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All Music Guide:
Steve Jolliffe initially rose to prominence with his short tenure as a member of Tangerine Dream in the late '70s, just before he launched a prolific solo career that saw him release albums year after year through the '80s and into the '90s. Though multi-talented and no doubt schooled, Jolliffe is perhaps best known for his synthesizer and keyboard work. In addition, he's played a number of other instruments on his recordings -- clarinet, flute, sax, various other horns, and so on -- in addition to singing and songwriting. Given his impressive resumé, it's no surprise Jolliffe established himself so prominently as a cult artist.
In the beginning of his career, Jolliffe met Rick Davies in the late '60s. 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. There 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 that seemed quite out of character for Jolliffe. Nonetheless, Steamhammer experienced moderate success in the early '70s, touring extensively and recording two albums. Despite the success, Steamhammer didn't last long and Jolliffe eventually found himself composing music for film and television.
Jolliffe's career rebounded in the late '70s, when he joined Tangerine Dream, who were quite a popular band at the time. Though he only recorded one album with the band, Cyclone (1978), he made large contributions to the album, playing a multitude of instruments and writing the songs. Furthermore, he toured Europe with Tangerine Dream in grand fashion for extremely large crowds. This stint, albeit a brief one, enabled Jolliffe to launch a solo career, beginning with the Drake's Venture album in 1980. He didn't relent following this debut album, releasing approximately an album a year for the next 20 years.
Wikipedia:
Steve Jolliffe (born 28 April 1949) is an English musician.
Jolliffe was a member of the blues-rock band Steamhammer between 1969 and 1970, playing saxophone and flute on their Mk II album, the band's second album in 1969.
Jolliffe has been a member of the German band Tangerine Dream, working with them and providing vocals for their 1978 album Cyclone, also notably one of the few Tangerine Dream albums to feature singing. His was also a member of the band briefly in 1969 with Klaus Schulze before Conrad Schnitzler joined to record Tangerine Dream's debut album Electronic Meditation.
He has released a number of solo records and collaborated with other musicians.
He was an early user of the keyboard instruments released by Ensoniq and has performed with their ESQ1, SQ80 and VFX in addition to flute and other instruments.
Steve Jollife has released various albums, mostly available on CD. These include The Bruton Suite, Journeys Out Of The Body, Alien, and Zanzi.
