Soft Machine at Yoshi's Oakland

JOHN ETHERIDGE guitarTHEO TRAVIS  flute, sax, electric pianoFRED BAKER bass guitar ASAF SIRKIS drumsSoft Machine is a journey through time and space and their glorious artistic past, but also through a classy present, with a band that, despite the changes in members, maintains intact that unique style of psychedelic jazz that combines power and subtlety and that is, almost six decades after its formation, a registered trademark of one of the greatest contemporary instrumental bands. - ROCKAXIS MAGAZINE, CHILEThe band enjovs life on that perilous bridge conjoining experimentation and tradition.- NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORDSince their arrival on the music scene in the first wave of 1960s psychedelia, the name Soft Machine has become synonymous with musical experimentation, instrumental virtuosity, and inspired creativity all animated by a truly adventurous, progressive spirit...

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JOHN ETHERIDGE guitarTHEO TRAVIS  flute, sax, electric pianoFRED BAKER bass guitar ASAF SIRKIS drumsSoft Machine is a journey through time and space and their glorious artistic past, but also through a classy present, with a band that, despite the changes in members, maintains intact that unique style of psychedelic jazz that combines power and subtlety and that is, almost six decades after its formation, a registered trademark of one of the greatest contemporary instrumental bands. - ROCKAXIS MAGAZINE, CHILEThe band enjovs life on that perilous bridge conjoining experimentation and tradition.- NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORDSince their arrival on the music scene in the first wave of 1960s psychedelia, the name Soft Machine has become synonymous with musical experimentation, instrumental virtuosity, and inspired creativity all animated by a truly adventurous, progressive spirit. Although the personnel may have changed over the years, the commitment of those playing in Soft Machine today has remained consistent.Some of the very brightest stars in the British jazz firmament have served in the ranks of this revered musical institution. Robert Wyatt, Mike Ratledge, Elton Dean, Hugh Hopper, Karl Jenkins, John Marshall, Roy Babbington, Allan Holdsworth, John Etheridge, Theo Travis, Kevin Ayers, Daevid Allen, Andy Summers, Jack Bruce, Gary Husband, and many others, have all focussed their own unique musicality to help shape the band’s sound and personality.Just like those earlier configurations, since they began recording and working live in 2004 as Soft Machine Legacy and the arrival of Theo Travis in 2006, the current lineup continues to defy easy categorization  For Theo Travis, there’s a rich combination of elements that combine to form what he believes to be Soft Machine’s appeal. “I like the freedom, I like the variety of colors, the band improvisation. The fact that it has such a strong catalogue of music going back over 50 years from which we dip into and play. With a lot of jazz stuff, you do it and people come up and say ‘good gig’ or whatever, but it's not like it means something in the same way as a band that has history and a cultural significance in the way that Soft Machine has. For me, it's a suitable combination of rock, jazz, improv, melody, risk-taking, textures, and experimental looping. It’s pretty much all the things I like to play in.”

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