Hugh Colin Hopper (29 April 1945 – 7 June 2009) was a British

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...

and

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and ke ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

ist. He was a prominent member of the

Canterbury scene The Canterbury scene (or Canterbury sound) was a musical scene centred on the town of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Associated with progressive rock, the term describes a loosely-defined, improvisational styl ...

, as a member of

Soft Machine Soft Machine are a British rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Mike Ratledge (keyboards, 1966–1976), Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals, 1966–1971), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals, 1966–1968) and Daevid Allen (guitar, 1966– ...

and other bands.

Biography

Early career

Starting in 1963 as bassist with The Daevid Allen Trio, alongside drummer

Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming pa ...

, he alternated between free jazz and rhythm and blues. In 1964 with

Brian Hopper Brian Hopper (born 3 January 1943) is an English guitarist and saxophonist. Hopper was born in Whitstable, Kent, England, and is the older brother of the late bassist Hugh Hopper. With Hugh, he was a member in the early Canterbury scene band Wi ...

(his brother), Robert Wyatt,

Kevin Ayers Kevin Ayers (16 August 1944 – 18 February 2013) was an English singer-songwriter who was active in the English psychedelic music movement. Ayers was a founding member of the psychedelic band Soft Machine in the mid-1960s, and was closely assoc ...

and Richard Sinclair he formed

The Wilde Flowers The Wilde Flowers were an English psychedelic rock band from Canterbury, Kent. Formed in 1964, the group originally featured lead vocalist Kevin Ayers, lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist Brian Hopper, rhythm guitarist and vocalist Richard Sincl ...

, a pop music group. Although they never released any records during their existence (a compilation was released 30 years later), The Wilde Flowers are acknowledged as the founders of the

and spawned its two most important groups,

and

Caravan Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals *Convoy, a group of veh ...

With Soft Machine (1968–1973)

Hopper's role with Soft Machine was initially as the group's road manager, but he already composed for their first album ''

The Soft Machine ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' and played bass on one of its tracks. In 1969 he was recruited to be the group's bassist for their second album, '' Volume Two'' and, with Mike Ratledge and

, he took part in a recording session for a

solo album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his ...

's (formerly of

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...

, with whom the early Soft Machine had regularly gigged). Hopper continued with Soft Machine, playing bass and contributing numerous compositions until 1973. During his tenure the group evolved from a psychedelic pop group to an instrumental jazz-rock

fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...

band. In 1972, shortly before leaving Soft Machine, he recorded the first record under his own name, ''1984'' (named after

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalit ...

's novel ''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also stylised as ''1984'') is a dystopian social science fiction novel and cautionary tale written by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and fina ...

''). This was a decidedly non-commercial record featuring lengthy solo pieces using

tape loop In music, tape loops are loops of magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound when played on a tape recorder. Originating in the 1940s with the work of Pierre Schaeffer, they were used among cont ...

s as well as shorter pieces with a group. Hopper later reminisced about the record, "I don't think a lot of it was very successful, but I remember sitting for about three or four hours at Advision trying to record the sound of a mosquito so that I could use that as a bit of a loop."

1973 until 2009

After leaving Soft Machine, through the end of the 1970s, he worked with such groups as

Stomu Yamashta Stomu Yamashta (or Yamash'ta), born , is a Japanese percussionist, keyboardist and composer. He is best known for pioneering and popularising a fusion of traditional Japanese percussive music with Western progressive rock music in the 1960s and 1 ...

East Wind An east wind is a wind that originates in the east and blows in a westward direction. This wind is referenced as symbolism in mythology, poetry and literature. In mythology In Greek mythology, Eurus, the east wind, was the only wind not associate ...

Isotope Isotopes are two or more types of atoms that have the same atomic number (number of protons in their nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemical element), and that differ in nucleon numbers ( mass num ...

Gilgamesh sux, , label=none , image = Hero lion Dur-Sharrukin Louvre AO19862.jpg , alt = , caption = Possible representation of Gilgamesh as Master of Animals, grasping a lion in his left arm and snake in his right hand, in an Assy ...

, and the

Carla Bley Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936) is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera '' Escalator over the Hill'' ...

Band. He also played in a couple of cooperative bands alongside former Soft Machine saxophonist Elton Dean: Hopper/Dean/Tippett/Gallivan (with pianist

Keith Tippett Keith Graham Tippetts (25 August 1947 – 14 June 2020), known professionally as Keith Tippett, was a British jazz pianist and composer. According to AllMusic, Tippett's career "..spanned jazz-rock, progressive rock, improvised and contemporary ...

and drummer

Joe Gallivan Joe Gallivan (born August 9, 1937, Rochester, New York) is an American jazz and avant-garde musician. He plays drums, percussion and synthesizer. Career Gallivan's first professional experience came at the age of 15 while in Miami. He played ea ...

) and

Soft Heap In computer science, a soft heap is a variant on the simple heap data structure that has constant amortized time complexity for 5 types of operations. This is achieved by carefully "corrupting" (increasing) the keys of at most a constant number ...

(with keyboard-player Alan Gowen and drummer

Pip Pyle Phillip "Pip" Pyle (4 April 1950 – 28 August 2006) was an English-born drummer from Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, who later resided in France. He is best known for his work in the progressive rock Canterbury scene bands Gong, Hatfield a ...

). In the early 1980s Hopper gave up playing music for a couple of years, but by the mid-1980s he was actively working with several bands, including

's Equipe Out and

Phil Miller Philip Paul Miller (22 January 1949 – 18 October 2017) was an English progressive rock/jazz guitarist and a central part of the Canterbury scene. He was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire. Self-taught on guitar, Miller formed his first band, De ...

's In Cahoots. He also began playing with a group of Dutch musicians in a band initially called Hopper Goes Dutch. After French guitarist

Patrice Meyer ''Patrice Meyer'' (b. 18 December 1957) is a French electric guitarist active in Jazz, Jazz rock, Progressive rock and Canterbury scene bands. History ''Patrice Meyer'' was born in Strasbourg in the Alsace region of France. He began teaching hi ...

joined, this group became known as the Hugh Hopper Franglo-Dutch Band. After many years working primarily in instrumental, jazz-oriented groups including

Short Wave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (100 to 10 m ...

, in the mid-1990s Hopper began occasionally working again in more rock-oriented vocal contexts, including several collaborations with the band Caveman Shoestore (using the name Hughscore) and with singer Lisa S. Klossner. He also returned to his early tape loop experiments, but now using computer technology, in recordings such as ''Jazzloops'' (2002). In the 1990s and 2000s several projects led Hopper to revisit his Soft Machine past. In 1998 he was asked to participate in a project by the French jazz collective Polysons, joining them in performances of Softs classics which featured Polysons members (Pierre-Olivier Govin and Jean-Rémy Guédon on saxes, Serge Adam on trumpet and François Merville on drums) plus organist Emmanuel Bex. The resulting Polysoft group was re-activated in 2002–03 to perform at Parisian club Le Triton, with fellow ex-Softs Elton Dean sitting in, resulting in a live CD, ''Tribute To Soft Machine'', released on the club's own label. Also in 2002–04, Hopper, Dean and two other former Soft Machine members (drummer

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...

, and guitarist

Allan Holdsworth Allan Holdsworth (6 August 1946 – 15 April 2017) was a British jazz fusion and progressive rock guitarist and composer. Holdsworth was known for his esoteric and idiosyncratic usage of advanced music theory concepts, especially with resp ...

) toured and recorded under the name SoftWorks. With another former Soft Machine member, guitarist

John Etheridge John Michael Glyn Etheridge (born 12 January 1948) is an English jazz fusion guitarist, composer, bandleader and educator known for his eclecticism and broad range of associations in jazz, classical, and contemporary music. He is best known fo ...

, replacing Holdsworth, they toured and recorded as Soft Machine Legacy, playing some pieces from the original Soft Machine repertoire as well as new works. Three albums of theirs were released: ''Live in Zaandam'' (CD, rec. 2005/05/10), ''

New Morning New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

– The Paris Concert'' (DVD, rec. 2005/12/12) and the studio album ''Soft Machine Legacy'' (CD, 2006, rec. 09/2005). After Elton Dean who died in February 2006,

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 ...

br>Home
replaced him, and Soft Machine Legacy recorded the album ''Steam'', released in 2007. Other occasional projects were Soft Bounds (with French musicians Sophia Domancich and Simon Goubert, first with Elton Dean and then Simon Picard), which like PolySoft released a live CD recorded at the Triton club, and Clear Frame, an improvising group with Charles Hayward,

Lol Coxhill George Lowen Coxhill (19 September 1932 – 10 July 2012) known professionally as Lol Coxhill, was an English free improvising saxophonist. He played soprano and sopranino saxophone. Biography Coxhill was born to George Compton Coxhill ...

and Orphy Robinson (augmented for their first release by

on cornet). Hopper also appeared on the 2004 debut solo album by

No-Man No-Man are an English art pop duo, formed in 1987 as No Man Is an Island (Except the Isle of Man) by singer Tim Bowness and multi-instrumentalist Steven Wilson. The band has so far produced seven studio albums and a number of singles/outtakes ...

singer

Tim Bowness Tim Bowness (born 29 November 1963) is an English singer and songwriter primarily known for his work as part of the band No-Man, a long-term project formed in 1987 with Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson. Music career In addition to recording albu ...

(My Hotel Year, on

One Little Indian One Little Independent Records (formerly One Little Indian Records) is an English independent record label. It was set up in 1985 by members of various anarcho-punk bands, and managed by former Flux of Pink Indians bassist Derek Birkett. In ...

Records. Hopper recorded two solo albums for, and established an online shop via, the highly regarded UK-based internet label,

Burning Shed Burning Shed is an independent record label established in April 2001 by musicians Tim Bowness and Pete Morgan. The label was envisaged as an artistically focused, online extension of labels such as 4AD, Factory, ECM, DGM and Mute. Burning Sh ...

. He worked with Japanese musician and composer Yumi Hara Cawkwell as a duo called HUMI. They had a tour of Japan planned for early 2008, which did not happen due to Hopper's health. Hopper was diagnosed with

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

in June 2008 and underwent

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemother ...

. As a result of his illness and the treatment, he cancelled all his concert appearances. A Hugh Hopper benefit concert took place in December 2008 at the

100 Club The 100 Club is a music venue located at 100 Oxford Street, London, England, where it has been hosting live music since 24 October 1942. It was originally called the Feldman Swing Club, but changed its name when the father of the current owner ...

in London and featured In Cahoots, members of Soft Machine Legacy, Delta Sax Quartet, Sophia Domancich and Simon Goubert, Yumi Hara Cawkwell, and the Alex Maguire Sextet. Another benefit was planned for late June 2009. He married his partner Christine on 5 June 2009 and died of leukaemia on 7 June. His funeral, a Tibetan Buddhist ceremony to respect Hugh's wishes, was held on 25 June 2009. A series of ten CDs of unreleased live and studio recordings began release in 2014 by Gonzo MultiMedia to benefit Hugh's family.

Discography

Under his name

*1973: ''1984'' *1974: ''Monster Band'' (released 1979) *1976: ''

Hopper Tunity Box Hopper Tunity Box is a 1977 album by jazz/ rock musician Hugh Hopper. Ex-Soft Machine bassist augments his rather infamous fuzz-bass attack by performing on guitar, recorders, soprano sax, and percussion. The album recorded in 1976 and re-releas ...

'' *1984: ''Hugh Hopper and Odd Friends'' (EP, released 1993) *1987: ''Alive!'' *1990: ''Meccano Pelorus'' *1994: ''Hooligan Romantics'' *1994: ''Carousel'' *1996: ''Best Soft'' (compilation) *2000: ''Parabolic Versions'' (collaborations) *2003: ''Jazzloops'' (collaborations) *2007: ''Numero D’Vol'' (Moonjune-Bandcamp) *2008: ''The Gift Of Purpose'' (live recording by Bone) *2014: ''Volume 1: Memories'' (archival collection) *2014: ''Volume 2: Frangloband'' (Triton Club,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, 2004) *2014: ''Volume 3: North & South'' (with Mike Travis,

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

, 1995) *2014: ''Volume 4: Four by Hugh by Four'' ( Bimhuis,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, 2000) *2014: ''Volume 5: Heart to Heart'' (with

, 2007) *2014: ''Volume 6: Special Friends'' (Short Wave concerts 1992 through 1995) *2014: ''Volume 7: Soft Boundaries'' (Triton Club,

, 2005) *2014: ''Volume 8: Bass On Top'' (studio,

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, 2007) *2015: ''Volume 9: Anatomy of Facelift'' (five performances of "Facelift" by Soft Machine, 1969 through 1971) *2015: ''Volume 10: Was A Friend'' (various one-off collaborations)

Collaborations

*1976: ''Cruel But Fair'' (Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean,

) *1977: ''Mercy Dash'' (Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean,

; released 1985) *1978: ''Rogue Element'' (Soft Head: Hugh Hopper/Elton Dean/Alan Gowen/Dave Sheen) *1979: ''Soft Heap'' (Soft Heap: Hugh Hopper/Elton Dean/Alan Gowen/Pip Pyle) *1979: ''Al Dente'' (Soft Heap: Hugh Hopper/Elton Dean/Alan Gowen/Pip Pyle, live) *1980: ''Two Rainbows Daily'' (Hugh Hopper & Alan Gowen) *1980: ''

Bracknell Bracknell () is a large town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the Borough of Bracknell Forest. It lies to the east of Reading, south of Maiden ...

Bresse Bresse () is a former French province. It is located in the regions of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté of eastern France. The geographical term ''Bresse'' has two meanings: ''Bresse bourguignonne'' (or ''louhannaise''), w ...

Improvisations'' (Hugh Hopper, Alan Gowen, Nigel Morris; released 1996) *1983: ''Somewhere in France'' (Hugh Hopper &

Richard Sinclair Richard Stephen Sinclair (born 6 June 1948) is an English progressive rock bassist, guitarist, and vocalist who has been a member of several bands of the Canterbury scene. Biography Born in Canterbury, England, both his father (Dick Sinclair ...

; released 1996) *1993: '' Short Wave Live'' (Hugh Hopper,

Didier Malherbe Didier Malherbe (born January 22, 1943 in Paris), is a French jazz, rock and world music musician, known as a member of the bands Gong and Hadouk, as well as a poet. His first instrument was a saxophone, but he also plays flutes, alto clarin ...

) *1994: '' A Remark Hugh Made'' (Hugh Hopper & Kramer) *1995: ''Adreamor'' (Hugh Hopper & Mark Hewins) *1996: ''Elephants in your head?'' (MASHU: Mark Hewins/Shyamal/Hugh Hopper) *1997: ''

Huge Huge may refer to: * Huge cardinal, a number in mathematics * ''Huge'' (Caroline's Spine album), 1996 * ''Huge'' (Hugh Hopper and Kramer album), 1997 * ''Huge'' (TV series), a television series on ABC Family * Huge (digital agency) * ''Huge'' ...

'' (Hugh Hopper & Kramer) *1998: ''Different'' (Hugh Hopper & Lisa S. Klossner) *1998: ''The Mind in the Trees'' (Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean, Frances Knight,

Vince Clarke Vincent John Martin (born 3 July 1960), known professionally as Vince Clarke, is an English synth-pop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been the main composer and musician of the band Erasure since its inception in 1985, and was previously ...

; released 2003) *2000: ''Cryptids'' (Hugh Hopper & Lisa S. Klossner) *2000: ''The Swimmer'' (Hugh Hopper, Jan Ponsford, Frances Knight, Vince Clarke; released 2005) *2002: ''Flight'n Shade'' (Hugh Hopper & Micaël Gidon) *2003: ''Home'' ( Jeff Sherman with Hugh Hopper) *2003: ''In a Dubious Manner'' (Hugh Hopper & Julian Whitfield) *2004: ''The Stolen Hour'' (comics by

Matt Howarth Matt may refer to: *Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt *In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance) *Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...

) *2004: ''Bananamoon Obscura No. 2 - Live in the UK'' (Hugh Hopper, Daevid Allen,

) *2007: ''Numero D'Vol'' (Hugh Hopper, Simon Picard, Steve Franklin, Charles Hayward) *2007: Branes'' ( Jeff Sherman & Hugh Hopper) *2008: ''Dune'' (Humi: Hugh Hopper & Yumi Hara Cawkwell) *2008: ''Goat Hopper'' (Hugh Hopper & Honey Ride Me A Goat)

With
Soft Machine Soft Machine are a British rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Mike Ratledge (keyboards, 1966–1976), Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals, 1966–1971), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals, 1966–1968) and Daevid Allen (guitar, 1966– ...

Studio albums (see

discography Discography is the study and cataloging of published sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified music genres. The exact information included varies depending on the type and scope of the discography, but a discography entry ...

for live albums) *1968: ''

'' (one track only as player, others as well as composer) *1969: '' Volume Two'' *1970: ''

Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hi ...

'' *1971: '' Fourth'' *1972: '' Fifth'' *1973: ''

Six 6 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 6 or six may also refer to: * AD 6, the sixth year of the AD era * 6 BC, the sixth year before the AD era * The month of June Science * Carbon, the element with atomic number 6 * 6 Hebe, an asteroid People ...

'' *2003: ''Abracadabra'' (as Soft Works) *2006: ''Soft Machine Legacy'' (as Soft Machine Legacy) *2007 ''

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizatio ...

'' (as Soft Machine Legacy)

Contributions

*1962-9 Various Artists: ''

Canterburied Sounds ''Canterburied Sounds'' is a series of four CDs of archival Canterbury scene recordings compiled from the private collection of Brian Hopper. The set includes some of the earliest-known recordings of Caravan (band), Caravan, Soft Machine, Robert ...

'' *1963 Daevid Allen Trio: ''Live 1963'' *1965-69:

: ''The Wilde Flowers'' *1968:

: 68'' (released 2013) *1969:

: '' The Madcap Laughs'' (two tracks) *1969:

: ''

Joy of a Toy ''Joy of a Toy'' is the debut solo album of Kevin Ayers, a founding member of Soft Machine. He is accompanied on the LP by pianist and arranger David Bedford as well as his erstwhile Soft Machine colleagues Robert Wyatt and Mike Ratledge, an ...

'' *1973:

's East Wind: '' Freedom Is Frightening'' *1974:

: '' Rock Bottom'' *1974:

: ''Theatre Royal Drury Lane'' *1974:

: ''One by One'' *1975:

: ''Illusion'' *1976:

: ''Deep End'' *1976:

Gary Windo Gary Windo (7 November 1941, in Brighton, England – 25 July 1992, in New York City) was an English jazz tenor saxophonist. Career Windo came from a musical family in England. By age six he took up drums and accordion, then guitar at twelve and ...

: ''His Master's Bones'' *1978:

Band: '' European Tour 1977'' *1978:

: ''Another Fine Tune You've Got Me Into'' *1981:

Gilli Smyth Gillian Mary Smyth (1 June 1933 – 22 August 2016) was an English musician who performed with the bands Gong, Mother Gong, and Planet Gong and released several solo albums and albums in collaboration with other members of Gong. In Gong, s ...

& Mother Gong: ''Robot Woman'' *1984:

: ''Work In Progress'' (EP) *1985:

: ''L'Equipe Out'' *1985: In Cahoots: ''Cutting Both Ways'' *1986:

: ''Dromedaire viennois'' *1987: Anaid: ''Belladonna'' *1989: In Cahoots: ''Live 86–89'' *1991:

Lindsay Cooper Lindsay Cooper (3 March 1951 – 18 September 2013) was an English bassoon and oboe player and composer. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and t ...

: ''

Oh Moscow ''Oh Moscow'' is a 1991 live album by English experimental musician and composer Lindsay Cooper. It is a recording of a song cycle of the same name performed at the 7th Victoriaville Festival in Quebec, Canada on 8 October 1989. The work was com ...

'' *1992: Daevid Allen: ''Twelve Selves'' *1994:

: ''R.S.V.P.'' *1994: Conglomerate: ''Precisely the Opposite of What We Know to Be True'' *1995: Kramer: ''Still Alive In 95'' *1995: Various Artists: ''Unsettled Scores'' *1995: Caveman Hughscore: '' Caveman Hughscore'' *1995: Gizmo: ''Eyewitness'' *1997: Hughscore: ''Highspot Paradox'' *1998:

: ''7 Year Itch'' *1998: Brainville: ''The Children's Crusade'' *1999:

: ''All Over You Too'' *1999: Hughscore: ''Delta Flora'' *2001: Glass Cage: ''Glass Cage'' Paratactile *2002:

Soft Works Soft Machine are a British rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Mike Ratledge (keyboards, 1966–1976), Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals, 1966–1971), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals, 1966–1968) and Daevid Allen (guitar, 1966–1967 ...

: ''Abracadabra'' *2002: Polysoft: ''Tribute to Soft Machine'' *2003:

Glass Glass is a non- crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenchin ...

: ''Live at Progman Cometh'' *2003:

: ''Solar Flares Burn for You'' *2003: Soft Mountain: ''Soft Mountain'' *2003: Bone: ''Uses Wrist Grab'' *2004: Soft Bounds: ''Live at Le Triton'' *2004:

: ''If Ever I Am'' *2005:

: ''Illuminations'' *2005: NDIO: ''Airback'' *2005: Brainville: ''Live in the UK'' *2005:

Soft Machine Legacy Soft Machine are a British rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Mike Ratledge (keyboards, 1966–1976), Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals, 1966–1971), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals, 1966–1968) and Daevid Allen (guitar, 1966–1967 ...

: ''Live in

Zaandam Zaandam () is a city in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad, and received city rights in 1811. It is located on the river Zaan, just north of Amsterdam. The statistical district Zaand ...

'' *2006:

: ''Soft Machine Legacy'' *2007: Delta Saxophone Quartet: ''Dedicated To You... But You Weren't Listening: The Music of Soft Machine'' *2007:

: ''

'' *2008: Clear Frame: ''Clear Frame'' *2008: Brainville3: ''Trial by Headline''

Bibliography

* H.C. & L.T. Hopper: ''Thirty Kent Churches'', – Great Stour Publications – limited edition 750 cop. – with his father Leslie – (01.12.1978) – calligraphy and map: Leon Olin and Sylvia Gansford * Hugh Hopper: ''The Rock Bass Manual – the complete guide to the electric bass guitar'', – Portland Publications (1984)

Filmography

* 2015: '' Romantic Warriors III: Canterbury Tales'' (DVD)

References

External links

Burning Shed records

Hugh's site (hosted by Burning Shed) including link to the Hopper Archives

Hugh Hopper
at

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

Hugh Hopper at jazz.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopper, Hugh 1945 births 2009 deaths People from Whitstable Deaths from cancer in England Canterbury scene Deaths from leukemia Male bass guitarists English jazz guitarists English male guitarists People from Canterbury Soft Machine members Columbia Records artists Musicians from Kent The Wilde Flowers members Soft Heap members In Cahoots members Gilgamesh (band) members 20th-century English bass guitarists British male jazz musicians 20th-century British male musicians Progressive rock musicians Progressive rock bass guitarists

Biography

Early career

With Soft Machine (1968–1973)

1973 until 2009

Discography

Under his name

Collaborations

With Soft Machine Soft Machine are a British rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Mike Ratledge (keyboards, 1966–1976), Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals, 1966–1971), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals, 1966–1968) and Daevid Allen (guitar, 1966– ...

Contributions

Bibliography

Filmography

References

External links

With
Soft Machine Soft Machine are a British rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Mike Ratledge (keyboards, 1966–1976), Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals, 1966–1971), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals, 1966–1968) and Daevid Allen (guitar, 1966– ...