In my piece on wind instrument players I realise I overlooked another sax player with a jazz background - Elton Dean of the Soft Machine, famous as the first - if not still only - rock band to play the Proms in 1970. Soft Machine were at the very jazzy end of prog rock and I might sometime get round to recounting my recollection of their gig at Manchester's Free Trade Hall in 1971.
But notwithstanding Soft Machine being one of my favourite bands, or perhaps more precisely their album Third is one of my favourite albums, and the fact that Dean was an outstandingly good player, I'm sticking with Dick Heckstall-Smith.
Interesting though that my choices so far have a jazz theme. I've always loved the jazz influenced end of prog rock, but don't listen to much actual jazz: I think I just need more of a riff.
Besides his playing, Elton Dean is famous because Reginald Dwight, looking for a catchier stage name, saw his name on a poster and liked it so much he decided to call himself Elton John. (Sorry, of course most of you must know that already).
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