- Lol Coxhill
Lowen Coxhill, generally known as Lol Coxhill (born
September 19 ,1932 , inPortsmouth ,Hampshire ,England ), is a free improvising saxophonist. He usually plays the soprano or sopranino saxophones.Coxhill has collaborated with many other musicians during his career, including
Kevin Ayers ,Steven Miller ,Mike Oldfield ,Morgan Fisher (exMott the Hoople ),Chris McGregor 'sBrotherhood of Breath ,The Dedication Orchestra ,punk rock groupThe Damned ,Hugh Metcalfe ,Derek Bailey andstreet theatre performance art group Welfare State.For many years Lol was compere and occasional performer at the
Bracknell Jazz Festival , renowned as a raconteur as well as a musician, indeed it was following a performance at Bracknell that he recorded the legendary monologueMurder in the Air .Partial discography
olo or as principal performer
*"Ear of the Beholder" (
Dandelion Records )
*"Toverball Sweet" (Dandelion Records)
*"Fleas In Custard" (withG F Fitzgerald (guitar)) (Caroline Records)
*"Miller/Coxhill" (withSteven Miller (piano)) (Caroline Records)
*"The Story So Far...Oh Really!" (withSteven Miller (piano)) (Caroline Records)
*"Welfare State/Lol Coxhill" (with Welfare State Theatre Group) (Caroline Records)
*"Murder In The Air" (12" Single)
*"Diverse" (Ogun Records )
*"The Joy of Paranoia" (Ogun Records)
*"Frogdance" (soundtrack to Channel 4 TV production)
*"The Promenaders" (with miscellaneous other free-improvisers,busking onBrighton seafront)(Y Records)
*"Digswell Duets" (Random Radar Records)
*"French Gigs" (withFred Frith ) (A.A.A. Records)
*"Three Blokes" (FMP [http://www.fmp-label.de] Records)
*"The Dunois Solos" (Nato)
*"The Hollywell Concert" (SLAM)
*"The Inimitable" (Chabada - 10" LP)
*"Before My Time" (Chabada - 10" LP)Guest appearances
Coxhill also appears as a 'guest' musician on recordings including
* "Shooting at the Moon" by
Kevin Ayers (1970)
* "No Roses " byShirley Collins and theAlbion Country Band (1971)
* "1984" byHugh Hopper (1973)
* "The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories " byKevin Ayers (1974)
* "Music for Pleasure" byThe Damned (1977)
* "The Death of Imagination" byPenny Rimbaud (1995, "Red Herring Records ")
* Lol Coxhill & Totsuzen Danball Wax Records TKCA-30119Shooting at the Moon (album)Television and film appearances
* A documentary about Lol Coxhill called "Frogdance" was shown by
Channel 4 in 1987.
* He appeared as a butler in Sally Potter's 1992 film version ofVirginia Woolf 's "Orlando".
* He had a cameo in the TV detective series "Bulman ".
* He played the part of a priest in the 1986Derek Jarman film ofCaravaggio (film) .Further reading
* "The Bald Soprano: A Portrait of Lol Coxhill" by Jeff Nuttall. Nottingham, Tak Tak Tak, 1989.
External links
* [http://www.lolcoxhill.com/ Lol Coxhill's home page]
* [http://efi.group.shef.ac.uk/mcoxhill.html Biography and discography from European Free Improvisation Pages]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/jazz/reviews/rams/gcoxhill_spect2.ram Sample of Coxhill's playing 1]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/jazz/reviews/rams/gcoxhill_spect1.ram Sample of Coxhill's playing 2]
* [http://efi.group.shef.ac.uk/video/vcoxhil1.mov Video sample from "Frogdance"]
* The Wire's [http://www.rtxarchive.com/archive/articles/wire175.html "100 Records That Set The World On Fire (When No One Was Listening)"]
* [http://www.besbrodepianos.co.uk/events.htm#diabetes Fund raising concert in aid of diabetes uk 7 June 2003 at Besbrode Pianos Leeds Clip of live performance]
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