I caught legendary guitarist Alan Holdsworth just after this 2003 tour with this band of Elton Dean/saxello-as-p-rhodes, Hugh Hopper/b and John Marshall, here recorded in Osaka on August 11. It’s humbling to realize that 3/4ths of the band has gone to eternity, making this two disc set all the more integral in the history of fusion. The Soft Machine off-shoot was in inspired form, on this night, performing a wide array of material both new and old, bringing in the dark and slithering “Calyx” and the eerie opus “Facelift”, as well as a heft load of material from their (then) recently debut’d album, the excellent Abradadabra. Dean’s sax sears through the space rocker “Seven Formerly” and mourns through the bluesy “Baker’s Treat”. Holdsworth creates Weather Report like layers on “Made Vintage Suite” and creates loops with Hopper on the atmospheric “First Trane”. Dean’s work on the obscure saxello creates mystical moods with Hopper on “Kings & Queens” with Marshall floating with Dean over Marshall on the title piece. This set is not only important musically, but it reminds us of when bands actually took chances and didn’t have to be dissonant to sound different.