A welcome reissue of music first recorded in 1971 and 1972, shortly before
Dean left the popular British jazz-rock group
the Soft Machine, which he had officially joined only a short time earlier, in late 1969. On this recording,
Dean plays alto sax, saxello and electric piano and is aided by a group of musicians which includes two additional
Soft Machine members, Mike Ratledge on organ and electric piano and Roy Babbington on string bass. One of
Dean's compositions on
Just Us, "Neo-Caliban Grides," was actually recorded by the
Softs, however, in spite of the obvious parallels,
Dean's group is by no means a
Soft Machine knock off. The absence of drummer/vocalist
Robert Wyatt and bassist
Hugh Hopper reduces both the rock element and the experimental electronics, while the presence of the additional musicians -- especially Marc Charig on cornet -- gives
Dean's group a fuller sound and one that is much more in the jazz tradition. Charig's contributions on horn and those of an electric guitarist on several tracks, invite some obvious comparisons with the
Miles Davis electric band of the
Bitches Brew era. And with the extraordinary recording by the
Davis group having been released only two years earlier in 1969, its influence on hip young British jazz players would have been substantial.
Dean's prominent use of the electric keyboards also provides an obvious parallel with the contemporaneous
Davis group. ~ Bill Tilland