George Lowen Coxhill (19 September 1932 – 10 July 2012) known professionally as Lol Coxhill, was an English free improvising saxophonist. He played

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

and sopranino saxophone.

Biography

Coxhill was born to George Compton Coxhill and Mabel Margaret Coxhill (née Motton) at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, UK. He grew up in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, and bought his first saxophone in 1947. After national service he became a busy semi-professional musician, touring US airbases with Denzil Bailey's Afro-Cubists and the Graham Fleming Combo. In the 1960s he played with visiting American blues, soul and jazz musicians including

Rufus Thomas Rufus C. Thomas, Jr. (March 26, 1917 – December 15, 2001) was an American rhythm-and-blues, funk, soul and blues singer, songwriter, dancer, DJ and comic entertainer from Memphis, Tennessee. He recorded for several labels, including Chess Rec ...

Mose Allison Mose John Allison Jr. (November 11, 1927 – November 15, 2016) was an American jazz and blues pianist, singer, and songwriter. He became notable for playing a unique mix of blues and modern jazz, both singing and playing piano. After moving to N ...

Otis Spann Otis Spann (March 21, 1924 or 1930April 24, 1970) was an American blues musician, whom many consider to be the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist. Early life Sources differ over Spann's early years. Some state that he was born in Jackson, Miss ...

, and

Champion Jack Dupree William Thomas "Champion Jack" Dupree (July 23, 1909 or July 4, 1910 – January 21, 1992) was an American blues and boogie-woogie pianist and singer. His nickname was derived from his early career as a boxer. Biography Dupree was a New Orleans ...

. He also developed his practice of playing unaccompanied solo saxophone, often busking in informal performance situations. Other than his solo playing, he performed mostly as a sideman or as an equal collaborator, rather than a conventional leader – there was no regular Lol Coxhill Trio or Quartet as would normally be expected of a saxophonist. Instead he had many intermittent but long-lasting collaborations with like-minded musicians. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was a member of

Canterbury scene The Canterbury scene (or Canterbury sound) was a musical scene centred on the town of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Associated with progressive rock, the term describes a loosely-defined, improvisational styl ...

bands Carol Grimes and Delivery and then Kevin Ayers and the Whole World. He became known for his solo playing and for work in duets with pianist Steve Miller and guitarist G. F. Fitzgerald. He was thought to have largely inspired

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

's song "For Free", while busking solo on the old footbridge which formed part of the

Hungerford Bridge The Hungerford Bridge crosses the River Thames in London, and lies between Waterloo Bridge and Westminster Bridge. Owned by Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd (who use its official name of Charing Cross Bridge) it is a steel truss railway bridge ...

between Waterloo and Charing Cross. Coxhill collaborated with other musicians including

Mike Oldfield Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

Morgan Fisher Stephen Morgan Fisher (born 1 January 1950) is an English keyboard player and composer, and is most known as a member of Mott the Hoople in the early 1970s. However, his career has covered a wide range of musical activities, and he is still ac ...

(of

Mott the Hoople Mott the Hoople were an English rock band formed in Herefordshire. Originally known as the Doc Thomas Group, the group changed their name after signing with Island Records in 1969. The band released albums throughout the early 1970s but fail ...

), Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath and its musical descendant

The Dedication Orchestra The Dedication Orchestra is a jazz ensemble formed as a tribute to the exiled South African musicians who formed the core of The Blue Notes and the Brotherhood of Breath, it features Alan Skidmore, Radu Malfatti, Django Bates, Kenny Wheeler, Elto ...

Django Bates Django Bates (born Leon Bates, 2 October 1960) is a British jazz musician, composer, multi-instrumentalist, band leader and educator. He plays the piano, keyboards and the tenor horn. Bates has been described as "one of the most talented music ...

, the Damned,

Hugh Metcalfe Hugh Metcalfe is a musician and filmmaker from London and Suffolk, England. He is best known as the promoter of The Klinker in London, a club which he has run in various venues since at least 1982 (stories vary). He plays guitar, violin, hi-hat ...

, Derek Bailey,

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock ...

and

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

group

Welfare State A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitabl ...

. He often worked in small collaborative groups with semi-humorous names such as the Johnny Rondo Duo or Trio (with pianist Dave Holland – not the bassist of the same name), the Melody Four (characteristically a trio, with

Tony Coe Anthony George Coe (born 29 November 1934) is an English jazz musician who plays clarinet, bass clarinet, flute as well as soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones. Career Born in Canterbury, Kent, England, Coe started out on clarinet and was self- ...

and

Steve Beresford Steve Beresford (born 6 March 1950) is a British musician who graduated from the University of York He has played a variety of instruments, including piano, electronics, trumpet, euphonium, bass guitar and a wide variety of toy instruments, suc ...

), and The Recedents (with guitarist Mike Cooper and percussionist Roger Turner), known as such because the members were (in Coxhill's words) "all bald", though the name may additionally be a play on the American band

the Residents The Residents are an American art collective and art rock band best known for their avant-garde music and multimedia works. Since their first official release, ''Meet the Residents'' (1974), they have released over 60 albums, numerous music vi ...

. Typically these bands performed a mix of free improvisation interspersed with ballroom dance tunes and popular songs. There was humour throughout his music but he sometimes felt it necessary to tell audiences that the free playing was not intended as a joke. Coxhill was compere and occasional performer at the

Bracknell Jazz Festival The Bracknell Jazz Festival was a major showcase for British modern jazz in the 1980s. The festival was known for attracting a largish audience for free improvisation, modern jazz composition and all kinds of British modern jazz in general. Ho ...

, and a raconteur as well as a musician; he often would introduce his music by saying the words, "what I am about to play you may not understand". It was following a performance at

Bracknell Bracknell () is a large town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the Bracknell Forest, Borough of Bracknell Forest. It l ...

that he recorded the melodramatic monologue ''Murder in the Air''. His son Simon is a

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

drummer who played with Acme Sewage Co. his daughter Claire is a vocalist and his daughter Maddie sings and plays in a ukulele band. All three children appear with their father on "I am the Walrus", one of the tracks on ''Ear of Beholder'' and later featured on ''The Exotic Beatles part 2''. On 26 July 2007, Coxhill married Ulrike Gertrud Scholz. They had been together since 1991.

Discography

* ''Ear of Beholder'' (Dandelion, 1971) * ''Toverbal Sweet'' (Mushroom, 1972) * ''Coxhill/Miller/Miller/Coxhill'' (Caroline, 1973) * ''Welfare State & Lol Coxhill'' (Caroline, 1975) * ''Fleas in Custard'' (Caroline, 1975) * ''Diverse'' (Ogun, 1977) * ''Lid'' (Ictus, 1978) * ''The Joy of Paranoia'' (Ogun, 1978) * ''Moot'' (Ictus, 1978) * ''Digswell Duets'' (Random Radar, 1979) * ''Slow Music'' (Pipe, 1980) * ''Chantenay 80'' (Nato, 1981) * ''Instant Replay'' (Nato, 1983) * ''French Gigs'' (AAA, 1983) * ''The Dunois Solos'' (Nato, 1984) * ''Cou$cou$'' (Nato, 1984) * ''The Inimitable'' (Chabada, 1985) * ''10:02'' (Nato, 1985) * ''Cafe De La Place'' (Nato, 1986) * ''Frog Dance'' (Impetus, 1986) * ''Before My Time'' (Chabada, 1987) * ''Termite One'' (Bruce's Fingers, 1990) * ''The Holywell Concert'' (Slam, 1990) * ''Solo'' (Shock, 1990) * ''Halim'' (Nato, 1993) * ''Three Blokes'' (FMP, 1994) * ''One Night in Glasgow'' (Scatter, 1995) * ''Xmas Songs'' (Rectangle, 1998) * ''Boundless'' (Emanem, 1998) * ''Alone and Together'' (Emanem, 1999) * ''Mouth'' (Fragile Noise, 2001) * ''Worms Organising Archdukes'' (Emanem, 2002) * ''Spectral Soprano'' (Emanem, 2002) * ''Milwaukee 2002'' (Emanem, 2003) * ''Out to Launch'' (Emanem, 2003) * ''Darkly'' (Ictus, 2006) * ''Darkly Again'' (Ictus, 2006) * ''More Together Than Alone'' (Emanem, 2007) * ''The Early Years'' (Ping Pong, 2007) * ''Fine Tuning'' (Amirani, 2010) * ''Success with Your Dog'' (Emanem, 2010) * ''The Rock On the Hill'' (Nato, 2011) * ''Old Sights, New Sounds'' (Incus, 2011) * ''Sitting On Your Stairs'' (Emanem, 2013) * ''Morphometry'' (Glo-Spot, 2020)

As sideman

With

Kevin Ayers Kevin Ayers (16 August 1944 – 18 February 2013) was an English singer-songwriter who was active in the English psychedelic music movement. Ayers was a founding member of the psychedelic band Soft Machine in the mid-1960s, and was closely assoc ...

* '' Shooting at the Moon'' (Harvest, 1970) * '' The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories'' (Island, 1974) * ''Odd Ditties'' (Harvest, 1975) * ''Singing the Bruise'' (Band of Joy, 1996) * ''The Garden of Love'' (Voiceprint, 1997) * ''Too Old to Die Young'' (Hux, 1998) * ''Banana Follies'' (Hux, 1998)

As sideman/session player (partial list)

*1971 ''

No Roses ''No Roses'' is an album by Shirley Collins and the Albion Country Band. It was recorded at Sound Techniques, and Air Studios in London, in the summer of 1971. It was produced by Sandy Roberton and Ashley Hutchings (Shirley Collins' husband at ...

'' –

Shirley Collins Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE (born 5 July 1935) is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. She often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly, whose accompaniment on ...

and the

Albion Country Band The Albion Band, also known as The Albion Country Band, The Albion Dance Band, and The Albion Christmas Band, were a British folk rock band, originally brought together and led by musician Ashley Hutchings. Generally considered one of the m ...

*1971 " Tokoloshe Man" –

John Kongos John Theodore Kongos (born 6 August 1945) is a South African-born singer and songwriter of Greek ancestry, best known for his 1971 Top 10 hit single "He's Gonna Step on You Again", on which Happy Mondays based their hit " Step On". His other big ...

*1972 ''Boo'' – Juliet Lawson (Sovereign Records) *1973 ''1984'' –

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 ...

*1973 ''Lonely Street'' – Delroy Washington (Count Shelly Records) – sax accompaniment and solo *1974 '' The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories'' –

*1975 ''The Death of Imagination'' –

Penny Rimbaud Penny Lapsang Rimbaud (born Jeremy John Ratter, 1943) is a writer, poet, philosopher, painter, musician and activist. He was a member of the performance art groups EXIT and Ceres Confusion, and in 1972 was co-founder of the Stonehenge Free Fes ...

(Red Herring Records) *1977 '' Music for Pleasure'' – The Damned *1980 '' Way & Bar'' –

John Otway John Otway (born 2 October 1952) is an English singer-songwriter who has built a cult audience through extensive touring. Biography 1970s and 1980s Otway was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. Although his first single, "Gypsy"/"Misty Mounta ...

& Wild Willy Barrett *1980 '' Krazy Kong Album'' – Wild Willy Barrett – sax solo on title track *1982 ''The Flying Padovanis'' – Va Plus Haut – sax solo on the track *1983 ''It's All Done By Mirrors'' – The Astronauts 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 ...

* ''Company 6'' (Incus, 1978) * ''Company 7'' (Incus, 1978) * ''Fictions'' (Incus, 1981) With others *

Mick Audsley Mick Audsley (born January 11, 1949 in London, England) is a British film and television editor with more than thirty film credits. He is a frequent collaborator of directors Mike Newell and Stephen Frears, having edited 15 films for Frears. ...

, ''Dark and Devil Waters'' (Sonet, 1973) *

, ''Storyboard'' (Sonet, 1974) *

Heidi Berry Heidi Berry (born December 8, 1958) is an American musician. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, she recorded and released four critically acclaimed solo albums on the British independent record labels Creation Records and 4AD. Career Her earlie ...

, ''Love'' (4AD, 1991) * Borah Bergman, ''Acts of Love'' (Mutable Music, 2005) *

Thomas Borgmann Thomas Borgmann, born in 1955 in Münster, is a German musician (tenor, soprano, and Sopranino saxophone) and composer of Jazz, free Jazz, and free improvisation music. Biography Borgmann began his career in the early 1980s, working mainly ...

, ''Kith 'n Kin'' (Cadence, 1998) * Caravan, ''Waterloo Lily'' (Deram, 1972) *

Andrea Centazzo Andrea Centazzo (born 1948) is an Italian-born American composer, percussionist, multimedia artist and record label founder. Music career Centazzo was born in Udine, Italy. In the 1970s he played percussion in avant-garde jazz with John Zorn, S ...

, ''Situations'' (New Tone, 2000) * Andrea Centazzo, ''Thirty Years from Monday'' (Ictus, 2006) *

Eugene Chadbourne Eugene Chadbourne (born January 4, 1954) is an American banjoist, guitarist and music critic. Life and career Chadbourne was born in Mount Vernon, New York, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. He started playing guitar when he was eleven or twel ...

, ''Jesse Helms Busted with Pornography'' (Fire Ant, 1996) * Eugene Chadbourne, ''Psychad'' (Swamp Room, 1997) * Shalom Chanoch, ''Shalom'' (DJM, 1971) *

and

The Albion Country Band The Albion Band, also known as The Albion Country Band, The Albion Dance Band, and The Albion Christmas Band, were a British folk rock band, originally brought together and led by musician Ashley Hutchings. Generally considered one of the mo ...

, ''

'' (Pegasus, 1971) *

Lindsay Cooper Lindsay Cooper (3 March 1951 – 18 September 2013) was an English bassoon and oboe player and composer. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the ...

, ''Music from the Gold Diggers'' (Sync Pulse, 1983) * Lindsay Cooper, ''Rags & the Golddiggers'' (ReR, 1991) *

Mike Cooper Mike Cooper may refer to: * Mike Cooper (musician) (born 1942), English blues and jazz guitarist and singer-songwriter * Mike Cooper (politician) (born 1951), former politician in Ontario, Canada See also * Michael Cooper (disambiguation) * Mike Ho ...

, ''Island Songs'' (Nato, 1996) *

, ''Claws Cherry'' (Red, 1980) *

Frank Chickens Frank Chickens are a Japanese musical group based in London, who have performed songs mainly in English from 1982. They were nominated for the 1984 Edinburgh Comedy Award for their performance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In the same yea ...

, ''We Are Frank Chickens'' (Kaz, 1984) * The Flying Padovani's, ''Western Pasta'' (Demon, 1981) *

Carol Grimes Carol Ann Grimes (born 7 April 1944) is a British singer and songwriter. In 1969, she joined the band Delivery and recorded one album before departing for a solo career. Her debut solo album, ''Warm Blood'' (1974), was recorded with members of ...

, ''Fools Meeting'' (B&C, 1970) * GP Hall, ''Figments of Imagination'' (FMR, 1996) * George Haslam, ''Solos East West'' (Slam, 1997) * George Haslam, ''From Whichford Hill'' (Slam, 2008) * Charles Hayward, ''Mathilde 253'' (Slam, 2011) *

, ''1984'' (CBS, 1973) *

, ''Kongos'' (Fly, 1971) *

Alexis Korner Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerner (19 April 1928 – 1 January 1984), known professionally as Alexis Korner, was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a founding father of British blues". A major in ...

, ''Bootleg Him!'' (Warner Bros., 1972) * Alexis Korner, ''Both Sides'' (Castle Music, 2006) *

Phil Minton Phil Minton (born 2 November 1940) is a British avant-garde jazz/ free-improvising vocalist and trumpeter. Minton is a highly dramatic baritone who tends to specialize in literary texts: he has sung lyrics by William Blake with Mike Westbrook's ...

, ''My Chelsea'' (Rectangle, 2011) * Tom Newman, ''Fine Old Tom'' (Virgin, 1975) *

& Wild Willy Barrett, '' Way & Bar'' (Polydor, 1980) * Playgroup, ''Epic Sound Battles Chapter Two Cherry'' (Red, 1983) *

, ''The Death of Imagination'' ((Red, Herring, 2001) * Paul Rutherford, ''Chicago 2002'' (Emanem, 2002) *

Second Hand Used goods mean any item of personal property offered for sale not as new, including metals in any form except coins that are legal tender, but excluding books, magazines, and postage stamps. Risks Furniture, in particular bedding or upholstere ...

, ''Death May Be Your Santa Claus'' (See for Miles, 1997) *

Spontaneous Music Ensemble Spontaneous may refer to: * Spontaneous abortion * Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis * Spontaneous combustion * Spontaneous declaration * Spontaneous emission * Spontaneous fission * Spontaneous generation * Spontaneous human combustion * Sponta ...

, ''Trio/Triangle'' (Emanem, 2008) * John Stevens, ''A Luta Continua'' (Konnex, 1994) *

David Toop David Toop (born 5 May 1949) is an English musician, author, curator, and Emeritus Professor. From 2013 to 2021 he was professor of audio culture and improvisation at the London College of Communication. He was a regular contributor to British ...

, ''Black Chamber'' (Sub Rosa, 2003) *

Ultramarine Ultramarine is a deep blue color pigment which was originally made by grinding lapis lazuli into a powder. The name comes from the Latin ''ultramarinus'', literally 'beyond the sea', because the pigment was imported into Europe from mines in Afgh ...

, ''Hymn Remixes'' (Blanco y Negro, 1994) *

Gary Windo Gary Windo (7 November 1941, in Brighton, England – 25 July 1992, in New York City) was an English jazz tenor saxophonist. Career Windo came from a musical family in England. By age six he took up drums and accordion, then guitar at twelve and ...

, ''His Master's Bones'' (Cuneiform, 1996) *

Trevor Watts Trevor Charles Watts (born 26 February 1939) is an English jazz and free-improvising alto and soprano saxophonist. Biography Watts was born in York, England. He is largely self-taught, having taken up the cornet at age 12 then switched to s ...

, ''Trevor Watts' Moire'' (Music Arc, 1985) *

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 ...

, ''Flotsam Jetsam'' (Rough Trade, 1994)

Filmography

* Hospital patient in

Stephen Frears Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is an English director and producer of film and television often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply drawn characters. He's received numerous accola ...

's ''Walter'', 1982,

Central Independent Television ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee for the Midlands. It was created following the rest ...

* ''Frogdance'', a documentary about Coxhill, was shown by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

(1987) * Appearance as a butler in Sally Potter's 1992 film ''

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

'' * Cameo appearance in the season-five episode "A Much Underestimated Man" of the TV detective series ''Strangers'' (a precursor to the series

Bulman ''Bulman'' is a British television crime drama series, principally written and created by Murray Smith. It was first broadcast on ITV on 5 June 1985. The series, featuring retired ex-cop George Bulman (Don Henderson) and his assistant Lucy Mc ...

) * Appearance as a priest in

Derek Jarman Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, gardener and gay rights activist. Biography Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing Home ...

's 1986 film ''

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...

'' * Appearance as a priest in Fhiona Louise's 1989 film ''Cold Light of Day''

References

External links

*
Lol Coxhill's Facebook page

* ttp://efi.group.shef.ac.uk/video/vcoxhil1.mov Video sample from ''Frogdance''* The Wire (magazine), The Wire's
''100 Records That Set The World On Fire (When No One Was Listening)''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coxhill, Lol 1932 births 2012 deaths Avant-garde jazz musicians English jazz soprano saxophonists British male saxophonists Emanem Records artists English buskers Free improvisation Musicians from Portsmouth People from Aylesbury Delivery (band) members British male jazz musicians The Albion Band members Brotherhood of Breath members The Dedication Orchestra members Incus Records artists Mushroom Records artists FMP/Free Music Production artists 20th-century saxophonists