Soft Machine will never exist again, but one of the best of the Canterbury bands still lives on via an alumni band.

The forthcoming Fusion Syndicate finds Yes alum Billy Sherwood exploring his lesser-known passion for free-form instrumental sounds associated with Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return to Forever. You May Also Like: Billy Sherwood, Fernando Perdomo, Teymur Phell + Others: Five for the Road

Allan Holdsworth’s career is perhaps nearly as well known for his brief stays in well-regarded prog and fusion bands as it is for his guitar wizardry. Tony Williams’ Lifetime, UK and even Level 42 all have Holdsworth “one-and-done” studio albums. You May Also Like: Soft Machine – ‘Live at theRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Hard to believe it’s been over three years since a Soft Machine record was last scoped out here, but that’s only half the time frame between the live dates between The Middle Earth Masters and this one from May, 1973, called NDR Jazz Workshop – Hamburg,Read More

by S. Victor Aaron When I lived in a college dormitory, a guy down the hall from me turned me on to this ECM record Silent Feet by Eberhard Weber. The two long tracks and the one even longer track were entrancing to me, like going on this audial odyssey.Read More

One of the greatest unheralded rock bands to come out of the UK in the sixties was a group of musical misfits called The Soft Machine. This combo was among the earliest and most influential bands from Britain’s Canterbury Scene in the middle of the decade; a loose fraternity thatRead More