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Theo Travis

Theo Travis
Travis performing with The Tangent in 2023
Travis performing with The Tangent in 2023
Background information
Born (1964-07-07) 7 July 1964 (age 60)
Birmingham, England[1]
Genres
OccupationMusician
Instruments
  • Saxophone
  • flute
  • keyboards
Years active1993–present
Labels33 Jazz
Member of
Formerly of
Websitetheotravis.com

Theo Travis (born 7 July 1964) is a British saxophonist, flautist[2] and composer. He is a member of Soft Machine which he joined in 2006 while the group was still using the "Legacy" suffix and was a member of Gong from 1999 to 2010.

Biography

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Travis received his degree in music from the University of Manchester[3] specialising in the works of Shostakovich.[4] He has released eleven solo albums, largely as a band leader in the jazz genre, creating and arranging the majority of the material. However, 2003's Slow Life, on which he is the sole performer, is an ambient album employing loops which prefigures his later work with Travis & Fripp. He has made about the same number of albums again credited to himself and one (or occasionally more) other collaborator(s), including John Foxx and, as half of Travis & Fripp with Robert Fripp.

On his albums as band leader, Travis has played with numerous other jazz musicians. These have included, on his 2007 album Double Talk, guitarist Mike Outram[5] and organist Pete Whittaker.[6] There was no bassist as such on that album: like many Hammond organists, Whittaker plays the bass parts with his left hand and his left foot on the pedals. Robert Fripp also guested on two tracks on this album, one of which he co-wrote with Travis. Owing to other collaborative commitments, Travis did not record another jazz album for eight years. When he did so in 2015, he named his new band Theo Travis' Double Talk after the 2007 album. This new band again included both Outram and Whittaker, with the addition of Nic France[7] on drums.[8]

In 1993, Travis worked alongside bassist Dave Sturt on the Jade Warrior album Distant Echoes - as they would again on that band's 2008 album NOW. The pair worked together in the four-piece jazz fusion band The Other Side, releasing the album Dangerous Days in 1994,[9] and, since 1999, with varying guest musicians in their band Cipher which collaborated with Bill Nelson in both the latter's improvisational three-piece live band Orchestra Futura and his more conventional, seven-piece rock band Bill Nelson and the Gentlemen Rocketeers. Sturt was also an engineer on Travis & Fripp's 2014 album Discretion.

In 2006, Travis joined Soft Machine Legacy, a project based on personnel and works of the band Soft Machine, replacing saxophonist Elton Dean after his death. Since 2008 he has worked with guitarist Robert Fripp in the duo Travis and Fripp, releasing four CDs to date, as well as three live concerts as downloads through DGMLive (two of them also on vinyl through Tonefloat). Travis has also worked extensively with Steven Wilson, performing on fifteen of his records and with Wilson mixing six of Travis' releases. Travis appears extensively as featured soloist on Wilson's Grammy nominated album Grace for Drowning and is part of his touring live band. In 2014, using kickstarter funding, he self-published the book Twice Around The World: Steven Wilson Tour Blogs 2012-2013 which included edited entries previously published on Travis' Facebook page, and was illustrated with photographs from the tour.

Travis has also worked with Harold Budd, Bass Communion, Fear Falls Burning/Dirk Serries, Burnt Friedman, Gong, No-Man, Porcupine Tree, The Tangent, Dave and Richard Sinclair, David Sylvian and David Gilmour.

Awards

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Travis' album View From the Edge was voted Best British Jazz CD of 1994 by a Jazz on CD Critics/Readers poll.[10]

Discography

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Solo albums

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Solo collaboration albums

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Solo compilation albums

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with Soft Machine

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Studio
Live

Collaboration albums

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Collaboration singles and EPs

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Collaboration DVDs

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Tracks on solo albums

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Tracks on collaboration albums

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Tracks on compilation albums

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Tracks on compilation 12"

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Bibliography

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Filmography

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References

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  1. ^ "Theo Travis Biography". OLDIES.com. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  2. ^ Lindsay, Bruce: Theo Travis: From Prog to Jazz and Back Again at All About Jazz
  3. ^ "UK Jazz". Ukjazz.net. Archived from the original on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  4. ^ "Vermont Review: 21st Century Gong: An Interview with Theo Travis of Gong". Vermontreview.tripod.com. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  5. ^ "Mike Outram - Guitarist, Composer, Teacher". Mike Outram. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  6. ^ "- Home". Pete-whittaker.com. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  7. ^ "Nic France". Sites.google.com. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  8. ^ Trenwith, Roger (2015). "Theo Travis' Double Talk, The Vortex Jazz Club, Dalston, London. 2nd July 2015". Theprogressiveaspect.net. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  9. ^ "Podcast: Live From Progzilla Towers – Edition 129 – Dave Sturt's Top Ten (listen = from 09.57 to 12.47)". Progzilla.com. 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  10. ^ "UK Jazz". Ukjazz.net. Archived from the original on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
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