“Calyx” was originally called “For Cyrille”.
Cyrille was the name that Kevin Ayers’ first wife Blanche gave herself as she did not like the name Blanche. I knew Kevin from the early days in Canterbury, and when I moved to Honor Wyatt’s house in West Dulwich, the other people living there were Robert Wyatt with wife Pam and son Sam, Hugh Hopper and wife Liz , all of whom I knew from Canterbury. Also there were Kevin Ayers, wife Cyrille and baby daughter Rachel.
A few years later Honor decided she was going to share her house with her daughter Pru and grandchildren, as Pru was recently divorced from her husband. We were all told we must find somewhere else to live. Pam and Sam had recently moved out to live with Pip Pyle in his flat in East Sheen (also occupied by Phil Miller and Richard Sinclair) while Robert, Cyrille (who had split from Kevin) and I moved to a house in Axminster road, off the Holloway Road, owned by Nick Jack who had been a friend of Robert and mine from Canterbury College of Art.
Some time after that, around the time that Robert left Soft Machine, both Robert and Cyrille left Axminster road and Robert split from Soft Machine and formed the band Matching Mole. The name came from the French translation of Soft Machine: Machine Molle, pronounced in an English accent as “Matching Mole”. It was from this time that Phil Miller, who I didn’t yet know, fell in love with Cyrille and wrote this tune for her to which Robert Wyatt wrote the words:
“Poetry in motion that’s what you’ve become
From the front and from behind you’re a star
Sideways, on the top and underneath,
Close inspection reveals that you’re in perfect nick.
You’ll perform like a dream.”
Some time later Phil changed the name to “Calyx”.
Here are some of the highlights you can listen to on the Calyx OPUS page:
2005 Hatfield & The North 2005 Club Citta Tokyo, Japan 1st and 2nd night 1st & 2nd October
Phil Miller guitar, Richard Sinclair bass, Alex Maguire keyboards, Richard Sinclair bass, Pip Pyle drums.
2019 A Life in Music The VortexJan 6th Jakko Jakszyk voice, Sarah Gail Brand trombone, Fred Baker guitar, Rik Biddulph bass guitar, Alex Maguire keyboards, Mark Fletcher drums.
2003 Progman Cometh Festival, Moore Theatre WA USA Phil Miller guitar, Richard Sinclair bass,Alex Maguire keybds, Elton Dean sax, Jerry Cook drums, Greg Sherman kybds, Paul Black.
1983 Phil Miller quartet Phil Miller guitar, Richard Sinclair bass, Pete Lemer kybds, Pip Pyle drums. Bull & Gate 27th April.
1991 New Morning Paris Shortwave Phil Miller guitar,synth guitar, Hugh Hopper bass, Didier Malherbe tenor & flute, Pip Pyle drums.
Herm