Steve Jolliffe
Journeys Out Of The Body

Steve Jolliffe? Who is he? "He was a member of one of the earliest formations of the Tangerine Dream and rejoined the band for a brief period in '78, contributing to the creation of Cyclone". Ah that's right! And then? Beats me! 

I don't know why, but for some time now I've had the habit of checking out the solo careers of all the musicians who, even for a brief period, were part of one of the bands I love. That's what happened with Mr. Jolliffe. And what do I discover? Up to today, the day I'm writing, this man has produced 32 solo albums plus an indefinite number of compilations and collaborations. And here arises the doubt! Could he be some sort of imitator of the more modern Tangerine Dream, one of those who churn out 4 albums a year of questionable quality?? The best way to find out is to listen to his works.

"Journeys out of the body", from '82, is his third album but, in a hypothetical collection that plans not to purchase all 32 albums for economic and rational reasons, it would represent the first, as it is more significant of the early part of his career. The impression one gets upon first listening to it is of bewilderment: one expects to be able to compare the present music with something familiar, of the Tangerine or some other cosmic German group at the very least, and yet it is not so. The electronic component often serves as a backdrop to the various acoustic instruments played by Jolliffe himself (piano, saxophone, and flute) and to the guitars of some guests (Rich Brunton, Tony Duhig) composing a style that we would now call new age. The splendid and sweet acoustic melodies are never accompanied by traditional harmonic progressions, and this prevents the record from reaching emotional climaxes typical of rock and pop songs. The tone thus appears subdued, not uplifting but neither does it hit the sphere of dissonance. Music that soothes the soul with its gentleness, while it also disturbs it by preventing it from taking off as it would like. Synthesizers fill the spaces in a more percussive than melodic way, à la Conrad Schnitzler, if you will, and even when they are the only voice in play, they almost always do so in the form of pulsations and sound effects rather than as a theme in themselves. Only in the beautiful Dark Lady are they used to create a particular timbre (sitar) which, along with a muffled foreign language voice, helps to create a tint with oriental flavors.

Probably too many genres would be needed to describe this and other works by Jolliffe (new age, electronic, ambient, symphonic, minimalism, exotic, etc.). When this happens, it almost seems superfluous to do so, we are simply faced with an artist who knew how to create a style capable of being different from any other and able to continually renew itself. The answer to the initial question is therefore: no, it is not even remotely comparable to today's Tangerine. This is a character that absolutely needs to be discovered and who offers interesting and new works even in our days, without the need to occupy a certain market share and thus freed from any commercial interest. And the album in question is the best way to start getting to know him. Now it's up to you!