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Biography
Steve Jolliffe initially rose to prominence with his short tenure as a member of Tangerine Dream in the late '70's, just before he launched a prolific solo career that sees him release albums year after year. Multi-talented, Jolliffe is perhaps best known for his synthesizer and keyboard work yet he is one of the few people in the world skilled at playing Yamaha’s WX-7 MIDI wind instrument. Jolliffe plays a number of other instruments on his recordings as well — bass clarinet, all flutes (alto, “C” and bass flutes), sax (tenor & soprano), oboe, coranglais, piano and harpsichord — in addition to singing and songwriting. Given his impressive resumé, it's no surprise Jolliffe has established himself so prominently as a cult artist.
In the beginning of his career, Jolliffe met Rick Davies in the late '60's. The two played in a band called the Joint, which would one day evolve into Supertramp. However, Jolliffe's interests were more academic at the time, leading him to the Berlin Konservatorium, where he studied music. (Jolliffe was the first student to be accepted to the Konservatorium who couldn’t read music.) Not long after he met Edgar Froese and soon found himself playing in one of the earliest incarnations of Tangerine Dream. Next came Steamhammer, a blues-rock band. Steamhammer experienced moderate success in the early '70's, touring extensively and recording two albums. Despite the success, Steamhammer didn't last long.
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