hidden Details, would be released by Marshall, Babbington, Etheridge, and Travis using the moniker under which the entire saga began over half a century before: Soft Machine. Any dissenters amongst the audience? Well, no worries. "After all," as a certain singer/drummer once put it, "it's only leisure time, isn't it?" Whether listening to Live Adventures, Burden of Proof, or the subsequent Hidden Details, just sit back and enjoy some killer electric jazz-rock, fusion, creative improvisation -- whatever you want to call it -- by four exemplary musicians who possess decades of experience and remain vital well into the 21st century. ~ Dave Lynch, Rovi
Read Less
Add this copy of Burden of Proof to cart. $10.25, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Ruby rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Moonjune Records.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Providing great media since 1972. All used discs are inspected and guaranteed. Cases may show some wear. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
