Editing Soft Machine (section)

====Soft Ware (1999), Soft Works (2002–04), Soft Mountain (2003) and Soft Bounds (2004)====
Soft Ware (sometimes SoftWhere), which was formed in September 1999, was composed of Elton Dean, Hugh Hopper, [[John Marshall (drummer)|John Marshall]] on drums and Marshall's long-time friend [[Keith Tippett]]. This short-lived line-up played one performance at ([[Augustusburg Hunting Lodge]], Germany, on 4 September 1999. In 2002, with Tippett unavailable, another former Soft Machine member [[Allan Holdsworth]] (on guitar) joined the other three members of Soft Ware, who in June2002 renamed themselves Soft Works<ref name="calyx.perso.neuf.fr Soft Machine chronology 2">{{cite web |url=http://www.calyx-canterbury.fr/softmachine/chrono2.html |title=Chronology 1973–|website=Canterbury Music website |access-date= 20 March 2016}}</ref> to avoid confusion with [[Peter Mergener]]'s band [[Software (band)|Software]]. Soft Works made their live debut on 17 August 2002 at the [[Progman Cometh]] Festival at Moore Theater in [[Seattle, Washington]]; and a live album of the performance was released on 29 July 2003.<ref name="allmusic Soft Works Abracadabra">{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/abracadabra-mw0000320917 |title= Soft Works – Abracadabra (review by Glenn Astarita) |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date= 15 August 2015}}</ref> Their only studio album ''Abracadabra'', consisting of new material and recorded at Eastcote Studios, London, on 5–7 June 2002. The album was toured in Japan in August 2003, Italy in January and February 2004, and Mexico in March 2004.<ref name="calyx.perso.neuf.fr Soft Machine chronology 2"/>

During a Japanese Soft Works tour in August 2003, Elton Dean on saxophone and Hugh Hopper on bass formed the band Soft Mountain along with Japanese musicians [[Hoppy Kamiyama]] on keyboards, whom Hopper had met two years earlier, and [[Yoshida Tatsuya]] from the band [[Ruins (Japanese band)|Ruins]] on drums. Soft Mountain named themselves after Hoppy Kamiyama, whose name translates as "God Mountain".<ref name="huxrecords.com Soft Mountain"/> Looking for a break from relatively fixed set lists and song forms, Hugh Hopper had contacted Kamiyama with the idea of using a studio for one day to see what might happen. Kamiyama brought in Tatsuya, and, with no discussion, the quartet played two 45-minute improvisations. In 2007, a year after Elton Dean died aged 60, Soft Mountain released the eponymous album they had recorded on 10 August 2003 in Tokyo, Japan.<ref name="huxrecords.com Soft Mountain">{{cite web |url=http://www.huxrecords.com/cdsales84.htm |title=cdsales84 |date= 26 March 2020 |website=Huxrecords.com |access-date= 26 March 2020}}</ref> The two-part "Soft Mountain Suite" extracts the best thirty minutes from each improvisation.<ref name="AllAboutJazz.com Soft Mountain">{{cite web |url=https://www.AllAboutJazz.com/soft-mountain-soft-mountain-hux-records-review-by-john-kelman.php?width=1280 |title=Soft Mountain: Soft Mountain (by John Kelman – February 6, 2007) |date= 26 March 2020 |website=Allaboutjazz.com |access-date= 26 March 2020}}</ref>

In June 2004, Elton Dean and Hugh Hopper formed the band Soft Bounds with [[Sophia Domancich]] on keyboards and Simon Goubert on drums); they played at the Festival "Les Tritonales" in [[Les Lilas]], Paris, France.<ref name="calyx-canterbury.fr Elton Dean chronology"/> This concert was partially released in 2005 as the Soft Bounds' album ''Live at Le Triton''.