Label: Moonjune Records, 2020
Personnel - Elton Dean: alto saxophone, saxello, Fender Rhodes; Allan Holdsworth: guitar; Hugh Hopper: bass; John Marshall: drums.
The fusion supergroup Soft Works was born from the earliest attempt to revive the venerated experimental jazz-rock unit Soft Machine. The short life of this group generated one single album, Abracadabra, but now, drawing from a 2003 live session at Namba Hatch in Osaka, Japan, comes this double album mastered by English guitarist Mark Wingfield.
The magnetic music invites us to indulge in saxophonist Elton Dean’s sinewy inventiveness, examine the melodic precision of guitarist Allan Holdsworth while he mixes the speed of metal with rock stamina in the form of hot personal guitar licks, be intrigued by the humming roundabouts and relaxed grooves of bassist Hugh Hopper, and surrender to the rhythmic activity of drummer John Marshall.
Both the personal solos and collective interplay are consistently rewarding throughout, yet the highlights are Dean’s “Seven Formerly”, whose early atmospheric harmonization evolves calmly toward exciting realms, Holdsworth’s darkly engaging “Alphrazallan”, and Hopper’s “Abracadabra”, which carries a chromatic Spanish tinge at the core.
This tour-de-force concert was turned into a treat of a record.
Grade A-
Favorite Tracks:
01 - Seven Formerly ► 02 - Alphrazallan ► 07 - Abracadabra