Keith Graham Tippetts (25 August 1947 – 14 June 2020), known professionally as Keith Tippett, was a British

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

pianist and composer. According to

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Tippett's career "..spanned jazz-rock, progressive rock, improvised and contemporary music, as well as modern jazz for more than half-a-century". He held " an unparallelled place in British contemporary music," and was known for "his unique approach to improvisation". Tippett appeared and recorded in many settings, including a duet with

Stan Tracey Stanley William Tracey (30 December 1926 – 6 December 2013) was a British jazz pianist and composer, whose most important influences were Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. Tracey's best known recording is the 1965 album ''Jazz Suite Inspir ...

, duets with his wife

Julie Tippetts Julie Driscoll Tippetts (born 8 June 1947) is an English singer and actress. Career Driscoll is known for her 1960s versions of Bob Dylan and Rick Danko's "This Wheel's on Fire", and Donovan's " Season of the Witch", both with Brian Auger and ...

(née Driscoll), solo performances, and as a bandleader.

Early life

Born in

Southmead Southmead is a northern suburb and council ward of Bristol, in the south west of England, bordered by Filton in South Gloucestershire and Monks Park, Horfield, Henleaze and Westbury on Trym. The River Trym rises in Southmead and flows south ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England, Tippett was the son of an English father who was a policeman and an Irish mother named Kitty. He wrote music dedicated to her after she died. He was the oldest of three siblings and went to Greenway Secondary Modern school in Southmead. As a child he played piano, church organ, cornet, and tenor horn. At fourteen he formed his first band, KT Trad Lads, with school friends Richard Murch, Mike Milton, Terry Pratt, and Bob Chard, and Eric Condell performing traditional jazz. He formed a modern jazz trio in Bristol and played regularly at the Dugout Club in Park Row, Bristol.

Music career

In 1967, Tippett moved to London to pursue a career in music, taking menial jobs while performing in jazz clubs. With a scholarship he attended the Barry Summer School Jazz Course in Wales, where he met

Elton Dean Elton Dean (28 October 1945 – 8 February 2006) was an English jazz musician who performed on alto saxophone, saxello (a variant of the soprano saxophone) and occasionally keyboards. Part of the Canterbury scene, he featured in, among oth ...

, Nick Evans, and

Marc Charig Mark Charig (born 22 February 1944 in London) is a British trumpeter and cornetist. He was particularly active in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when he played in settings as diverse as Long John Baldry's group, Bluesology, Soft Machine, and ...

and with them started a band. The Keith Tippett Sextet was hired for a residency at the

100 Club The 100 Club is a music venue located at 100 Oxford Street, London, England, where it has been hosting live music since 24 October 1942. It was originally called the Feldman Swing Club, but changed its name when the father of the current owner ...

in Oxford, leading to a contract with

Vertigo Records Vertigo Records is a record company with United Kingdom origins. It was a subsidiary of the Philips/Phonogram record label, launched in 1969 to specialise in progressive rock and other non-mainstream musical styles. Today, it is operated by Uni ...

, which released their first two albums, ''You Are There... I Am Here'' (1970) and ''Dedicated to You, but You Weren't Listening'' (1971). After leaving Vertigo, Tippett formed

Centipede Centipedes (from New Latin , "hundred", and Latin , " foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', lip, and New Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, an ...

, a 50-piece band that included his wife

Julie Driscoll Julie Driscoll Tippetts (born 8 June 1947) is an English singer and actress. Career Driscoll is known for her 1960s versions of Bob Dylan and Rick Danko's "This Wheel's on Fire", and Donovan's " Season of the Witch", both with Brian Auger and ...

, and brought together much of a generation of young British jazz and rock musicians. As well as performing some concerts (limited economically by the size of the band), they recorded one double-album, ''

Septober Energy ''Septober Energy'' is the only album of the jazz/progressive rock big band Centipede. Produced by Robert Fripp under the musical direction of Keith Tippett, it was originally released 1971 in the UK as a double LP, and 1974 in the US with a d ...

'', a Tippett composition, which was released on the

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

label in 1971. Despite substantial publicity, the album failed to sell in sufficient numbers to justify the expense of maintaining the project. In 1970 and 1971, he contributed as a session musician to three King Crimson records, ''

In the Wake of Poseidon ''In the Wake of Poseidon'' is the second studio album by English progressive rock group King Crimson, released in May 1970 by Island Records in Europe, Atlantic Records in the United States, Philips Records in Australia, and Vertigo Records in ...

'', ''

Lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

'', and ''

Islands An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

''. For his next album as a leader, ''Blueprint'' (1972), he used a smaller group comprising himself and Julie Tippetts with bassist

Roy Babbington Roy Babbington (born 8 July 1940 in Kempston, Bedfordshire, England) is a rock and jazz bassist. He became well known for being a member of the Canterbury scene progressive rock band Soft Machine. Biography Babbington started his musical caree ...

and drummer

Frank Perry Frank Joseph Perry Jr. (August 21, 1930 – August 29, 1995) was an American stage director and filmmaker. His 1962 independent film '' David and Lisa'' earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay (written ...

. The band then expanded slightly to become Ovary Lodge, who recorded two albums, one for RCA and a second for the Ogun label. Tippett and his band also recorded in the 1970s for

Giorgio Gomelsky Giorgio Sergio Alessando Gomelsky (28 February 1934 – 13 January 2016) was a filmmaker, impresario, music manager, songwriter (as Oscar Rasputin) and record producer. He was born in Georgia, grew up in Switzerland, and later lived in the Unit ...

's label, Utopia, releasing the Julie Tippetts album, ''Sunset Glow''. Tippett continued to play with various combinations of musicians through the 1970s, playing improvisational jazz and

jazz-rock Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

with such musicians as

Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...

Dudu Pukwana Mthutuzeli Dudu Pukwana (18 July 1938 – 30 June 1990) was a South African saxophonist, composer and pianist (although not known for his piano playing). Early years in South Africa Dudu Pukwana was born in Walmer Township, Port Elizabeth, ...

, Harry Miller, Elton Dean,

Hugh Hopper Hugh Colin Hopper (29 April 1945 – 7 June 2009) was a British progressive rock and jazz fusion bass guitarist. He was a prominent member of the Canterbury scene, as a member of Soft Machine and other bands. Biography Early career Starting in ...

, and

Louis Moholo Louis Tebogo Moholo (born 10 March 1940), is a South African jazz drummer. He has been a member of several notable bands, including The Blue Notes, the Brotherhood of Breath and Assagai. Biography Born in Cape Town, Moholo formed The Blue ...

. From 1979, he also started to release many live albums of solo piano performances, beginning with ''The Unlonely Raindancer''. In the late 1980s, he, along with

Paul Dunmall Paul Dunmall (born 6 May 1953) is a British jazz musician who plays tenor and soprano saxophone, as well as the baritone and the more exotic saxello and the Northumbrian smallpipes. He has played with Keith Tippett and Barry Guy. In the ea ...

saxes, Paul Rogers bass, and

Tony Levin Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer, specializing in electric bass, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (since 198 ...

drums, formed the quartet Mujician, playing purely improvised jazz. Mujician released six albums between 1990 and 2002. He also formed a trio with Julie Tippetts and Willi Kellers, and wrote film and television scores. He also wrote music for

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

s and piano, and taught at summer schools. Tippett also continued to record and to tour in Britain and Europe with various ensembles. He also worked with musicians

Andy Sheppard Andy Sheppard (born 20 January 1957) is a British jazz saxophonist and composer. He has been awarded several prizes at the British Jazz Awards, and has worked with some notable figures in contemporary jazz, including Gil Evans, Carla Bley, ...

, as well as with his frequent collaborators Elton Dean, Louis Moholo, and Howard Riley. In Bristol, starting in 1989 and continuing through the 1990s, he started the Seedbank Orchestra (SO), which performed at venues including the Thekla, the

Arnolfini Arnolfini is an international arts centre and gallery in Bristol, England. It has a programme of contemporary art exhibitions, artist's performance, music and dance events, poetry and book readings, talks, lectures and cinema. There is also a ...

and

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...

. This enabled beginners, amateurs and professional musicians to play in a large ensemble and was "emblematic of his quest to unite music of all types in a non-elitist, open to all, friendly environment free of establishment restrictions." He became a "musician's musician when he first set up the Seedbed Orchestra where many Bristol musicians could benefit from his guidance."

Personal life and death

He married singer

in 1970. In 2018, he had a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

and

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

but returned to performing in 2019. He died on 14 June 2020 at the age of 72.

Discography

As leader

* ''You Are Here... I Am There'' (Polydor, 1970) * ''Dedicated to You but You Weren't Listening'' (Vertigo, 1971) * ''

'' with

(RCA 1971) * ''Blueprint'' (RCA Victor, 1972) * ''Ovary Lodge'' (RCA Victor, 1973) (different album than the 1976 release with the same name; with Roy Babbington and Frank Perry) * ''Ovary Lodge'' (Ogun, 1976) (different album than the 1973 release with the same name; with Julie Tippetts, Frank Perry, and Harry Miller) * ''TNT'' with

(Emanem, 1976) * ''Cruel but Fair'' with Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean, Gallivan (Compendium, 1976) * ''Warm Spirits Cool Spirits'' (Vinyl, 1977) * ''Frames'' (Ogun, 1978) * ''The Unlonely Raindancer'' (Universe, 1980) * ''Mujician'' (FMP, 1982) * ''No Gossip'' with

(FMP, 1982) * ''Tern'' with Louis Moholo (FMP, 1983) * ''In Focus'' with Howard Riley (Affinity, 1985) * ''Mercy Dash'' with Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean (Culture Press, 1985) * ''A Loose Kite in a Gentle Wind Floating with Only My Will for an Anchor'' (Ogun, 1986) * ''Low Flying Aircraft'' (Red Hot, 1987) * ''Mujician II'' (FMP, 1987) * '' Couple in Spirit'' with Julie Tippett (EG, 1988) * '' Mujician III (August Air)'' (FMP, 1989) * ''Mr. Invisible and the Drunken Sheilas'' (FMP, 1989) * ''66 Shades of Lipstick'' with

(EG, 1990) * ''The Dartington Concert'' (EG, 1992) * ''The Bern Concert'' with Howard Riley (FMR, 1994) * ''Une Croix Dans L'Ocean'' (Victo, 1995) * ''Twilight Etchings'' (FMP, 1996) * ''Wild Silk'' with Peter Fairclough (ASC, 1996) * ''Couple in Spirit II'' with Julie Tippett (ASC, 1997) * ''Friday the 13th'' (Nrl, 1997) * ''Linuckea'' (FMR, 2000) * ''First Encounter'' with Howard Riley (Jazzprint, 2001) * ''Imago'' with Peter Fairclough (Jazzprint, 2003) * ''Another Part of the Story'' with Howard Riley (Emanem, 2003) * ''Pianoforte'' with Howard Riley (Slam, 2004) * ''Mahogany Rain'' with Julie Tippetts (DUNS, 2005) * ''Dartington Improvising Trio Live at the Priory'' with Julie Tippetts (FMR, 2005) * ''Live at Le Mans'' (Red Eye Music, 2007) * ''Viva La Black Live at Ruvo'' with Julie Tippetts (Ogun, 2007) * ''Supernova'' with Stan Tracey (Resteamed, 2008) * ''Nostalgia 77 Sessions Featuring Keith & Julie Tippett'' (Tru Thoughts, 2009) * ''Live at the Purcell Room'' (Ogun, 2010) * ''From Granite to Wind'' (Ogun, 2011) * ''Two for Joyce'' (Long Song, 2013) * ''Mujician Solo IV'' (Dark Companion, 2015) * ''The Nine Dances of Patrick O'Gonogon'' (Discus, 2016) * ''Four Quartets'' with Jackson, Long, Taylor (Confront, 2016) * ''Live in Triest'' (Klopotec, 2018) * ''A Mid Autumn Night's Dream'' with Julie Tippetts, Lino Capra Vaccina and Paolo Tofani (Dark Companion, 2019) * ''Noise In Your Eye'' with Adrian Chivers, Daniel Pennie (April 2020) * ''The Monk Watches The Eagle'' (Discus, 2020)

As sideman

With

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

* ''Epiphany'' (Incus, 1982) * ''Epiphanies I-VI'' (Honest Jon's, 2019) * ''Epiphanies VII-XIII'' (Honest Jon's, 2019) With

* ''Oh! for the Edge'' (Ogun, 1976) * ''They All Be On This Old Road'' (Ogun, 1977) * ''Happy Daze'' (Ogun, 1977) * ''Boundaries'' (Japo, 1980) * ''Duos'' (Elton Dean Tapes, 1988) * ''Trios'' (Elton Dean Tapes, 1989) * ''The Vortex Tapes'' (Slam, 1992) * ''Two's and Three's'' (Voiceprint, 1995) * ''Bladik'' (Cuneiform, 1997) * ''Live at The BBC'' (Hux, 2003) * ''Ninesense Suite'' (Jazzwerkstatt, 2011) With

* ''Desire and Liberation'' (Slam, 1997) * ''Bebop Starburst'' (Cuneiform, 1999) * ''Onosante'' (DUNS, 2000) * ''The Great Divide'' (Cuneiform, 2001) * ''Bridging'' (Clean Feed, 2003) * ''I Wish You Peace'' (Cuneiform, 2004) With

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

(Island, 1970) *

(Island, 1971) With Harry Miller * ''Family Affair'' (Ogun, 1977) * ''In Conference'' (Ogun, 1978) * ''Which Way Now'' (Cuneiform, 2006) * ''Full Steam Ahead'' (Reel, 2009) * ''Different Times Different Places'' (Ogun, 2013) * ''Different Times Different Places Vol. Two'' (Ogun, 2016) With Mujician * ''The Journey'' (Cuneiform, 1990) * ''Poem About the Hero'' (Cuneiform, 1994) * ''Birdman'' (Cuneiform, 1996) * ''Colours Fulfilled'' (Cuneiform, 1998) * ''Spacetime'' (Cuneiform, 2002) * ''There's No Going Back Now'' (Cuneiform, 2006) With others *

Arthur Brown Arthur Brown may refer to: Entertainment * Arthur William Brown (1881–1966), Canadian commercial artist * H. Arthur Brown (1906–1992), American orchestral conductor * Arthur Brown (musician) (born 1942), English rock singer * Arthur Brown, ak ...

, ''Dance'' (Gull, 1975) *

Harry Beckett Harold Winston "Harry" Beckett (30 May 1935 – 22 July 2010) was a British trumpeter and flugelhorn player of Barbadian origin. Biography Born in Bridgetown, Saint Michael, Barbados, Harry Beckett learned to play music in a Salvation Army ...

, ''Passion and Possession'' (ITM, 1991) *

Mark Charig Mark Charig (born 22 February 1944 in London) is a British trumpeter and cornetist. He was particularly active in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when he played in settings as diverse as Long John Baldry's group, Bluesology, Soft Machine, and ...

, ''Pipedream'' (Ogun, 1977) *

Keith Christmas Keith Peter Christmas (born 13 October 1946, Wivenhoe, near Colchester, Essex, England) is an English singer and songwriter. He attended Bath University to read architecture but, because the Architecture School was, at that time, based in Ki ...

, ''Fable of the Wings'' (B & C, 1970) *

, ''1969'' (Polydor, 1971) *

Dennis Gonzalez Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius. The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is someti ...

, ''Catechism'' (Daagnim, 1988) *

Jack Lancaster Jack Lancaster is a British composer, record producer and musician. In the late 1960s, Lancaster co-founded the British rock group Blodwyn Pig with Jethro Tull guitarist Mick Abrahams and in the late 1970s he was a member of the British progres ...

& Robin Lumley, ''Peter and the Wolf'' (RSO, 1975) * Ian Matthews, ''If You Saw Thro' My Eyes'' (Vertigo, 1971) *

Harold McNair Harold McNair (5 November 1931 – 7 March 1971) was a Jamaican-born saxophonist and flautist. Early life McNair was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He attended the Alpha Boys School under the tutelage of Vincent Tulloch, while playing with Jo ...

, ''The Fence'' (B & C, 1970) *

, ''Spirits Rejoice!'' (Ogun, 1978) * Louis Moholo, ''Mpumi'' (Ogun, 2002) *

Shelagh McDonald Shelagh McDonald (born 1948, Edinburgh, Scotland) is a Scottish folk singer, songwriter and guitarist who released two albums before her abrupt disappearance in 1971. Nothing further was heard of her until 2005, when she made contact with the ...

, ''Album'' (Polydor, 1970) *

, ''Diamond Express'' (Arista, 1977) * Dudu Pukwana, ''Black Horse'' (1201 Music, 2012) *

Daryl Runswick Daryl Runswick (born 12 October 1946) is a classically trained English composer, arranger, jazz musician, producer and educationalist. Career Runswick was born in Leicester, and educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys and Corpus Christi Co ...

, ''Set of 5'' (ASC, 2000) *

Peter Sinfield Peter John Sinfield (born 27 December 1943) is an English poet and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and former lyricist of King Crimson, whose debut album '' In the Court of the Crimson King'' is considered one of the first and mo ...

, ''Still'' (Blueprint, 1973) *

David Sylvian David Sylvian (born David Alan Batt, 23 February 1958) is an English musician, singer and songwriter who came to prominence in the late 1970s as frontman and principal songwriter of the band Japan. The band's androgynous look and increasingly ...

, ''Everything and Nothing'' (Virgin, 2000) *

, ''Sunset Glow'' (Utopia, 1975) * Toyah, ''Ophelia's Shadow'' (Demon, 1991) * Working Week, ''Fire in the Mountain'' (10 Records, 1989)

References

External links

Complete Keith Tippett Discography
at Downtown Music Gallery

at Calyx
Mind Your Own Music
the Keith Tippett/Julie Tippetts management website.
Interview with Keith Tippett
Tippetts FMP releases {{DEFAULTSORT:Tippett, Keith 1947 births 2020 deaths Musicians from Bristol English people of Irish descent 21st-century pianists Avant-garde jazz musicians British composers British jazz pianists Centipede (band) members Mujician members The Dedication Orchestra members FMP/Free Music Production artists Leo Records artists Emanem Records artists E.G. Records artists Edition Records artists