Theo Travis

Theo Travis (born 7 July 1964 in Birmingham, England) is a British saxophonist, flautist and composer. He is best known for being a member of Soft Machine which he joined in 2006 while the group was still using the "Legacy" suffix and for being a member of Gong from 1999 to 2010.
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 (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 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. It was to prove a fortuitous collaboration. 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 would also serve as Mix 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 the late reedsman Elton Dean. 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 entries previously published on Travis' Facebook page, here re-edited, and was lavishly illustrated with photographs from that tour.
In April 2019 it was announced that Travis would be filling in for Bill Rieflin on the King Crimson 50th Anniversary Celebration Tour as keyboardist. However, on 3 May it was announced by Robert Fripp that Travis would no longer be joining the band.
Travis has also worked with Harold Budd, Bass Communion, Burnt Friedman, Gong, No-Man, Porcupine Tree, The Tangent, Dave and Richard Sinclair, David Sylvian and David Gilmour.
He is of significance to the genres of jazz, ambient music and progressive rock.
He lives in London with his wife and son.
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 (1993) 33 Jazz
View From the Edge (1994) "Best British Jazz CD 1994" 33 Jazz
Secret Island (1996) 33 Jazz
Passion Dance - Live at Ronnie's (1999) [Theo Travis Quartet] RSJH - Ronnie Scott's Jazz House
Heart of the Sun (2001) 33 Jazz
Slow Life (2003) Ether Sounds
Earth to Ether (2004) 33 Jazz
View From the Edge (Deluxe Edition) (2004) contains 2nd CD with alternative takes and remixes 33 Jazz
Double Talk (2007) 33 Jazz
Fear Falls Burning - The Tonefloat Sessions (2009) vinyl only Tonefloat
Transgression (2015) [Theo Travis' Double Talk] Esoteric Recordings
Open Air (2017) vinyl only Tonefloat
Songs From the Apricot Tree (2021)
Solo Collaboration albums
Bodywork (1998) Marshall Travis Wood:] 33 Jazz
Berlin Vibe (2001) [Travis/Beaujolais Quartet] Symbol
Guerrilla Music (2002) [Theo Travis/Mark Hewins] Burning Shed
For the Love of Open Spaces (2003) Steve Lawson/Theo Travis] Pillow Mountain
Eleven Bowls of Acidophilus Flute Salad 2000/2001 (2006) all tracks improvised live on the Gong Zero To Infinity Tour vinyl only Tonefloat
Thread (2008) [Travis & Fripp] Panegyric
All Saints Church, Broad Chalke, UK live recording (21 May 2009) [Travis & Fripp] vinyl Tonefloat, download DGMLive
St. Michael & All Saints, Bishop's Cleeve, UK live recording (22 May 2009) [Travis & Fripp] vinyl Tonefloat, download DGMLive
Teatro Echegaray, Málaga, Spain live recording (30 April 2010) [Travis & Fripp] download only DGMLive
Live at Coventry Cathedral (2010) [Travis & Fripp] Panegyric
Torn Sunset (2011) [Theo Travis and John Foxx] Edsel
Follow (2012) [Travis & Fripp] Panegyric
Discretion (2014) [Travis & Fripp] Panegyric
Windjammer (2014) [Echo Engine with Theo Travis] Blue Serene Focus
Solo Compilation albums
All I Know (2010) 33 Jazz
with Soft Machine
Studio
Steam (as Soft Machine Legacy) (2007) Moonjune
Burden of Proof (as Soft Machine Legacy) (2013) Moonjune
Hidden Details (2018) Moonjune
Live
Live Adventures (as Soft Machine Legacy) (2010) Moonjune
Live At The Baked Potato (2020) Tonefloat
Collaboration albums
Distant Echoes (1993) Jade Warrior Red Hot
Dangerous Days (1994) [The Other Side] Bridge
Celtic Steppes (1996) Dick Heckstall-Smith 33 Jazz
Gaddy Zerbib (1996) [Gaddy Zerbib] Zerbib
Under African Skies (1996) [Jive Nation] Bridge
Truth (1997) Sugizo Polygram/Cross
_ism (1998) Jansen Barbieri Karn (JBK)] Medium Productions Limited
Forest People (1998) Masami Tsuchiya Polygram/Cross
Bass Communion (1998) Bass Communion 3rd Stone
Indigo Falls (1998) Indigo Falls (Medium Productions Limited)
It's out there (1998) [The Great Unknown] Infinity
Stupid Dream (1999) Porcupine Tree Kscope
Bass Communion 2 (1999) [Bass Communion] Hidden Art
Pulse (1999) Yukihiro Takahashi/Steve Jansen Con - Sipio
No Ordinary Man (1999) Cipher Hidden Art
Zero to Infinity (2000) Gong Snapper Music
Live 2 Infinitea (2000) [Gong] Snapper Music
Beloved (2001) Akiko Kobayashi Warner Japan
Smiling and Waving (2001) Anja Garbarek Virgin Norway
Playing in a room with people (2001) [Jansen Barbieri Karn (JBK)] live album Medium Productions Limited
Recordings (2001) [Porcupine Tree] Kscope/Snapper Music
Bass Communion 3 (2001) [Bass Communion] Burning Shed
Solar Sahara (2001) [Recreator] FMR
Lost Songs, Volume One (2001) No-Man Burning Shed
Returning Jesus (2001) [No-Man] 3rd Stone
Blake (2001) [Rod Blake] Candid
Tito Rides In (2001) [Tito Lopez Combo] Acid Jazz
One Who Whispers (2002) [Cipher] Gliss
OK Friends (2002) [Gong] Gas
From Here to Eternity (2-CD reissue) (2002) [Gong] Snapper Music
Into the Sun (2003) David Sinclair DSINCS-Music
Full Circle (2003) [David Sinclair] DSINCS-Music
Meditations (2003) Uri Geller Forkbender
Words of Courage and Inspiration (2003) [Uri Geller] Forkbender
The Sky Moves Sideways Reissue (2003) [Porcupine Tree] Delerium
House of Thandoy (2003) [House of Thandoy] Not On Label - HOT1 CDr only
Harbans Srih's Vybesmen (2003) [Harbans Srih's Vybesmen] Tito
Bass Communion remixed (2003) [Bass Communion / Various] Headphone Dust
All that you are (2003) [No-Man] Hidden Art EP
Surfacing (2004) [A Marble Calm] Burning Shed
The World That We Drive Through (2004) The Tangent Inside Out
Unreleased Electronic Music Volume 1 (2004) Steven Wilson Headphone Dust
Ghosts on magnetic tape (2004) [Bass Communion] Headphone Dust
Still Smokin' (2004) Tito Lopez Combo Tito's
Taste (2004) [Karen Lane] 33 Jazz
Elemental Forces (2005) [Cipher] Burning Shed
Snow Bourne Sorrow (2005) [Nine Horses (David Sylvian/Steve Jansen/Burnt Friedman)] SamadhiSound
Indicates Void (2005) [Bass Communion] vinyl only Tonefloat
A Place in the Queue (2006) [The Tangent] Inside Out
So Many Reasons (2006) John Lester Midnite Cafe
Stupid Dream (2006) [Porcupine Tree] Special Edition 2-CD set Lava/Atlantic
Where You Go (2007) Cary Grace Door 13 Music
Who's the Boss in the Factory? (2008) Karmakanic Inside Out
NOW (2008) [Jade Warrior] Windweaver Music
Not as Good as the Book (2008) [The Tangent] Inside Out
Schoolyard Ghosts (2008) [No-Man] Kscope/Snapper Music
Pacific Codex (2008) [Bass Communion] Headphone Dust
Still Life in Mobile Homes (2009) Francis Dunnery Aquarian Nation
2032 (2009) [Gong] (G-Wave)
A Rose (2009) [Stefano Panunzi] Emerald Recordings
the seven dreams (2010) [goldbug] 1K Recordings
Grace for Drowning (2011) [Steven Wilson] Kscope
Catalogue / Preserve / Amass (Live In Europe, October 2011) (2012) [Steven Wilson] Headphone Dust, Kscope
The Raven that Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) (2013) [Steven Wilson] Kscope
Nacaal (2014) [goldbug] 1K Recordings
Hand. Cannot. Erase. (2015) [Steven Wilson] Kscope
Dreams And Absurdities (2015) Dave Sturt Esoteric/Antenna
Until All The Ghosts Are Gone (2015) Anekdoten VIRTA
Collaboration singles and EPs
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
"Quantico" [Bass Communion] on Invisible Soundtracks Macro 3 (2000) [Various] Leaf
"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
Filmography
2015: Romantic Warriors III: Canterbury Tales (DVD)
References
External links
Official Site
Bio at TheoTravis.com
[ All Music]
Cipher
Interview on The Next Track podcast
1964 births
Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands
British jazz saxophonists
British male saxophonists
Canterbury scene
Alumni of the University of Manchester
Living people
The Tangent members
Gong (band) members
21st-century saxophonists
21st-century British male musicians
British male jazz musicians
Curfew (band) members