Soft Heap (or Soft Head) was a

Canterbury scene The Canterbury scene (or Canterbury sound) is a musical scene that originated in the city of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Associated with progressive rock, the term describes a loosely-defined, improvisation ...

and

jazz-rock Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music Music genre, genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, a ...

supergroup founded in January 1978 and active throughout the Eighties.

History

Main source:

Origins

Jazz-rock band Soft Heap was formed in January 1978 by four musicians, two of them being ex-members of

Soft Machine Soft Machine are an English Rock music, rock band from Canterbury, Kent. The band were formed in 1966 by Mike Ratledge, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Daevid Allen and Larry Nowlin. Soft Machine were central in the Canterbury scene; they became o ...

: indeed, Hugh Hopper and Elton Dean had worked together in Soft Machine, while Alan Gowen and Pip Pyle had worked together in the band

National Health National Health were an English progressive rock band associated with the Canterbury scene. Founded in 1975, the band featured members of keyboardist Dave Stewart's band Hatfield and the North and Alan Gowen's band Gilgamesh, including gui ...

. The first name "Soft" obviously references the past band Soft Machine while the second name "Heap" comes from the initial letters of the band's founders' first name: Hugh Hopper (bass), Elton Dean (saxophone), Alan Gowen (keyboards) and Pip Pyle (drums).

Career

The band's direction was very jazzy and improvisational. Soft Heap went on tour in Spring–Summer 1978, but due to his commitments with the band National Health, Pyle couldn't be on this first tour, thus Dave Sheen replaced him and the band's name changed to Soft Head. The

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

''Rogue Element'' was recorded on that tour in May 1978 at Chez Jacky "A L'Ouest de la Grosne" Bresse-sur-Grosne, France and was released in 1978. The original Soft Heap line-up reconvened in October 1978 (thus including Pip Pyle) to record their eponymous studio album ''Soft Heap'' which was released in 1979. John Greaves (also from National Health) replaced Hugh Hopper on bass in 1979–80, and after Alan Gowen's death in 1981, Mark Hewins joined on guitar, the new 1981 line-up becoming: John Greaves, Elton Dean, Pip Pyle and

Mark Hewins Mark Hewins (born 24 March 1955) is an English guitarist known for his connections to the Canterbury scene, a group of English progressive rock musicians during the 1960s. Biography Hewins' professional career as a guitarist began in 1973 wi ...

. (The three other founding members Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean and Pip Pyle would all die in the 2000s). As Mark Hewins explained: "John Greaves and I were given the opportunity to change the name of the group when we joined, but we all decided that, in respect of Alan Gowen's memory, we would keep the "Heap" moniker (Hugh, Elton, Alan, Pip)... therwise,it could have been... "Soft Jemp"!". The new line-up toured intermittently throughout the 1980s, occasionally including guests such as

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as a founding member of the English avant-rock group Henry ...

and

Phil Minton Phil Minton (born 2 November 1940) is a British avant-garde jazz/ free-improvising vocalist and trumpeter. Minton is a highly dramatic baritone who tends to specialize in literary texts: he has sung lyrics by William Blake with Mike Westbrook' ...

. Released only in 1996, ''A Veritable Centaur'' is a live album largely taken from a 1982 French show, with one track from a 1983

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

performance while ''Al Dente'' is a 2008 archival release of the show at the Phoenix Club, London, on 22 November 1978. No records were released during the 1980s although the band kept gigging, embarking on four tours during the decade with a total of 25

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an concerts, culminating with a gig in a circus tent (built especially for the band) on 11 May 1988 at the Festival "Jazz sous les pommiers" in

Coutances Coutances () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. History The capital of the Unelli, a Gaulish tribe, the town was given the name of ''Constantia'' in 298 during the reign of Roman Emperor Constantius ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

that was recorded and broadcast live by FR1 Radio (according to Mark Hewins).

Personnel

Main source:

Members

1978–1979

* Hugh Hopper (bass) * Elton Dean (saxophone) * Alan Gowen (keyboards) * Pip Pyle (drums) / Dave Sheen (the latter only during the Spring–Summer 1978 tour)

1979–1980

* John Greaves (bass, vocals) * Elton Dean (saxophone) * Alan Gowen (keyboards) * Pip Pyle (drums)

1981–1988

* John Greaves (bass, organ, vocals) * Elton Dean (saxophone) *

(guitar, vocals) * Pip Pyle (drums)

Occasional guest musicians through the 1980s

(guitar, bass, keyboards...) *

(trumpet)

Discography

Notes

References

External links

Soft Heap family tree
*
Soft Heap (1978–1988) biography by Gary Hill, discography and album reviews, credits & releases
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Soft Heap (1978–1988) discography, album releases & credits
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

Soft Heap (1978–1988) biography, discography, album credits & user reviews
at ProgArchives.com
Soft Heap (1978–1988) albums to be listened
on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

Soft Heap (1978–1988) albums to be listened
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Soft Head (1978) discography and album reviews, credits & releases
at

Soft Head (1978) discography, album releases & credits
at

{{Authority control Canterbury scene English jazz-rock groups English progressive rock groups Musical groups established in 1978