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

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

and

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

ist. He was a prominent member of the Canterbury scene, as a member of

Soft Machine Soft Machine are an English Rock music, rock band from Canterbury, Kent. The band were formed in 1966 by Mike Ratledge, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Daevid Allen and Larry Nowlin. Soft Machine were central in the Canterbury scene; they became o ...

and other bands.

Biography

Early career

Starting in 1963 as bassist with The Daevid Allen Trio, alongside drummer Robert Wyatt, he alternated between free jazz and rhythm and blues. In 1964 with Brian Hopper (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 asso ...

and Richard Sinclair he formed The Wilde Flowers, 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 Canterbury scene and spawned its two most important groups,

and Caravan.

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'' 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 Robert Wyatt, he took part in a recording session for a

solo album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century ...

Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, guitarist and songwriter who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Until his departure in 1968, he was Pink Floyd's frontman and primary songwriter, ...

's (formerly of

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

, 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 rock group to an instrumental jazz-rock fusion 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) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

's novel ''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also published as ''1984'') is a dystopian novel and cautionary tale by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final completed book. Thematically ...

''). 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 ...

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's

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 culture, mythology, poetry, and literature. In culture and mythology In Islam, the east wind Saba holds religious signi ...

Isotope Isotopes are distinct nuclear species (or ''nuclides'') of the same chemical element. They have the same atomic number (number of protons in their Atomic nucleus, nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemica ...

Gilgamesh Gilgamesh (, ; ; originally ) was a hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the protagonist of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. He was possibly a historical king of the Sumer ...

, and the

Carla Bley Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936 – October 17, 2023) was an American jazz composer, pianist, organist, and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she gained acclaim for her jazz opera ''Escalator ...

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 contemporar ...

and drummer Joe Gallivan) and Soft Heap (with keyboard-player Alan Gowen and drummer Pip Pyle). 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 Pip Pyle's Equipe Out and Phil Miller'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 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 radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (app ...

, 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 statesman, jurist, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth chief justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remai ...

, and guitarist

Allan Holdsworth Allan Holdsworth (6 August 1946 – 15 April 2017) was a British jazz and rock music, rock guitarist, violinist and composer. He contributed to numerous bands, including Soft Machine, U.K. (band), U.K., The Tony Williams Lifetime, Pierre Moerl ...

) toured and recorded under the name SoftWorks. With another former Soft Machine member, guitarist John Etheridge, 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 – The Paris Concert'' (DVD, rec. 2005/12/12) and the studio album ''Soft Machine Legacy'' (CD, 2006, rec. 09/2005). After Elton Dean died in February 2006, Theo Travisbr>
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 (musician), Charles Hayward, Lol Coxhill and Orphy Robinson (augmented for their first release by Robert Wyatt on cornet). Hopper also appeared on the 2004 debut solo album by No-Man singer Tim Bowness (My Hotel Year, on One Little Indian Records. Hopper recorded two solo albums for, and established an online shop via, the highly regarded UK-based internet label, Burning Shed. 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; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce 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 chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

. 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'' *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 city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

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

Bimhuis The Bimhuis is a concert hall for jazz and improvised music in Amsterdam. With an average of 150 performances a year the Bimhuis is the main stage for these musical genres in the Netherlands. In 2017 it was also a host for the 17th edition of ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

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

, 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, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, 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,

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

, Joe Gallivan; 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 town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the borough of Bracknell Forest. It lies to the east of Re ...

- Bresse Improvisations'' (Hugh Hopper, Alan Gowen, Nigel Morris; released 1996) *1983: ''Somewhere in France'' (Hugh Hopper & Richard Sinclair; released 1996) *1993: '' Short Wave Live'' (Hugh Hopper,

Didier Malherbe Didier Malherbe (born 22 January 1943) is a French jazz, rock, and world music musician and poet. He is a member of the bands Gong and Hadouk. He plays the saxophone, flute, alto clarinet, ocarina, Laotian Khen, Bawu flute, Hulusi, and ma ...

, Phil Miller, Pip Pyle) *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'' (Hugh Hopper & Kramer) *1998: ''Different'' (Hugh Hopper & Lisa S. Klossner) *1998: ''The Mind in the Trees'' (Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean, Frances Knight, Vince Clarke; 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) *2004: ''Bananamoon Obscura No. 2 - Live in the UK'' (Hugh Hopper, Daevid Allen, Pip Pyle) *2007: ''Numero D'Vol'' (Hugh Hopper, Simon Picard, Steve Franklin, Charles Hayward (musician), 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 an English Rock music, rock band from Canterbury, Kent. The band were formed in 1966 by Mike Ratledge, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Daevid Allen and Larry Nowlin. Soft Machine were central in the Canterbury scene; they became o ...

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: '' The Soft Machine'' (played on one track as a guest musician but also has writing credits on several tracks) *1969: '' Volume Two'' (first album as an official band member) *1970: '' Third'' *1971: '' Fourth'' *1972: '' Fifth'' *1973: '' Six'' *2003: ''Abracadabra'' (as Soft Works) *2006: ''Soft Machine Legacy'' (as Soft Machine Legacy) *2007 ''

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

'' (as Soft Machine Legacy)

Contributions

*1962-9 Various Artists: '' Canterburied Sounds'' *1963 Daevid Allen Trio: ''Live 1963'' *1965-69: The Wilde Flowers: ''The Wilde Flowers'' *1968: Robert Wyatt: 68'' (released 2013) *1969:

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

: '' Joy of a Toy'' *1973: Stomu Yamashta's East Wind: '' Freedom Is Frightening'' *1974: Robert Wyatt: '' Rock Bottom'' *1974: Robert Wyatt: ''Theatre Royal Drury Lane'' *1974: Stomu Yamashta: ''One by One'' *1975:

: ''Illusion'' *1976:

: ''Deep End'' *1976: Gary Windo: ''His Master's Bones'' *1978:

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

: ''Another Fine Tune You've Got Me Into'' *1981: Gilli Smyth & Mother Gong: ''Robot Woman'' *1984: Robert Wyatt: ''Work In Progress'' (EP) *1985: Pip Pyle: ''L'Equipe Out'' *1985: In Cahoots: ''Cutting Both Ways'' *1986: Patrice Meyer: ''Dromedaire viennois'' *1987: Anaid: ''Belladonna'' *1989: In Cahoots: ''Live 86–89'' *1991: Lindsay Cooper: '' Oh Moscow'' *1992: Daevid Allen: ''Twelve Selves'' *1994: Richard Sinclair: ''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: Pip Pyle: ''7 Year Itch'' *1998: Brainville: ''The Children's Crusade'' *1999: Caravan: ''All Over You Too'' *1999: Hughscore: ''Delta Flora'' *2001: Glass Cage: ''Glass Cage'' Paratactile *2002: Soft Works: ''Abracadabra'' *2002: Polysoft: ''Tribute to Soft Machine'' *2003:

Glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

: ''Live at Progman Cometh'' *2003: Robert Wyatt: ''Solar Flares Burn for You'' *2003: Soft Mountain: ''Soft Mountain'' *2003: Bone: ''Uses Wrist Grab'' *2004: Soft Bounds: ''Live at Le Triton'' *2004: Brian Hopper: ''If Ever I Am'' *2005:

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

Zaandam Zaandam () is a city in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad and received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in 1811. It is located on the river Zaan ...

'' *2006: Soft Machine Legacy: ''Soft Machine Legacy'' *2007: Delta Saxophone Quartet: ''Dedicated To You... But You Weren't Listening: The Music of Soft Machine'' *2007: Soft Machine Legacy: ''

'' *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 Canterbury scene Deaths from leukemia in England British male bass guitarists English jazz guitarists English male guitarists Musicians from Canterbury Soft Machine members Columbia Records artists 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