While the current incarnation of SOFT MACHINE are preparing a fresh studio platter for issue in June, the ensemble’s archivists have been busy finding recordings from the British collective’s classic era. Lately, there have been quite a few of those, from different years, yet 1973 still remains rather poorly covered – limited to a report from May, preserved for posterity soon after bassist Roy Babbington had joined Mike Ratledge, Karl Jenkins, John Marshall and – until now, when a document from October 26th is ready to see the light of day on April 28th.
Immortalizing the group’s performance at “De Lantaren” in Rotterdam and titled “The Dutch Lesson” to nail its provenance – but also reflect on “The German Lesson” and “The French Lesson” from “Seven” – the double-disc album features one of the last shows by the foursome as, with Allan Holdsworth added to the fold, they would get expanded to a quintet. Here, though, they captured chugging through not only recent numbers, such as “Down The Road” from the aforementioned LP, but also touching on “Hazard Profile” which wasn’t out before "Bundles" hit the shelves in 1975, and of course digging into the past, with material from “Six” and beyond.
The Dutch Lesson
1. Stanley Stamps Gibbon Album
2. Between
3. The Soft Weed Factor
4. Lefty
5. Gesolreut
6. E.P.V.
7. Down The Road
8. Ealing Comedy
9. 37.1
10. 2
11. J.S.M
12. Riff II
13. Chloe And The Pirates
14. Hazard Profile
15. Improvisation
16. Gesolreut Jam
