Elton Dean (born October 28, 1945, Nottingham, England; died February 8, 2006) was a jazz musician who performed on alto saxophone, saxello (a variant of the soprano saxophone) and occasionally keyboard. Events 306 - Maxentius is proclaimed Roman Emperor. 312 - Battle of Milvian Bridge: Constantine Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar Nottingham ( is a city in the Ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Events 421 - Constantius III becomes co- Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States The saxophone (commonly referred to simply as sax) is a conical- bored transposing Musical instrument considered a member of the Woodwind The saxophone (commonly referred to simply as sax) is a conical- bored transposing Musical instrument considered a member of the Woodwind An electronic keyboard or digital keyboard is a type of Keyboard instrument.
From 1966-67, Dean was a member of the band Bluesology, led by Long John Baldry. John William Baldry, popularly known as Long John Baldry, ( January 12 1941 &ndash July 21 2005) was an English The band's pianist, Reginald Dwight, afterward combined Dean's and Baldry's first names for his own stage name, Elton John. Sir Elton Hercules John CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947 is an English pop / rock Singer, Composer
Dean established his reputation as a member of the Keith Tippett Sextet from 1968 to 1970, and in the band Soft Machine from 1969 to 1972. Keith Tippett (originally Keith Graham Tippetts, born August 25, 1947 in Bristol) is a British Jazz Pianist Soft Machine was an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S Shortly before leaving Soft Machine he started his own group, Just Us. From 1975 to 1978 he led a nine-piece band called Ninesense, performing at the Bracknell Jazz Festival and similar events. The Bracknell Jazz Festival was a major showcase for British modern jazz in the 1980s His own groups since then, usually quartets or quintets, have most often worked in the free jazz mode, with little or no pre-composed material. For the Ornette Coleman album after which this genre was named see Free Jazz A Collective Improvisation. At the same time, he has continued to work with other groups that are very composition-based, such as guitarist Phil Miller's In Cahoots, drummer Pip Pyle's Equipe Out, and various projects with former Soft Machine bassist Hugh Hopper. Phil Miller (born 22 January 1949 in Barnet, Isle of Wight) is an English Progressive rock / Jazz Guitarist Phillip "Pip" Pyle ( 4 April 1950 - 28 August 2006) was an English -born drummer from Hugh C Hopper (born 29 April 1945, Canterbury, Kent, England) is a Progressive rock / ( fusion) Jazz
In 2002, Dean and three other former Soft Machine members (Hugh Hopper, drummer John Marshall, and guitarist Allan Holdsworth) toured and recorded under the name Soft Works. Hugh C Hopper (born 29 April 1945, Canterbury, Kent, England) is a Progressive rock / ( fusion) Jazz John Stanley Marshall, better known as John Marshall, born 28 August 1941 in Isleworth, Middlesex, is an English Drummer. Allan Holdsworth (born August 6, 1946 in Bradford, West Yorkshire) is a British Jazz / rock Guitarist With another former Soft Machine member, guitarist John Etheridge, replacing Holdsworth, they subsequently toured and recorded as Soft Machine Legacy, playing some pieces from the original Soft Machine repertoire as well as new works. John Michael Glyn Etheridge (born 12 January 1948 in Lambeth, South East London) is a british Jazz Featuring Dean, three albums of theirs have been released: Live in Zaandam (CD, rec. 2005/05/10), New Morning - The Paris Concert (DVD, rec. 2005/12/12) and the studio album Soft Machine Legacy (CD, 2006, rec. 2005).
Dean's last musical collaborations also included those with Soft Bounds (a quartet comprised of Dean, Hugh Hopper, Sophia Domancich and Simon Goubert), Alex Maguire's project Psychic Warrior, and Belgian rock-jazz band The Wrong Object.
Dean's playing style could be equally tonal or atonal; his forays into rock with Soft Machine feature a pioneering use of extreme amplification (particularly the live period between albums Third and Fourth). Tonality is a system of Music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center" or tonic. Atonality in its broadest sense describes Music that lacks a tonal center, or key. Soft Machine was an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S Third is a 1970 Double LP by Soft Machine, with each side of the original vinyl consisting of a single long composition Fourth is a 1971 studio album by the Canterbury band Soft Machine.
External links
- Discography
- Extended Biography
- AllAboutJazz.com: "Former Soft Machine saxophone player Elton Dean dies"
- Elton Dean - interview for Facelift Magazine.
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