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
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.
Piano Lessons c/w Ambulance Chasing (1999) [Porcupine Tree] Kscope
Stranger by the minute c/w Even Less (pt 2) (2000) [Porcupine Tree] Kscope
Les Pensées De Nos Rêves EP (2002) [Inconnu] (Over Records)
Collaboration DVDs
High above the Subterranea Club 2000 (2002) [Gong] live album Snapper Music
Classic Rock Magazine Legends filmed live at Metropolis Studios (2011) Bill Nelson and the Gentlemen Rocketeers] ITV Studios Home Entertainment
The Raven that Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) CD+DVD (2013) [Steven Wilson] Kscope
Tracks on solo albums
"Psychogroove Reconstruction/Remix" [Cipher] on View From the Edge (Deluxe Edition) 2nd CD with alternative takes and remixes (2004) 33 Jazz Records
Tracks on collaboration albums
"Life Without Buildings" live, also features Steven Wilson on Medium Label Sampler (2000) [Jansen Barbieri Karn (JBK)] Medium Productions Limited
The DAC Mixes (2003) [Darkroom] CDr Burning Shed
"Sleepyard", "Gap Of Cloud", "A Way Of Disappearing", "Ballad Of A Deadman" and "Conversation Over" on Slope (2007) Steve Jansen SamadhiSound
Tracks on compilation albums
'three breaths' on Under The External (1997) [Ute] Id/Mercury Polygram
"Lulworth Night" on Velvet Smooth Moods 2 (1999) [Various Artists] Jazz FM Records
"Like A Child" [No-Man] and "White Cloud, Blue Sky" [Cipher] on The Sky Goes All The Way Home (1999) [Various Artists] Voiceprint
"Drugged" remix [Bass Communion] on Remixes (2000) [Silver Apples] 3rd Stone
DJ Spooky and Steve Jansen tracks on Pulse + Pulse Remix (2000) [Yukihiro Takahashi, Steve Jansen] Medium Productions Limited
"The Lodger pt 2" [Cipher] exclusive track plus "16 Second Swarm" [Bass Communion], "No Ordinary Man" [Cipher] on Hidden Art Sampler (2000) [Various] Hidden Art
"Slow Life" [Theo Travis/Mark Hewins] on Burning Shed - Sampler Two (2002) [Various] CDr Burning Shed
Tracks on compilation 12"
"All Things" [Aphratec] on The Discerning Dancefloor - Volume One (2002) [Various] vinyl only Care in the Community Records
Bibliography
Travis, Theo Twice Around The World: Steven Wilson Tour Blogs 2012-2013 (2014) includes entries previously published on Travis' Facebook page, here re-edited self-published
