Dedicated To You... But You Weren't Listening
	Produced by John Winfield
	Released on October 23, 2007
	no chart information
	Find it at GEMM
MJR017cover [high resolution scan]

T he oppressive windmills of commerce, complacency and callous disregard could take a good tilting against now and again. And while four saxophones won’t save the world, or five, to hear them charging up the hill irregardless and stop to smell the flowers along the way is the sort of lovely idealism that makes “ignorant of the world’s true ways” a lovely and fitting epitaph. Soft Machine assailed the self-same towers, ten, twenty (was it really?) forty years ago, then grew daisies from its feet. The Softies have always soldiered on in some form, it seems, but they were fighting for their own survival and didn’t pay the windmills so much mind. Delta Saxophone Quartet raises the fallen, mossy standard, bringing their minimalist and marvelous eye to bear on a body of work too-long neglected. Armed with almost a dozen baked oldies, re-arranged by more than half a dozen guest composers, Dedicated To You is an interpretive homage. Surprisingly, the arrangements for four saxophones are liberating rather than limiting: the airy “Floating World,” the pastoral “Everything Is You,” the swinging “Mousetrap” (my favorite track on here) never lack for a rich and expressive lexicon. As often happens in the music of Soft Machine, an intricate riff or colorful flutter of notes catches your eye for an instant, perhaps lingers lovingly for a moment, only to dart behind a bank of clouds. The importance of light and dark is underscored with four saxophones, though the dominant tone is one of pastoral beauty (as evinced in Duncan Heining’s liner notes who didn’t use the word “evince,” ha ha). In fact, I’m often most reminded of Brian Eno’s Discreet Music, as the songs have a dreamy, faraway feel, as if recorded in another place, where men walk tall and windmills tremble.

TRACK LISTING

1. DEDICATED    (Graeme Blevins/Pete Whyman/Tim Holmes/Chris Caldwell)    2:46
2. FACELIFT    (Hugh Hopper, arr. by Chris Caldwell)    8:30
3. SOMEHOW WITH THE PASSAGE OF TIME... KINGS AND QUEENS 33 YEARS LATER    (Issie Barratt, based on song by Hugh Hopper)    6:54
4. MOUSETRAP    (Hugh Hopper, arr. by Mike Smith)    4:40
5. EVERYTHING IS YOU    (Hugh Hopper, arr. by Paul Englishby)    6:49
6. TO    (Graeme Blevins/Pete Whyman/Tim Holmes/Chris Caldwell/John Winfield)    2:06
7. OUTRAGEOUS MOON    (Mike Ratledge/Robert Wyatt/Morgan Fisher)    5:47
8. AUBADE    (Karl Jenkins, arr. by Gareth Brady)    2:22
9. NOISETTE    (Hugh Hopper, arr. by Mike Kearsey)    4:38
10. FLOATING WORLD    (Karl Jenkins, arr. by Adrian Revell)    5:42
11. YOU    (Graeme Blevins/Pete Whyman/Tim Holmes/Chris Caldwell/John Winfield)    1:32
12. THE TALE OF TALIESIN    (Karl Jenkins, arr. by Gareth Brady)    1:54
13. DEDICATED TO YOU    (Hugh Hopper, arr. by Joe Duddell)    3:22
14. EPILOGUE    (Hugh Hopper, arr. by Delta Saxophone Quartet)    2:58

CREDITS

GRAEME BLEVINS -- soprano saxophone, assistant producer, editing
CHRIS CALDWELL -- baritone saxophone, assistant producer, other photos
TIM HOLMES -- tenor saxophone
PETE WHYMAN -- alto saxophone, original concept
Morgan Fisher -- vocals, hurdy gurdy & background electronics (7), other photos
Hugh Hopper -- electric bass guitar & loops (2)
John Winfield -- mixing
Leonardo Pavkovic -- executive producer
Tim Maple -- cover photograph
Myke Fritz -- cd artwork/design

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