"Alan Skidmore, a world-class musician experienced in a myriad of musical environments and disciplines, is renowned both as a soloist and as a section player on films, radio and television. The list of international artists with whom he has performed and recorded reads like a "Who's Who" of contemporary music and includes Georgie Fame, John Mayall, Elvin Jones, Eric Clapton, Clark Terry, Stan Tracey, Van Morrison, Charlie Watts, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Weather Report and Dexter Gordon!

Skid's formative years - what he has described as "my university education" - was playing with John Mayall and Alexis Korner in the early 1960s.

The earliest of his many special achievements came in 1969, when his quintet, featuring the late Kenny Wheeler, represented the UK at the Montreux: Jazz Festival and won the International Press Awards for Best Soloist, which included a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston, and for Best Band.

Alan first won the Melody Maker Jazz Poll for saxophone in 1971 and again in 1972, 1973 and 1974. In 1973 he formed the band S.O.S with John Surman and Mike Osborne, with which he toured extensively and appeared at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Always popular in Germany Alan also had the pleasure of being invited to play at NDR Hamburg's Jazz Workshop with Weather Report for TV broadcast and also for jazz education purposes.

In 1984 Alan toured India, Hong Kong and the Philippines as the featured soloist with the Cologne-based West Deutscher Rundfunk (WDR) Big Band.

One of the major highlight's of Alan's career was the honour and privilege of working at Ronnie Scott's with the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine in 1988, giving Alan the opportunity to work with his hero, John Coltrane's, regular drummer.

During the 1980s he represented the BBC at the Belgrade Festival with the band S.O.H. (Skidmore, Oxley and Haurand), with which he toured Europe for six years, and has toured the world and recorded with Rolling Stones' drummer Charlie Watts, Stan Tracey and Georgie Fame, featuring with Georgie on BBC TV's Later With Jools Holland.

In the 1990s, after the abolition of apartheid, Alan was chosen to be the first European jazz musician to go on a British Council sponsored tour of South Africa, and has since recorded three CDs The Call,Ubizo and 50 Journeys with the African drum band Amampondo and they have toured the UK several times as Alan Skidmore's Ubizo.

n 1998 Alan became one of a very small band of saxophonists - Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt and Stan Getz - to record an album with a full orchestra. After the Rain has proved a great favourite and has been reissued in 2017. His "Tribute to John Coltrane" UK tour which included appearances at Brecon Jazz Festival and Cheltenham Jazz Festival received rave reviews, and more recently, he has collaborated with Peter King at the North Sea Jazz Festival where they presented their "In Honour of Bird and Trane" programme, accompanied by the celebrated Dutch band, the Rein de Graaff Trio while, closer to home, he has performed at the Royal Albert Hall with Elvis Costello and Georgie Fame.

In July 2017 he featured at a special memorial tribute concert marking the 50th anniversary of John Coltrane's passing at London's Cafe Oto with Paul Dunmall's Sunship Quartet. In 1987 he shared the bill at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon with a quintet with many of Coltrane's regular collaborators to mark the 20th anniversary."

"Baritone saxophonist Danny Thompson, AKA Danny Ray Thompson, was a member of Black Heat, and a regular performed with Sun Ra."

"Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC (14 January 1930 - 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards.

Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he was also active in free improvisation and occasionally contributed to rock music recordings. Wheeler wrote over one hundred compositions and was a skilled arranger for small groups and large ensembles.

Wheeler was the patron of the Royal Academy Junior Jazz course.

Wheeler was born in Toronto, Ontario, on 14 January 1930. Growing up in Toronto, he began playing cornet at age 12, and became interested in jazz in his mid-teens. Wheeler spent a year studying composition at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto in 1950. In 1952 he moved to Britain. He found his way into the London jazz scene of the time, playing in groups led by Tommy Whittle, Tubby Hayes, and Ronnie Scott.

In the late 1950s, he was a member of Buddy Featherstonhaugh's quintet together with Bobby Wellins. Throughout the sixties, he worked with John Dankworth, and also formed part of (Eric Burdon and) the Animals' Big Band that made its only public appearance at the 5th Annual British Jazz & Blues Festival in Richmond (1965) with tenors Stan Robinson, Dick Morrissey and Al Gay, baritone sax Paul Carroll, and fellow trumpets Ian Carr and Greg Brown. In 1968, Wheeler appeared on guitarist Terry Smith's first solo album, Fall Out.

Wheeler performed and recorded his own compositions with large jazz ensembles throughout his career, beginning with the first album under his own name, Windmill Tilter (1969), recorded with the John Dankworth band. A CD was released by BGO Records in September 2010. The big band album Song for Someone (1973) fused Wheeler's characteristic orchestral writing with passages of free improvisation provided by musicians such as Evan Parker and Derek Bailey, and was also named Album of the Year by Melody Maker magazine in 1975. It has subsequently been reissued on CD by Parker's Psi label.

In the mid-1960s, Wheeler became a close participant in the nascent free improvisation movement in London, playing with John Stevens Parker, the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and the Globe Unity Orchestra. Despite the above-noted accomplishments, much of his reputation rests on his work with smaller jazz groups. Wheeler's first small group recordings to gain significant critical attention were Gnu High (1975) and Deer Wan (1977), both for the ECM label (Gnu High is one of the few albums to feature Keith Jarrett as a sideman since his tenure with Charles Lloyd). One exception from the ongoing collaboration with ECM was his rare album on CBC called Ensemble Fusionaire in 1976. This had three other Canadian musicians and was recorded in St. Mary's Church in Toronto for a different character to the sound than on the ECM recordings.

Wheeler was the trumpet player in the Anthony Braxton Quartet from 1971 to 1976, and from 1977 he was also a member of the chamber jazz group Azimuth (with John Taylor and Norma Winstone).Later life

In 1997 Wheeler received widespread critical praise for his album Angel Song, which featured an unusual "drummerless" quartet of Bill Frisell (guitar), Dave Holland (bass) and Lee Konitz (alto sax).

Wheeler died after a short period of frail health at a nursing home in London on 18 September 2014. He was 84 years old."

"John Douglas Surman (born 30 August 1944) is an English jazz saxophone, bass clarinet, and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music. He has composed and performed music for dance performances and film soundtracks.

Surman was born in Tavistock, Devon. He initially gained recognition playing baritone saxophone in the Mike Westbrook Band in the mid-1960s, and was soon heard regularly playing soprano saxophone and bass clarinet as well. His first playing issued on a record was with the Peter Lemer Quintet in 1966. After further recordings and performances with jazz bandleaders Mike Westbrook and Graham Collier and blues-rock musician Alexis Korner, he made the first record under his own name in 1968.

In 1969 he founded the well-regarded and influential group The Trio along with two expatriate American musicians, bassist Barre Phillips and drummer Stu Martin. In the mid-1970s he founded one of the earliest all-saxophone jazz groups, S.O.S., along with alto saxophonist Mike Osborne and tenor saxophonist Alan Skidmore. During this early period he also recorded with (among others) saxophonist Ronnie Scott, guitarist John McLaughlin, bandleader Michael Gibbs, trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff, and pianist Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath.

By 1972 he had begun experimenting with synthesizers. That year he recorded Westering Home, the first of several solo projects on which he played all parts himself via overdubbing. He recorded his final album with Mike Westbrook, Citadel/Room 315 in 1975.

Many of the musical relationships he established during the 1970s have continued to the present. These include a quartet with pianist John Taylor, bassist Chris Laurence, and drummer John Marshall; duets and other projects with Norwegian singer Karin Krog; and duets and other projects with American drummer/pianist Jack DeJohnette.

His relationship with ECM Records has also been continuous from the late 1970s to the present, as Surman has recorded prolifically for the label playing bass clarinet, recorders, soprano and baritone saxophones and using synthesisers, both solo with a wide range of other musicians.

In recent years he has composed several suites of music that feature his playing in unusual contexts, including with church organ and chorus (Proverbs and Songs, 1996); with a classical string quintet (Coruscating); and with the London Brass and Jack DeJohnette (Free and Equal, 2001). He has also played in a unique trio with Tunisian oud-player Anouar Brahem and bassist Dave Holland (Thimar, 1997); has performed the songs of John Dowland with singer John Potter formerly of the Hilliard Ensemble; and made contributions to the drum and bass album Disappeared by Spring Heel Jack.

Other musicians he has worked with include bassist Miroslav Vitous, bandleader Gil Evans, pianist Paul Bley and Vigleik Storaas, saxophonist (and composer) John Warren, guitarists Terje Rypdal and John Abercrombie and trumpeter Tomasz Stańko."

"Anthony George Coe (born 29 November 1934) is an English jazz musician who plays clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, and soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones.

Coe began his performing career playing with Humphrey Lyttelton's band from 1957 to 1962. In 1965 he was invited to join Count Basie's band ('I'm glad it didn't come off - I would have lasted about a fortnight') and has since played with the John Dankworth Orchestra, the Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band, Derek Bailey's free improvisation group Company, Stan Tracey, Michael Gibbs, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bob Brookmeyer, and performed under Pierre Boulez as well as leading a series of groups of his own, including Coe Oxley & Co with drummer Tony Oxley. He played clarinet on Paul McCartney's recording of "I'll Give You a Ring" released in 1982 and saxophone on John Martyn's 1973 album Solid Air.

Coe has also worked with the Matrix, a small ensemble formed by clarinettist Alan Hacker, with a wide-ranging repertoire of early, classical, and contemporary music, the Danish Radio Big Band, Metropole Orchestra and Skymasters in the Netherlands.

Coe has recorded on soundtracks for several films, including Superman II, Victor/Victoria, Nous irons tous au paradis, Leaving Las Vegas, Le Plus beau métier du monde and The Loss of Sexual Innocence. He also composed the film score for Camomille.

In 1975 a grant from the Arts Council enabled him to write Zeitgeist, a large-scale orchestral work fusing jazz and rock elements with techniques from European Art Music. He received an honorary degree and the Danish Jazzpar Prize (1995)."

"Dave Holland is a bassist, composer, bandleader whose passion for musical expression of all styles, and dedication to creating consistently innovative music ensembles have propelled a professional career of more than 50 years, and earned him top honors in his field including multiple Grammy awards and the title of NEA Jazz Master in 2017.

Holland stands as a guiding light on acoustic and electric bass, having grown up in an age when musical genres-jazz, rock, funk, avant-garde, folk, electronic music, and others-blended freely together to create new musical pathways. He was a leading member of a generation that helped usher jazz bass playing from its swing and post-bop legacy to the vibrancy and multidiscipline excitement of the modern era, extending the instrument's melodic, expressive capabilities. Holland's virtuosic technique and rhythmic feel, informed by an open-eared respect of a formidable spread of styles and sounds, is widely revered and remains much in demand. To date, His playing can be heard on hundreds of recordings, with more than thirty as a leader under his own name.

Holland first rose to prominence in groundbreaking groups led by such legends as Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Sam Rivers, Betty Carter, and Anthony Braxton-as well as collaborations with the likes of Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Jack DeJohnette, and John McLaughlin. Carrying such an enviable history Holland does with little fanfare and extreme humility; to him what matters most is the immediate musical project at hand. Fittingly, he is today more celebrated for the bands that he continues to assemble, record and perform with-ensembles which range from duos and trios to big bands, and often feature musicians like Steve Coleman, Robin and Kevin Eubanks, Jason Moran, Chris Potter, Eric Harland, among many others who were bound for their own headline-status. The consistent priority connecting all of Holland's projects is an abiding sense of challenge-to himself, his fellow musicians, and his listeners. His comments on this driving force in his career serve as a personal credo:

"My take on the relationship with the audience is that you don't want to underestimate their ability to hear the music. You want to be as clear as possible in your musical statement and not be obscure in terms of what it is you're doing. At the same time, you don't want to compromise on your creative ambitions because that's the driving force that's going to develop the music and keep it relevant for me. Outside of the audience, there's the aspect of me needing to be interested in what I'm doing and be stimulated by it in a challenging situation which is going to continue to allow me to grow as a player and composer."

Holland was born in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom in 1946, and even before reaching puberty played ukulele and then guitar, having fallen under the spell of skiffle music like most British youth during the 1950s and early '60s. As an adolescent, he switched over to the low end of the string family, an uncle fabricating his first "tea-chest bass" out of the thin wooden crates in which tea was shipped. The bass ultimately proved the instrument that steered him away from a working-class destiny. At the ripe age of 14, he began playing R&B, rock and pop tunes for dances and in clubs with local bands, and visiting U.S. artists like Roy Orbison, Chet Atkins, and Johnnie Ray. By his late teens Holland began exploring an expanding palette of jazz styles and it was clear that music was Holland's calling.

The search for more opportunities, experience, and advanced music education led the young bassist to journey from The Midlands to work in London in 1964, where he began to study with James Edward Merrett, the principal bassist with the London Philharmonic. A year later, Merrett recommended him for a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Holland was on his way.

The mid-'60s were an exciting time to be in "Swinging" London: the U.K. was pulling itself free from an extended postwar, economic decline and a whirlwind of fresh, cultural ideas (especially musical) was in the air. Holland was soon exploring more advanced classical and avant-garde music, as well as the work of jazz bass masters from Ray Brown, Leroy Vinegar and Charles Mingus, to Scott LaFaro, Jimmy Garrison, Ron Carter and Gary Peacock. He began to perform regularly with bands fronted by leaders at the cutting edge of the U.K. jazz scene: Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott, Chris McGregor, Evan Parker, and John Surman.

Holland was a mere 19 years old when he began to appear at Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London's Soho district, supporting touring jazz veterans like Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins and Joe Henderson. That was the venue in which famed trumpeter Miles Davis-who was about to transition from purely acoustic music to more electric instrumentation in 1968, including rock and funk influences-first heard Holland. Davis asked him to take over the bass chair in his band at a time when generations of musicians and music fans were intensely focused on every step the trumpeter was taking.

Joining Davis's groundbreaking, semi-electric band was the catapult that launched Holland's career to the international stage. As the world watched and listened, he contributed to albums that pointed the way to the future-Filles De Kilimanjaro, In A Silent Way, Bitches Brew-and performed in jazz clubs and rock festivals, helping to lay the groundwork for the rise of Fusion jazz, an important member of a brotherhood of innovators adept at older and newer jazz vocabularies. While still with Davis, Holland gigged and recorded with other musicians as well, including the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Chick Corea, and Joe Henderson.

Holland left Davis's employ in 1970 and immediately co-founded Circle-the influential if short-lived free-jazz quartet, with Corea, Anthony Braxton and Barry Altschul. After the breakup of Circle in late '71, Holland found himself working in bands led by the likes of Stan Getz, Thelonious Monk, Braxton, and initiating an enduring relationship with saxophonist/bandleader Sam Rivers.

By 1972, Holland relocated to upstate New York, and began recording under his own name, beginning a long-standing association with the Munich-based ECM label. It was during this period of re-establishment that he began participating with vibraphonist Karl Berger's Creative Music Studio, and co-founded the Gateway Trio with John Abercrombie and Jack DeJohnette. Holland later joined Betty Carter's group for a year, and served as a sideman on a wide range of recording projects that featured blues singer/guitarist Bonnie Raitt, vocalist Maria Muldaur, and bluegrass heavyweights John Hartford, Norman Blake, and Vassar Clements. In '77, Holland began performing solo bass concerts, which led to the studio album Emerald Tears, which he later followed with the solo cello recording Life Cycle in '83.

As the '80s began, Holland stepped forward with a working band of his own for the first time. The Dave Holland Quintet was comprised of alto saxophonist Steve Coleman, trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, trombonist Julian Priester, and drummer Steve Ellington. Their 1984 debut was well-received critically, and initiated a long run of groups that varied in musical approach-smaller lineups focusing on lengthy improvisations, larger ensembles dealing with intricate arrangements- and evolved as new arrivals, like drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith and guitarist Kevin Eubanks, who all became part of Holland's creative circle.

In 1990, Holland debuted Extensions-a quartet album featuring Kevin Eubanks, Coleman and Smith-that was voted Album of the Year by Downbeat magazine. A year later, on the same week, he recorded World Trio, featuring Eubanks on acoustic guitar and percussionist Mino Cinelu, and Phase Space, a duo album with Steve Coleman. These were followed in '93 by Holland's third solo effort, Ones All (both World Trio and Ones All were originally released on the Intuition label.)

By '97, the Dave Holland Quintet included a mix of younger and veteran players, with vibraphonist Steve Nelson and trombonist Robin Eubanks (Kevin's brother) alongside saxophonist Chris Potter and drummer Billy Kilson (and later Nate Smith.) While most of his creative choices as a bandleader are the result of feel and intuition, Holland admits a conscious decision when it comes to combining musicians of varying levels of experience. "I'm an equal opportunity employer. I don't think about anything to do with gender, race or age. I'm looking for the music. I listen to the music with my ears, but at the same time, I am also conscious of the fact that it's very important that there is intergenerational contact in the music. Older players should play with younger players and vice-versa so we have a chance to cross-pollinate our influences and backgrounds. This is how the music grows and expands."

In the 1990s, Holland's desire to focus on his compositional and arranging skills led to the formation of the Dave Holland Big Band, a group that that led to his notching two Grammy awards for Best Large Jazz Ensemble. Around the same time, he earned a third for an all-star quintet with old colleagues Burton, Corea, Pat Metheny and Roy Haynes. During the '90s, Holland also revisited a number of historic collaborations-including the Gateway Trio, and working with Herbie Hancock-and in the 2000s, Holland expanded his focus to new collaborations: the comically named "ScoLoHoFo" quartet featuring Joe Lovano, John Scofield, and Al Foster; as well as a duo with Jim Hall.

In 2003, Holland departed ECM and formed his own label, Dare2 Records, on which he has issued almost all of his recent recordings. In 2005, Dare2 premiered with Overtime, a big band project including music commissioned by the Monterey Jazz Festival. A year later, Critical Mass featured his Quintet (the first with Nate Smith), and Pass It On in 2008, a sextet performing arrangements in a mini-big band style (with, among others, Robin Eubanks, pianist Mulgrew Miller, drummer Eric Harland.)

In 2010, Holland released two recordings: the live octet album Pathways, and Hands, a duet with flamenco guitarist Pepe Habichuela. In 2013, Holland dug deeper into his Fusion roots, unveiling his quartet Prism with Harland, Kevin Eubanks, and keyboardist Craig Taborn; and a year later, Holland teamed up with pianist and longtime friend Kenny Barron to record The Art Of Conversation for the Blue Note label.

The remarkable rate at which Holland leads or collaborates his way into fresh and exciting projects proves he has no plans to diminish the range nor frequency of his creative drive. His band lineups reveal that his ear is still to the ground, listening for and recognizing fresh and deserving talent, and that many are the musicians who are happy to perform or record with him. As Holland prepares to celebrate his 70th year, he is currently playing with a new group, the Aziza quartet, co-founded with Harland, saxophonist Chris Potter, and guitarist Lionel Loueke.

As a leader and collaborator, Holland continues to tour the world and it comes as no surprise that he has and still serves the music in an educational role, having worked during the 1980s as artistic director of the Banff Centre's jazz summer program (Canada), and as a faculty member for two years at the New England Conservatory of Music in the '90s, where he still serves as an artist in residence (as he does at the Royal Academy of Music.) He has also been elected a Fellow of the Guildhall School-his alma mater-and has received honorary doctorates from Birmingham Conservatoire (UK), Berklee College of Music, and the New England Conservatory.

Most recently, Holland was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music (UK)-a rare honor as membership is limited to 300 living musicians-and he's been named a 2017 Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Over the years and through countless musical experiences, Holland has come to define his purpose as a musician-and he articulates it well: "I'm trying to create music that exists on multiple levels, such as simpler elements along with more complex elements. To me, a lot of great art, whether it's visual, musical or written, has an ability to do those things-to offer some fundamental truths that echo in people, yet at the same time, introduce them to a new way of looking at those fundamentals that gives them a little different perspective..."

"Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC (14 January 1930 - 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards.

Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he was also active in free improvisation and occasionally contributed to rock music recordings. Wheeler wrote over one hundred compositions and was a skilled arranger for small groups and large ensembles.

Wheeler was the patron of the Royal Academy Junior Jazz course.

Wheeler was born in Toronto, Ontario, on 14 January 1930. Growing up in Toronto, he began playing cornet at age 12, and became interested in jazz in his mid-teens. Wheeler spent a year studying composition at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto in 1950. In 1952 he moved to Britain. He found his way into the London jazz scene of the time, playing in groups led by Tommy Whittle, Tubby Hayes, and Ronnie Scott.

In the late 1950s, he was a member of Buddy Featherstonhaugh's quintet together with Bobby Wellins. Throughout the sixties, he worked with John Dankworth, and also formed part of (Eric Burdon and) the Animals' Big Band that made its only public appearance at the 5th Annual British Jazz & Blues Festival in Richmond (1965) with tenors Stan Robinson, Dick Morrissey and Al Gay, baritone sax Paul Carroll, and fellow trumpets Ian Carr and Greg Brown. In 1968, Wheeler appeared on guitarist Terry Smith's first solo album, Fall Out.

Wheeler performed and recorded his own compositions with large jazz ensembles throughout his career, beginning with the first album under his own name, Windmill Tilter (1969), recorded with the John Dankworth band. A CD was released by BGO Records in September 2010. The big band album Song for Someone (1973) fused Wheeler's characteristic orchestral writing with passages of free improvisation provided by musicians such as Evan Parker and Derek Bailey, and was also named Album of the Year by Melody Maker magazine in 1975. It has subsequently been reissued on CD by Parker's Psi label.

In the mid-1960s, Wheeler became a close participant in the nascent free improvisation movement in London, playing with John Stevens Parker, the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and the Globe Unity Orchestra. Despite the above-noted accomplishments, much of his reputation rests on his work with smaller jazz groups. Wheeler's first small group recordings to gain significant critical attention were Gnu High (1975) and Deer Wan (1977), both for the ECM label (Gnu High is one of the few albums to feature Keith Jarrett as a sideman since his tenure with Charles Lloyd). One exception from the ongoing collaboration with ECM was his rare album on CBC called Ensemble Fusionaire in 1976. This had three other Canadian musicians and was recorded in St. Mary's Church in Toronto for a different character to the sound than on the ECM recordings.

Wheeler was the trumpet player in the Anthony Braxton Quartet from 1971 to 1976, and from 1977 he was also a member of the chamber jazz group Azimuth (with John Taylor and Norma Winstone).Later life

In 1997 Wheeler received widespread critical praise for his album Angel Song, which featured an unusual "drummerless" quartet of Bill Frisell (guitar), Dave Holland (bass) and Lee Konitz (alto sax).

Wheeler died after a short period of frail health at a nursing home in London on 18 September 2014. He was 84 years old."

"Harold Simon "Harry" Miller (25 April 1941 - 16 December 1983) was a South African jazz bass player, who settled in Europe, becoming one of the UK jazz scene's "most vibrant and dynamic talents".

Miller was born in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. He began his career as a bassist with Manfred Mann, and went to settle in London, England. He was a central figure in the mixture of South-African township music and free-jazz that dynamised the scene in London at the end of the 1960s and into the '70s. Miller recorded frequently with musicians such as Mike Westbrook, Chris McGregor, John Surman, Mike Cooper, Louis Moholo, Keith Tippett and Elton Dean.

At the end of the 1970s he moved to the Netherlands for economic reasons, where he worked with musicians of Willem Breuker's circle. Miller also appeared on the album Islands by the progressive rock band King Crimson, in 1971 as session musician.

Miller died in a car crash in the Netherlands in 1983.

The record label Ogun Records, which he founded with his wife Hazel Miller, was vital for documenting that period, and is still active today."

"Tony Oxley (born 15 June 1938) is an English free-jazz drummer and one of the founders of Incus Records.

ony Oxley was born in Sheffield, England. A self-taught pianist by the age of eight, he first began playing the drums at seventeen. In Sheffield he was taught by well respected local drummer Haydon Cook, who had returned to the city after a long residency, in the 1950s, at Ronnie Scotts in London. While in the Black Watch military band from 1957 to 1960 he studied music theory and improved upon his drumming technique. From 1960 to 1964 he led his own quartet which performed locally in England, and in 1963 he began working with Gavin Bryars and guitarist Derek Bailey in a trio known as Joseph Holbrooke. Oxley moved to London in 1966 and became house drummer at Ronnie Scott's, where he accompanied visiting musicians such as Joe Henderson, Lee Konitz, Charlie Mariano, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins and Bill Evans until the early 1970s. He was also a member of various groups led by musicians such as Gordon Beck, Alan Skidmore and Mike Pyne.

In 1969 Oxley appeared on the recording of the later released John McLaughlin album Extrapolation and also formed his own quintet consisting of Derek Bailey, Jeff Clyne, Evan Parker and Kenny Wheeler, releasing the album The Baptised Traveller. Following this album the group was joined by Paul Rutherford on trombone and became a sextet, releasing the 1970 album 4 Compositions for Sextet. That same year Oxley helped found Incus Records along with Bailey and others and also the Musicians Cooperative. He also received a three-month "artist-in-residence" at the Sydney Conservatorium in Australia in 1970. Around this time he joined the London Jazz Composers Orchestra and also got involved with collaborations with Howard Riley. In 1973 he became a tutor at the Jazz Summer School in Barry, South Wales, and in 1974 he formed another group of his own known as Angular Apron. Through the 1980s he worked with various musicians, including Tony Coe and Didier Levallet, also forming his own Celebration Orchestra during the latter half of that decade. Oxley also did extensive touring with Anthony Braxton in 1989, and also began a long-lasting working relationship with Cecil Taylor during this period.Oxley at the Moers Festival, Germany, in 2008

In 1993 he joined an international quartet that included Tomasz Sta ko, Bobo Stenson, and Anders Jormin, and in 2000 he released the album Triangular Screen with the Tony Oxley Project 1, a trio with Ivar Grydeland and Tonny Kluften."

"Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Davis's Second Great Quintet, and then co-founded the jazz fusion band Weather Report. He has recorded over 20 albums as a bandleader.

Many Shorter compositions have become jazz standards, and his music has earned worldwide recognition, critical praise and commendation. Shorter has won 11 Grammy Awards. He is acclaimed for his mastery of the soprano saxophone since switching his focus from the tenor in the late 1960s and beginning an extended reign in 1970 as Down Beat's annual poll-winner on that instrument, winning the critics' poll for 10 consecutive years and the readers' for 18. The New York Times' Ben Ratliff described Shorter in 2008 as "probably jazz's greatest living small-group composer and a contender for greatest living improviser". In 2017, he was awarded the Polar Music Prize."

"Many gifted musicians start playing at an early age, and Vitous began playing the violin at the age of six. He subsequently played the piano at age 10, before settling on the bass at 14. He studied under F. Posta at the Prague Conservatory in Czechoslovakia. The history of the conservatory is fascinating, with noteables such as Antonín Dvorák serving as their director. The conservatory has a very disciplined program requiring all students to study for 6 years and pass stringent exams. During this time he played in a trio with his brother Alan, and Jan Hammer. After winning a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, he came to the U.S. A year later in 1966, Miroslav moved to New York & collaborated with musicians such as Bob Brookmeyer, Chick Corea, Miles Davis, Art Farmer, Stan Getz, Charlie Mariano, and Herbie Mann.

In 1970, the group Weather Report was formed along with Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul. Three years later, he formed the Miroslav Vitous Group along with John Surman, Kenny Kirkland and Jon Christensen. In 1979, Vitous became the director of the Jazz Department at the New England Conservatory in Boston. We will explore more of his teaching experience under the educator section.

In 1982, Vitous reunites Chick Corea and Roy Haynes and tours the world, and produces 2 albums under the ECM label. There were several performances at the Pittsburg Symphony Orchestra and at Music of Viva in Boston. In 1988, he removed himself from academia in order to focus all his energy on composing and performing. Around this time, he returned to Prague and recorded an album with his brother. Miroslav Vitous has performed in several concerts and festivals around Europe. This touches the surface in exploring Vitous' musical experience, and there's more to be found under the musician section.

Enjoy learning about Miroslav Vitous, the bass player, educator, composer, arranger and producer."

"John Douglas Surman (born 30 August 1944) is an English jazz saxophone, bass clarinet, and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music. He has composed and performed music for dance performances and film soundtracks.

Surman was born in Tavistock, Devon. He initially gained recognition playing baritone saxophone in the Mike Westbrook Band in the mid-1960s, and was soon heard regularly playing soprano saxophone and bass clarinet as well. His first playing issued on a record was with the Peter Lemer Quintet in 1966. After further recordings and performances with jazz bandleaders Mike Westbrook and Graham Collier and blues-rock musician Alexis Korner, he made the first record under his own name in 1968.

In 1969 he founded the well-regarded and influential group The Trio along with two expatriate American musicians, bassist Barre Phillips and drummer Stu Martin. In the mid-1970s he founded one of the earliest all-saxophone jazz groups, S.O.S., along with alto saxophonist Mike Osborne and tenor saxophonist Alan Skidmore. During this early period he also recorded with (among others) saxophonist Ronnie Scott, guitarist John McLaughlin, bandleader Michael Gibbs, trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff, and pianist Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath.

By 1972 he had begun experimenting with synthesizers. That year he recorded Westering Home, the first of several solo projects on which he played all parts himself via overdubbing. He recorded his final album with Mike Westbrook, Citadel/Room 315 in 1975.

Many of the musical relationships he established during the 1970s have continued to the present. These include a quartet with pianist John Taylor, bassist Chris Laurence, and drummer John Marshall; duets and other projects with Norwegian singer Karin Krog; and duets and other projects with American drummer/pianist Jack DeJohnette.

His relationship with ECM Records has also been continuous from the late 1970s to the present, as Surman has recorded prolifically for the label playing bass clarinet, recorders, soprano and baritone saxophones and using synthesisers, both solo with a wide range of other musicians.

In recent years he has composed several suites of music that feature his playing in unusual contexts, including with church organ and chorus (Proverbs and Songs, 1996); with a classical string quintet (Coruscating); and with the London Brass and Jack DeJohnette (Free and Equal, 2001). He has also played in a unique trio with Tunisian oud-player Anouar Brahem and bassist Dave Holland (Thimar, 1997); has performed the songs of John Dowland with singer John Potter formerly of the Hilliard Ensemble; and made contributions to the drum and bass album Disappeared by Spring Heel Jack.

Other musicians he has worked with include bassist Miroslav Vitous, bandleader Gil Evans, pianist Paul Bley and Vigleik Storaas, saxophonist (and composer) John Warren, guitarists Terje Rypdal and John Abercrombie and trumpeter Tomasz Stańko."

"Tony Levin (born 30 January 1940 in Much Wenlock, Shropshire; died 3 February 2011) was an English jazz drummer. Tony played at Ronnie Scotts London club in the 1960's with Joe Harriott Al Cohn, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Zoot Sims, Hank Mobley, Lee Konitz, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Ron Mathewson, Dave Holland, Toots Thielemanns, Mick Pyne, Clifford Jordan, Joe Henderson, Gary Burton, Kenny Wheeler, Tony Coe, and Ronnie Scott, among others. His first major position came when he joined Tubby Hayes' Quartet (1965-9). He worked with numerous groups and artists, including the Alan Skidmore quintet (1969), Humphrey Lyttelton band (1969), John Taylor's trio, quartet and sextet (1970s), Ian Carr's Nucleus (1970s), Stan Sulzmann quartet, Gordon Beck's Gyroscope, duo with John Surman (1976), European Jazz Ensemble, Third Eye (1979), Rob van den Broeck (1982), Philip Catherine's trio and quartet (1990s), Sophia Domancich Trio (with Paul Rogers, double bass; 1991-2000), Philippe Aerts trio and quartet (2000s).

Since 1980, Levin worked extensively with saxophonist Paul Dunmall, including as a member of the free jazz quartet Mujician, also with Paul Rogers (double bass) and Keith Tippett (piano). In 1994, Levin released his solo album Spiritual Empathy, again with Dunmall on saxophones. In 2006 he played a trio gig with Dunmall & Rogers featuring Ellery Eskelin, Ray Anderson, Tony Malaby as guests at John Zorn's The Stone in NYC. He later recorded again with Paul Dunmall but this time with the addition of his son Miles Levin on drums 'The Golden Lake'. Levin ran his own monthly club in Birmingham, and often performed duets with Paul Dunmall and guest musicians."

"Paul Dunmall was born 1953, Welling, Kent; saxophones, clarinets, bagpipes, miscellaneous wind instruments.

As told to Watson (1989), Paul Dunmall was a working class lad from Welling who left school at 15 and spent two years repairing instruments at Bill Lewington's shop in Shaftesbury Avenue, London. He turned professional at 17 and, following two years touring Europe with a progressive rock band (Marsupilami), joined the Divine Light Mission, a spiritual movement led by Guru Maharaj Ji and moved from London to an ashram in America. He told Isham (1997), 'I moved to an ashram full of musicians - a music ashram - but it was still spiritual practice. That gave me a spiritual understanding through meditation, Coltrane's music, and all the rest of it, led me to that, and that's been a fundament in my life ever since - that I can actually sit down and meditate and forget my body. I realise how important meditation is in my life... but I don't do it so much these days.' During the three years he lived in America, Dunmall played with Alice Coltrane (in a big band with the Divine Light Mission) and toured for twelve months with Johnny 'Guitar' Watson.

Back in England, he played with Danny Thompson and John Stevens as well as folk musicians Kevin Dempsey, Martin Jenkins and Polly Bolton and then, in 1979 he became a founder member of Spirit Level (Tim Richards, piano; Paul Anstey, bass; Tony Orrell, drums), staying with the group until 1989. During his time with Spirit Level, Dunmall joined the two-tenor front line group Tenor Tonic with Alan Skidmore (1985), played and broadcast with Dave Alexander and Tony Moore in the DAM trio (1986) and formed the Paul Dunmall Quartet with Alex Maguire, Tony Moore and Steve Noble (1986).

In 1987 Paul Dunmall joined the London Jazz Composers Orchestra, being a constant member and appearing on all their recorded output from that date onward. The following year the improvising collective quartet Mujician was formed by Keith Tippett, Dunmall, Paul Rogers and Tony Levin and has continued to be a regular performing, touring and recording group, sometimes augmented by other musicians. Dunmall has also played in a trio with Keith and Julie Tippetts and in Keith Tippett's big band Tapestry. Two other duos have also sprung out of Mujician: Dunmall with Tony Levin (two CD releases) and Dunmall in folk-influenced outings with Paul Rogers. Another regular playing partner throughout this period and up until the present includes Elton Dean.

In 1995, two trios were formed, the first with Oren Marshall, tuba and Steve Noble, percussion, the second with John Adams, guitar and Mark Sanders, percussion, these sometimes coming together as a quintet. More recently, Dunmall has played in another reeds/guitar/drums trio with Philip Gibbs and Tony Marsh and there appears to be regular crossover between all these players. The Paul Dunmall Octet was founded in 1997."

Dunmall also has released a large number of albums and a box set on the UK FMR label, in various configurations and instrumentation.

"Paul Rogers - Double Bass

Born : April 27th, 1956 - Chester (Wales)Past Bands : Keith Tippett Sextet (1978, 1983-84), Elton Dean Quintet (1979, 1995), John Stevens Away (1980), Skidmore/Rogers/Levin (1984-87), Dunmall/Rogers/Levin (1984-87), Mujician (1988-), Pip Pyle's Equip'Out (1990-95), Sophia Domancich Trio (1990-99)Current Projects : Mujician + various jazz groups

A Short Bio:

For Paul Rogers, music began in earnest at age 12, when he first picked up an acoustic guitar. In a way this was the shape of things to come, since that particular guitar only had four strings left. Two years later, he took up bass guitar, and then, with the money earned from various jobs, finally acquired his own double bass in 1973.

Moving to London in 1974, Rogers started gigging in pubs, until he met saxophone player Mike Osborne, and through him was introduced to the free jazz scene, soon sharing the stage with such luminaries as Elton Dean, Keith Tippett, John Stevens, Howard Riley, Stan Tracey, Ken Hyder, Alan Skidmore, Evan Parker, Tony Marsh, Kenny Wheeler and John Etheridge. During this period, he was rarely in the same group for too long, preferring to accumulate experience through associations with as many musicians as possible.

After 1984, however, he started working on a regular basis with drummer Tony Levin, in trios with either Alan Skidmore or Paul Dunmall. In 1988, the Dunmall/Rogers/Levin trio with absorbed into the acclaimed improvising quartet Mujician, which associated them with pianist Keith Tippett. The group has existed ever since, playing totally spontaneous music, and released several albums for the US label Cuneiform.

In 1987, Rogers moved to the USA, living in New York City (and more precisely Bronx) for a year and a half, and playing with the likes of Gerry Hemingway, Don Byron, Myra Melford, Mark Dresser, Tom Cora and Tim Berne. Soon after returning to Europe, he was recruited by Pip Pyle for the new line-up of his jazz quartet Equip'Out. Elton Dean and Sophia Domancich completed the group, which only lasted for a handful of gigs and an album recording, "Up!". Although Equip'Out didn't record after Domancich left in 1991, the band continued until 1995, with Francis Lockwood taking over on piano, followed by Patrice Meyer who introduced guitar into a previously piano-based line-up.

Having established both a musical and personal relationship with Sophia Domancich during their Equip'Out days, Rogers joined her trio, with Bruno Tocanne on drums, soon replaced by Tony Levin, a line-up which remained in place until 1999 and recorded several acclaimed albums. Now settled in France, Rogers has also worked with such improvisers as Michel Doneda and Daunik Lazro, but remains active on an international basis, having worked in recent years with Andrew Cyrille, John Zorn, Derek Bailey, Lol Coxhill, Barry Guy, Joachim Kuhn, Alex von Schlippenbach.

Rogers is also a composer, and has been involved with different bands playing his tunes, among which the most notable was 7 R.P.M. and the Paul Rogers Sextet (which did a 10-date UK tour in November 1990 performing his 'Anglo-American Sketches' suite). He received three commisions from the Arts Council of Great Britain to compose music for his own band. Under his own name, he released a quartet album with frequent associates Paul Dunmall, Sophia Domancich and Tony Levin, as well as an entirely solo set.

Among Rogers' tours, four of the most outstanding were the Harry Beckett Trio middle east tour in 1984, Evan Parker Trio tour of Rumania, Yugaslavia and Greece in 1985, First House tour of South America in 1986, and the Dennis Gonzales Band tour of the USA, featuring Carlos Ward and Tim Green in 1990."

"Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 - May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed an interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan. He served in the United States Army from 1946 to 1949 and subsequently played in a Detroit house band led by Billy Mitchell. He moved to New York City in 1955 and worked as a sideman for Charles Mingus, Teddy Charles, Bud Powell and Miles Davis.

From 1960 to 1966 he was a member of the John Coltrane quartet (along with Jimmy Garrison on bass and McCoy Tyner on piano), a celebrated recording phase, appearing on such albums as A Love Supreme. Following his work with Coltrane, Jones led several small groups, some under the name The Elvin Jones Jazz Machine. His brothers Hank Jones and Thad Jones were also jazz musicians with whom he recorded. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1995."

Pierre Favre is a Swiss jazz drummer and percussionist, born 2 June 1937 in Le Locle, Switzerland.

"When Pierre Favre began to explore new worlds of sound in drumming in the 1960s, he had already played with many internationally renowned Europeans and Americans as well as with prominent big bands. But it pushed him to an independent music. It all started in a trio with bassist George Mraz, then with Peter Kowald on double bass and from the start with Irene Schweizer on piano. "It is," says Pierre Favre, "a stroke of luck in a long, independent and yet joint development.

Searching for the melodic aspects of drums and percussion, Pierre Favre found his way to the solo. Together with Paul Motian, Fredy Studer and Nana Vasconcelos, he formed a percussion ensemble that increased the orchestral possibilities of percussive solo playing. "Singing Drums", a quartet with four percussionists, underwent a further transformation in the form of The "European Chamber Ensemble", a line-up with two percussionists, horns and strings.

In 2004, the city of Zurich honored Pierre Favre with the city's art prize."-Bert Noglik, Pierre Favre website

"Simon Allen is a composer and interpreter of new music using improvisation, computer, pencil and paper with equal measure. As composer and director, his Resonance At The Still Point Of Change for multiple moving images, lighting, voices and ensemble, was premiered as part of the Cultural Olympiad. In performance, film and theatre settings his collaborations include work with John Tilbury, Christian Wolff, Nigel Osborne, David Toop, Katie Mitchell, FOLK///projects and as a member of Swedish based ensemble Skogen, with Magnus Granberg and David Sylvian."

"From his beginnings with the legendary Loose Tubes, through his worldwide collaborations, to his searching solo projects, UK composer, saxophonist, bandleader and educator Julian Argüelles has always spoken with a unique voice and is hugely influential to a new generation of British and European jazz musicians. His music has been described as supremely lyrical, with beautiful melodies whilst staying cliche free. He was nominated for Best CD in the 2015 Parliamentary Jazz Awards for Circularity (Cam Jazz label) and won best CD for his Let it Be Told CD (Basho Records) in 2016. Most recent award nomination includes JazzFM's "Live Experience Of The Year" in the public vote category (results tba 25 April 2017).

Born near Birmingham, UK, Julian moved to London at the age of 18 where he gained recognition as a creative and original musician. At 20 he joined the much acclaimed band Loose Tubes. Over the past 30 years, he has toured and recorded throughout the world with leading musicians such as Hermeto Pascoal, Dave Holland, John Taylor, Django Bates, John Scoffield, Kenny Wheeler, John Abercrombie, Mario Laginha and Bill Frisell.

Julian's has, as at today's date, released 13 CDs as a leader that have won many awards and accolades and have become hugely influential to a new generation of British and European jazz musicians. He is due to release his next two CDs on the Edition Records label the first of which is with a new trio with Portuguese pianist Marhio Laginha and Norwegian percussionist Helge Norbakken (UK Tour planned for October 2017 to coincide with CD release). See official press release HERE for more information.

Julian's most recent CD as a leader "Tetra", with his critically acclaimed UK quartet of the same name, was released on the Whirlwind Recordings label.

Julian's current quartet brings together the best of Britain's young, contemporary jazz talent. Their much anticipated first CD together "Tetra" was release on Whirlwind Recordings label in October 2015 and there are plans for a 2nd in 2018. The band have featured across the UK and Europe at venues and festivals and Julian's manager is currently planning dates in European for November 2017. Julian's compositions have been described as "supremely lyrical, with beautiful melodies whilst staying cliche free" by the Irish Times and have received accolades from many others."

"Just like his father, internationally respected free jazz drummer Tony Levin, Miles Levin is a jazz drummer."

"An award winning Uk jazz saxophonist/composer who has been based in London for over 25 years. He works in the UK and internationally with a wide range of his own projects and collaborations.

His experience as a sideman reflects his diverse musical interests: He has worked with Free jazz pioneers John Stevens, Evan Parker. US Jazz Legends Horace Silver, George Benson, Dianne Reeves, Dr Lonnie Smith, Charles Earland, and Clifford Jarvis. Leading Uk Jazz Musicians such as Dick Heckstall-Smith, District Six, Jason Rebello, Orphy Robinson, Claire Martin, Don Weller, Byron Wallen, Tim Richard's Great Spirit, Damon Brown, Monk Liberation Front, Jonathan Gee, Larry Bartley's Justus. As a session musician he has performed and recorded with crossover projects such as Incognito, Us3, Jamie Cullum , Terry Callier, and Nostalgia 77, through to R/B legends such as D'Angelo, Bootsy Collins, Chaka Khan Tina Turner, Carlene Anderson, Noel Mccoy and Omar.

He has received numerous composition commissions including:

Arts Council Composition Grant:The Pipers Tales 1993

BBC Jazz on 3 and Bath Festival to write and perform with a 10 piece Uk/Scandinavian electro/acoustic ensemble Burn,(co-led with Finnish Trumpeter Mika Myllari)(2000)

Southern Arts:"Triptych (3 accidents)" (2004) Woodwinds/Piano/Beats/Electronics inspired by the work of the English painter Francis Bacon.

British Council to compose and perform 1000 Plateaus based on the writings of Gilles Deleuze as part of Expo 2005 in Japan.

Most recently in 2014 a commission from London Jazz Festival in collaboration with The Guildhall School Of Music Jazz Orchestra.

In 2016 Leeds College Of Music Jazz Orchestra Commissioned a new suite of compositions entitled "Pathways"

He formed his first group "Ed Jones Quartet" in 1987. They were the first band to play at the original Jazz Cafe London.He became a regular performer on the emerging Acid Jazz scene at clubs such as The Wag and Dingwalls, and was signed by Giles Peterson recording his first album "The Homecoming" (Acid Jazz, 1989).

During the 1990's he formed new groups, toured the Uk and Europe and recorded a further 3 critically acclaimed solo albums"Pipers Tales" (ASC, 1995).''Out Here" (ASC, 1997)."Seven Moments" (ASC 2002).His 5th album "A view from the..." featuring the ed/ge project was released in spring 2004. This was a Hip/Hop/Beats/ Big Band collaboration with US3 programmer/producer Geoff Wilkinson.

In 2005 he formed Killer Shrimp (co-led) with Trumpeter Damon Brown. The group recorded the highly acclaimed Sincerely Whatever (33 records) in 2006 mixing dance genres and electronica with acoustic jazz. The cd was top of many critics best of list that year and was nominated for Jazz cd of the year 2007 parliamentary jazz awards. The group were awarded Best Jazz Ensemble 2007 at the same awards, and in 2010 released their follow up album Whatever Sincerely(Tales from the Baltic Wharf).

In 2011 he formed a new acoustic contemporary jazz quartet which is currently touring and releasing their first recording "For Your Ears Only" in Autumn 2017. The Quartet features some of the Uk's finest creative jazz musicians.

Pianist Ross Stanley is just about everyones first call these days, leading to work recently with US sax giant Seamus Blake.

Bassist Riaan Vosloo leads his acclaimed 12's Trio,and collaborates with the likes of Nostalgia 77,Keith Tippett,and Richard Fairhurst.

Drummer Tim Gilles won the Daily Telegraph Young Composer of the Year Award in 1992 at the age of 12 and has gone on to work with Stan Sulzmann, Iain Ballamy, Julian Arguelles,and Tom Arthurs as well co-leading his award winning group Fraud with saxophonist James Alsop

In 2016 he formed the Free Improvisation Trio Bad Ash with Mark Sanders (Drums) and Mark Lewandowski (Double Bass), the group toured the Uk with support from The Arts Council Of England with collaborations along the way with Matthew Bourne, Paul Dunmall, and Corey Mwamba,Alex Bonney and Nick Malcom.

He also works internationally with Scandinavian Trio Stekpana, Finnish trumpeter and composer Mika Myllari and Tokyo-London Jazz connection with Yutaka Shina (piano).

Londonjazznews.com recently included two of his 2016 concerts in their best of year performances.

A Committed Educator, Ed is currently a Principal Lecturer on the Undergraduate and Post Graduate Jazz and Popular Music Courses at Leeds College Of Music and Saxophone/Ensemble tutor for The Yamaha Jazz Summer School at Falmouth University."

"London based Howard Cottle has played with, Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath, The Jazz Warriors, Slide Hampton, John Hicks, Harry Beckett, Kenny Wheeler, Evan Parker, Paul Dunmall, and has also played and Studied with Steve Grossman."