Soft Works

Soft Works was a spin-off of Soft Machine alumni. They released the album "Abracadabra". The lineup for the album was:

• Allan Holdsworth: guitar
• John Marshall: drums
• Elton Dean: saxophone, keyboards
• Hugh Hopper: bass

Allan Holdsworth interview (Abstract Logix 2004)

Fan: Since you keep touring with Soft Works is there a possibility that there will be another studio-album with this band?

AH: It’s a possibility. I like working with those guys. I think all the members of Softworks would like to delve into some new music together. We’ve worked so sporadically and we live far apart, so it’s made it a little more difficult than it would be if I was living over in England.

Harnessing momentum (Innerviews 2008

I revisited Soft Machine with the Soft Works project. I felt it was something I should do, but it became a logistics problem with the three guys being in England and me being in America. Another reason for why we didn’t do more is because sadly, Elton Dean passed away. That was really tragic. Before he went on a vacation to Tahiti in 2004, he stopped at my house and spent a couple of days with me. On his last day with me, we went to the golf club to get a few beers, then he left and it was the last time I saw him.