Lol Coxhill

Biography
Articles

Between 1947 and 1949 the teenage Lol Coxhill organised club sessions comprising live contemporary jazz plus recordings of modern jazz musicians such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Lennie Tristano, Miles Davis and Stan Kenton. From 1950 to 1951 he was 'temporarily inconvenienced by national service in the Royal Air Force' but for the rest of that decade he was a member of: Denzil Bailey's Afro-Cubists (Dizzy Gillespie, Machito compositions/ arrangements); the Graham Fleming Combo touring US air bases in England (Gerry Mulligan/Chet Baker compositions); and Sonny G and the G Men (R&B, standards). He also guested with established British contemporary jazz players, including Joe Harriott, Tubby Hayes, Oxford University Jazz Band as well as playing solo jazz and improvisations on the saxophone. Much of the early to mid 1960s was taken up with touring and accompanying/supporting visiting US artists such as Rufus Thomas (with the television and video release of Walking the dog), Martha & the Vandellas, Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Mose Allison, and to some extent this continued into the 70s with tours by Otis Spann, Champion Jack Dupree, Lowell Fulson and Alexis Korner. However, between 1968 and 1972 Coxhill formed 'Delivery' with Steve Miller, Jack Monck, Pip Pyle and Phil Miller, was a member of the 'Whole World' with Kevin Ayers, David Bedford, Mike Oldfield and numerous drummers, as well as performing in the Coxhill/Bedford duo and the Coxhill/Steve Miller duo.

The twelve years from 1973 saw Lol Coxhill become more well known as an improvising musician and solo player, with appearances thoughout Great Britain, Europe, the US, Japan and Canada. At the same time he undertook numerous collaborations with improvisors (as a member of Company), jazz musicians (as a member of the Brotherhood of Breath), rock and blues musicians (The Damned), as well as appearing with experimental theatre groups such as Welfare State. Other collaborations included Trevor Watts 'Moire Music', The Spontaneous Music Ensemble, and AMM. The Recedents (with Roger Turner and Mike Cooper) was formed in this period to perform electro-acoustic improvisations and has been a long-standing interest along with the Melody Four (with Steve Beresford and Tony Coe) - performing original and standard songs, film music, theatre music, jazz and improvisations - a duo with Pat Thomas, a duo with Adam Bohman (both electo-acoustic improvisations though of a rather different hue) and membership of the Dedication Orchestra.

Lol Coxhill has also worked occasionally in television and films with a part in Sally Potter's London story, Ken Campbell and Nigel Evans' The madness museum and Derek Jarman's Caravaggio.

Bobby Wellins Sextet: Homage To Caledonia

Read "Homage To Caledonia" reviewed by Jack Kenny

by Jack Kenny
October 2, 2024

Bobby Wellins said about the composition of “The Culloden Moor Suite:" “It was something that came to me after reading John Prebble's book about the Battle of Culloden and the way he described events leading up to it and the dreadful aftermath... I wanted to capture, not just the terrible sadness that must have resulted from what was a pretty horrific event, but also the sense of expectancy and celebration, even if it turned out to be misplaced, in the ...

Album Review

Steve Arguelles: Here

Read "Here" reviewed by Vincenzo Roggero

by Vincenzo Roggero
November 27, 2023

In che modo ci si approccia ad una registrazione di solo batteria, se sei un batterista che non crede negli assoli di batteria? Su questa domanda le note di copertina argomentano in modo brillante, lucido, esaustivo. Il musicista in questione è Steve Arguelles veterano della più vivace scena britannica, membro fondatore dei fondamentali Loose Tubes e Human Chain, collaboratore di musicisti come Lee Konitz, Kenny Wheeler, Hugh Masekela, Chris McGregor. La registrazione avviene nella chiesa luterana di ...

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Album Review

Lol Coxhill / Enzo Rocco: Fine Tuning - The Gradisca Concert

Read "Fine Tuning - The Gradisca Concert" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
June 4, 2011

There are no hard and fast rules that suggest improvised music cannot be a congenial undertaking. Free expressionism should not always be engineered upon overly cerebral formats and ideologies, contrary to popular belief. Fabled saxophonist Lol Coxhill and prominent Italian guitarist Enzo Rocco conjure the best of both worlds throughout this amiable set, recorded live at a festival in Italy. For decades, Coxhill has been a staple within the British free-jazz movement, yet is a supremely versatile artist ...

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Album Review

Lol Coxhill / Roger Turner: Success With Your Dog

Read "Success With Your Dog" reviewed by Raul d'Gama Rose

by Raul d'Gama Rose
January 14, 2011

Listening to soprano saxophonist, Lol Coxhill on Success With Your Dog, it is tempting to dwell on the thought that Coxhill pushes the straight horn further, much further, than the late Steve Lacy. It is, of course, natural. Coxhill emerged around the same time as Lacy, and both men came long after Sidney Bechet, and the man who sent them on their journey of musical discovery, John Coltrane. By this time, both men's paths had been made clear, and in ...

150

Album Review

Lol Coxhill and Roger Turner: Success with your Dog

Read "Success with your Dog" reviewed by John Eyles

by John Eyles
November 28, 2010

Saxophonist Lol Coxhill and drummer Roger Turner go back a long way. They first played together in the early '70s and ever since they have come together regularly in a variety of settings, including The Recedents, their trio with guitarist Mike Cooper. Recently, they have most often played as a duo, and remarkably, Success with your Dog is their first release as a duo; for that reason, it is a welcome arrival. Three of its tracks date from a 2003 ...

266

Album Review

Lol Coxhill / Charles Hayward / Hugh Hopper / Orphy Robinson: Clear Frame

Read "Clear Frame" reviewed by Nic Jones

by Nic Jones
March 23, 2008

This coming together of Lol Coxhill, Orphy Robinson, Hugh Hopper and Charles Hayward on record is nothing but cause for celebration, especially in view of the fact that Robert Wyatt guests on cornet. The music produced by the group is an amalgam of their disparate musical personalities, which is just as it should be in the cooperative sense.

The chances are that a lot of listener's expectations will be confounded by the music, but in a profound way that's a ...

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Album Review

Steve Miller / Lol Coxhill: "The Story So Far..." "...Oh Really?"

Read ""The Story So Far..." "...Oh Really?"" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
July 24, 2007

Amidst the artists commonly associated with the British Canterbury scene, pianist Steve Miller and saxophonist Lol Coxhill undeservedly receive some of the least attention. Miller, brother of better-known guitarist Phil (Hatfield and the North, National Health), passed away in 1998 with only a small recorded legacy including stints with Caravan and the pre-Hatfield group Delivery. Coxhill's is the larger discography, including recordings with punksters The Damned, bluesman Alexis Korner and avant-gardist Fred Frith. Miller and Coxhill's two early 1970s collaborations ...