Theo Travis


Theo Travis is a British saxophonist, flautist 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.
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Biography

Travis received his degree in music from the University of Manchester specialising in the works of Shostakovich. 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 other collaborator, 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 and organist Pete Whittaker. 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 on drums.
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, 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. 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, Tim Bowness, John Jowitt, Andy Edwards, Matt Stevens of The Fierce and the Dead,Dave and Richard Sinclair, David Sylvian and David Gilmour.

Awards

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

Discography

Solo albums

  • 2am 33 Jazz
  • View From the Edge "Best British Jazz CD 1994" 33 Jazz
  • Secret Island 33 Jazz
  • Passion Dance - Live at Ronnie's RSJH - Ronnie Scott's Jazz House
  • Heart of the Sun 33 Jazz
  • Slow Life Ether Sounds
  • Earth to Ether 33 Jazz
  • View From the Edge contains 2nd CD with alternative takes and remixes 33 Jazz
  • Double Talk 33 Jazz
  • Transgression Esoteric Recordings
  • Open Air vinyl only Tonefloat
  • Songs From the Apricot Tree
  • The Dark Hours
  • Ancient Soul, Modern Times: One Hour Duduk Meditation
  • Inner Sun: One Hour Duduk Meditation
  • ''Aeolus: One Hour Duduk Meditation''

Solo collaboration albums

Bodywork Marshall Travis Wood:] 33 Jazz Berlin Vibe SymbolGuerrilla Music Burning ShedFor the Love of Open Spaces Steve Lawson/Theo Travis] Pillow MountainEleven Bowls of Acidophilus Flute Salad 2000/2001 all tracks improvised live on the Gong Zero To Infinity Tour vinyl only TonefloatThread PanegyricThe Tonefloat Sessions vinyl only TonefloatAll Saints Church, Broad Chalke, UK live recording vinyl Tonefloat, download DGMLiveSt. Michael & All Saints, Bishop's Cleeve, UK live recording vinyl Tonefloat, download DGMLiveTeatro Echegaray, Málaga, Spain live recording download only DGMLiveLive at Coventry Cathedral PanegyricTorn Sunset EdselFollow PanegyricDiscretion PanegyricWindjammer Blue Serene Focus

Solo compilation albums

with [Soft Machine]

;StudioSteam MoonjuneBurden of Proof MoonjuneHidden Details MoonjuneOther Doors
;LiveLive Adventures MoonjuneLive At The Baked Potato Tonefloat

Collaboration albums

Distant Echoes Jade Warrior Red HotDangerous Days Bridge Celtic Steppes Dick Heckstall-Smith 33 Jazz Gaddy Zerbib ZerbibUnder African Skies Bridge Truth Sugizo Polygram/Cross_ism Jansen Barbieri Karn ] Medium Productions LimitedForest People Masami Tsuchiya Polygram/CrossBass Communion Bass Communion 3rd StoneIndigo Falls Indigo Falls It's out there Infinity Stupid Dream Porcupine Tree KscopeBass Communion 2 Hidden ArtPulse Yukihiro Takahashi/Steve Jansen Con - SipioNo Ordinary Man Cipher Hidden ArtZero to Infinity Gong Snapper MusicLive 2 Infinitea Snapper MusicBeloved Akiko Kobayashi Warner JapanSmiling and Waving Anja Garbarek Virgin NorwayPlaying in a room with people live album Medium Productions LimitedRecordings Kscope/Snapper MusicBass Communion 3 Burning ShedSolar Sahara FMRLost Songs, Volume One No-Man Burning ShedReturning Jesus 3rd StoneBlake CandidTito Rides In Acid JazzOne Who Whispers GlissOK Friends GasFrom Here to Eternity Snapper MusicInto the Sun David Sinclair DSINCS-MusicFull Circle DSINCS-MusicMeditations Uri Geller ForkbenderWords of Courage and Inspiration ForkbenderThe Sky Moves Sideways Reissue Delerium House of Thandoy Not On Label - HOT1 CDr onlyHarbans Srih's Vybesmen Tito Bass Communion remixed Headphone DustAll that you are Hidden Art EPSurfacing Burning ShedThe World That We Drive Through The Tangent Inside OutUnreleased Electronic Music Volume 1 Steven Wilson Headphone DustGhosts on magnetic tape Headphone DustStill Smokin' Tito Lopez Combo Tito's Taste 33 Jazz Elemental Forces Burning ShedSnow Bourne Sorrow SamadhiSoundIndicates Void vinyl only TonefloatA Place in the Queue Inside OutSo Many Reasons John Lester Midnite CafeStupid Dream Special Edition 2-CD set Lava/AtlanticWhere You Go Cary Grace Door 13 MusicWho's the Boss in the Factory? Karmakanic Inside OutNOW Windweaver MusicNot as Good as the Book Inside OutSchoolyard Ghosts Kscope/Snapper MusicPacific Codex Headphone DustStill Life in Mobile Homes Francis Dunnery Aquarian Nation 2032 A Rose Emerald Recordings the seven dreams 1K RecordingsGrace for Drowning KscopeCatalogue / Preserve / Amass Headphone Dust, KscopeThe Raven that Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) KscopeNacaal 1K RecordingsHand. Cannot. Erase. KscopeDreams And Absurdities Dave Sturt Esoteric/AntennaUntil All The Ghosts Are Gone Anekdoten VIRTAThe Overview Fiction

Collaboration singles and EPs

Collaboration DVDs

  • High above the Subterranea Club 2000 live album Snapper Music
  • Classic Rock Magazine Legends filmed live at Metropolis Studios Bill Nelson and the Gentlemen Rocketeers] ITV Studios Home Entertainment
  • The Raven that Refused to Sing CD+DVD Kscope

Tracks on solo albums

  • "Psychogroove Reconstruction/Remix" on View From the Edge 2nd CD with alternative takes and remixes 33 Jazz Records

Tracks on collaboration albums

  • "Life Without Buildings" live, also features Steven Wilson on Medium Label Sampler Medium Productions LimitedThe DAC Mixes CDr Burning Shed
  • "Sleepyard", "Gap Of Cloud", "A Way Of Disappearing", "Ballad Of A Deadman" and "Conversation Over" on Slope Steve Jansen SamadhiSound

Tracks on compilation albums

  • 'three breaths' on Under The External Id/Mercury Polygram
  • "Lulworth Night" on Velvet Smooth Moods 2 Jazz FM Records
  • "Like A Child" and "White Cloud, Blue Sky" on The Sky Goes All The Way Home Voiceprint
  • "Drugged" remix on Remixes 3rd Stone
  • DJ Spooky and Steve Jansen tracks on Pulse + Pulse Remix Medium Productions Limited
  • "The Lodger pt 2" exclusive track plus "16 Second Swarm", "No Ordinary Man" on Hidden Art Sampler Hidden Art
  • "Quantico" on Invisible Soundtracks Macro 3 Leaf
  • "Slow Life" on Burning Shed - Sampler Two CDr Burning Shed

Tracks on compilation 12"

Filmography