That November, I met Ken in LA yet again. But we were left still searching for the elusive fourth member to round out the group. It is one of those things that only musicians know - or don't know, maybe - why they dislike or hate each other. But Dave Stewart was "persona non-grata" with both Hugh and Elton. When I suggested Dave Stewart to the other three, John Marshall, who was mainly a jazz drummer, wasn't very familiar with Dave or his playing. When I explained the situation, he immediately became excited and suggested that he could contact his old friend in London, Dave Stewart. The following month, July 2001, I met Ken Kubernik back in LA. Keith Tippett still wasn't interested, but Hugh Hopper and John Marshall certainly were. Well, I was very excited, and so I contacted Elton, even though we still hadn't recruited the fourth band member yet. If you can make it possible, my company will arrange a deal with Universal Japan, and give you big advances. I will never forget his eMail: "My name is Masa Matsuzaki, my company is interested in Soft Machine reunion. He went back to Japan and then a few weeks later I received an eMail from Tatsurou, introducing me to Masa Matsuzaki. It's hard to believe, but he informed me that he had a very close friend who was a major player in the Japanese music business market, and that he would introduce me to him. I asked him pretty casually, "Hey, is Soft Machine popular in Japan?" He said they were, so I shared with him that story of Elton Dean, Soft Ware, and my dream and Elton's dream to reform Soft Machine or a sort of Soft Machine. One was a friend from Japan, Tatsurou Ueda, and we started talking. LP: At (NEARfest), I ran into many friends I had made at some of the festivals I mentioned from the year before. Little did I know the fruit that this conversation would later bear!ĪAJ: So how or where do the Soft Machine variations come back in? Ken and I went for a coffee break during another intermission and began talking about several of our favorite music subjects, such as Soft Machine, the Canterbury scene, British jazz, and much more, and during our conversation, I told him about Elton Dean, Soft Ware and Keith Tippett situation. I guess we were talking loudly and proudly about Mike Ratledge, and that's how I met Ken Kubernik, who jumped right into our conversation. A guy who happened to be passing by suddenly entered into a conversation I was having with a few early Soft Machine hardcore fans. I met another person at this festival who wound up being one of the key people in starting MoonJune. LP: OK, so in September 2000 I attended ProgFest in Los Angeles, and got to catch up with several of my favorite 70s progressive rock bands: Italian legends Banco, French legends Mona Lisa, and Dutch legends Supersister, an old favorite of mine who I never thought in my whole life I would be able to see! We continued our thinking, dominated by a keyboard player to fill the fourth member role. Mike Ratledge, the legendary Soft Machine keyboardist and one of my all-time personal music heroes, had made it clear that he wasn't interested in being a part of any recording or live performance music since leaving Soft Machine in 1976. Keith's failure to make a solid commitment got Elton and I fantasizing about the fourth member. They were all available and excited, except for Keith, who said he would consider it as a possible, occasional special project but not as a steady gig. Elton asked me to talk to Keith Tippett, John Marshall, and Hugh Hopper, who I already knew from his visits to New York. Perhaps acting on the good vibes of the situation, Elton asked Jim and me if we would be willing to help him with Soft Ware in the US. Elton stayed a few extra days at my place in the East Village, and he also met Jim Eigo. So I reconnected with Elton on New Year's Day, 2000, and in June of that year he performed in New York City at a jazz festival with drummer Joe Gallivan, bassist Marcio Mattos and saxophonist Evan Parker. LP: In 2000, I had this crazy idea to help my old friend Elton Dean, to sort of reform or resurrect the legendary Soft Machine based, in large part, on information I found on the internet about a "one-off" show of the Soft Ware project featuring Elton on sax, Keith Tippett on piano, Hugh Hopper on bass guitar and John Marshall on drums. You can read the whole interview on AAJ: bit.ly/2TDkjW6 'Leonardo Pavkovic: Nothing Is Ordinary’ by Chris Slawecki Excerpts taken from the All About Jazz article/interview
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