Lol Coxhill

When he debuted, the saxophonist Lol Coxhill was much older than his colleagues: he had been on the scene for twenty years. Perhaps the age difference explains the unique content of his art. Coxhill built a bridge between the most naïve folk (that of small rural villages) and the most cerebral free-jazz. He gave his music a “political” but not “ideological” meaning, grounding it in a utopian and almost religious vision of the world’s affairs. In all his works, from the most playful to the most erudite, he consistently displayed a sense of humor and innocence that contrasted with the seriousness and intellectual contortions of the others.

Beginning as a bookbinder who played saxophone in his spare time, Coxhill landed in Rufus Thomas’ jazz orchestra and later found work with Alexis Korner and even Otis Spann. In 1968 he was part of the Delivery, with Steve Miller (piano) and Phil Miller, Pip Pyle, and Roy Babbington. The group followed the path of much of the English underground, starting from Korner’s blues and arriving at free-jazz. In the spring of 1970 Coxhill met Kevin Ayers and joined his group. The following summer he already had his first solo ready, Ear Of The Beholder (January 1971 – Dandelion, 1971).
A double album recorded here and there around Europe between July 1970 and January 1971, under bridges and in crowded squares, a heterogeneous experiment in everything from “Parker-ian” ornithologies to nursery-school choirs, a fragmentary mosaic-like work where the joy of living and communicating is marvelously fused with the notions learned in ten years of apprenticeship, Ear Of Beholder rejects the aesthetics of progressive rock while adopting its stylistic dictates.
The metaphysical meditations of the jazz solos (Hungerford, Open Piccadilly, Loverman) coexist peacefully with a series of nonsensical gags: cacophonous dissonances (A Collective Improvisation), night-club serenades (Insensatez), surreal revisions of dance music (Deviation Dance, Vorblifa-exit), resounding parodies of fairground music (Rhythmic Hooter), children’s nursery rhymes (two of them sing I Am The Walrus out of time, accompanied only by tambourines, an out-of-tune piano, and the retching sounds of another child). When he sings, Coxhill recalls the most cultured cabaret: the lied with emphatic British inflections (Two Little Pigeons), the lied with nonchalant French inflections (Don Alfonso), and the lied with decadent German inflections (Dat's Why Darkies Were Born). More ambitious, but unresolved, is the long live suite Rasa Moods (the entire third side of the LP), which dissolves into a myriad of noises from sax, percussion, piano, and voice.
Ear Of Beholder is the manifesto of a pub music afflicted by a harmless form of paranoia. Having abolished the boundaries between genres and rediscovered a love for clipping, sketching, nonsense, and the multiform collage, Coxhill works with the patience of a monk and the imagination of a poet on the accumulated fragments. Seasoning everything with touches of irony, absurdities, and caprices, he embarks on a journey through musical civilizations, both real and imaginary, exploring the nooks that most intrigue him. He delights particularly in folklore, neatly classifying its various forms: the ancient folklore of legends, the village band folklore, the festive folklore of Latin America, the primitive folklore of childhood, the boisterous folklore of the pub. But he does not neglect psychedelic beat, noise music, or pop music. Up to jazz, which appears in the form of vague and distracted meta-considerations about the art of playing the saxophone.

Coxhill then recorded Toverbal Sweet (May 1971 – Mushroom, 1972); collaborated with Gong and Caravan, with Hugh Hopper and especially with the English jazz musicians (Mike Westbrook, Paul Rutherford); formed the New Delivery with Roy Babbington, Phil Miller and Laurie Allan; recorded an album with Ollie Harshall; recorded in a duo with pianist Steve Miller a couple of mediocre little works, Miller/Coxhill (Virgin, 1973 – Cuneiform, 2007) and The Story So Far (Virgin, 1974 – Cuneiform, 2007), watered-down versions of the learned humour of Ear Of Beholder that at most boast Chocolate Field and Gog Ma Gog on the first one, In Memoriam Meister Eckhart on the second. For a while his multifarious activity prevented him from preparing a new album, but when he decided to return to solo work he did so in grand style: at least five works before the end of the decade definitively consecrated him among the foremost English avant-gardists.

Lol Coxhill also played in Paz, a large ensemble founded in 1972 by vibraphonist Dick Crouch, whose career is summarized on the three-disc box set Variations And Creation, also featuring Brian Smith (soprano sax), Ray Warleigh (flutes), Phil Todd (various reeds), Geoff Castle (piano and electric piano), Dave MacRae (keyboards), Allan Holdsworth (electric guitar), Brian Godding, Phil Lee and Ed Speight (guitar), Ron Mathewson (bass) and Dave Sheen (drums).

A learned example of an improvised duo is the first side of Fleas In Custard (Caroline, 1975), namely the tinkling Duet For Soprano Saxophone And Guitar, rich in references to folk idioms, while the unpredictable and reckless first half of Joy Of Paranoia (Ogun, 1978), Wakefield Capers, represents the apex of his micro-orchestral ambitions, with a quartet capable of setting up a para-jazz funfair drawing on all eras. But in the end the laughing motto always prevails over the intellectual quotation, the playful aspect over the technical one: on the first album by synthesizing the sax in Three AM Modulations and Synalto (almost chamber music for echoes), on the second by celebrating paranoia in the absolute movements of the Cluck Variations (in a climate of rarefied collective improvisation) and in the démodé dixieland of Perdido.

To the book of solitary meditations must be added Diver, on Diverse (Ogun, 1976), which ends with a samba, and those of Lid (Ictus, 1978), a collage of fantasies in which his convoluted taste for the sketch stands out. Four-hand improvisation again paints the two Digswell Duets (May 1978 – Random, 1979) on electrified soprano sax, one with piano and the other with synth, dialogues of the absurd that, at least in 11/5/78 (again with rarefied, almost Martian references to folk music and with a cosmic finale), reach grotesque heights of senselessness.

Beyond his musical life there lies his civic one. Coxhill was the director of the "Welfare State", an artistic commune for homeless drifters and uncompromising utopians, which stages popular performances with rustic little tunes and lends itself well to stimulating the uncontrolled flow of his imagination. It is here that his vocation for folksy sketch-making can emerge without restraint.

The soundtrack of their communal life, Welfare State (Caroline, 1975), is a moving collage of alternative, boisterous, and experimental music, fragmented into twenty-six tiny episodes of eccentric genius: the 1930s street ragtime from a wheezing gramophone of Egal Ok, the baroque funeral march Le Tombeau De Ravel, the circus music of Blossom Time, the folksy village dance of Tuba Gallica, complete with flute and tambourine, the grotesque parody of minimalism in Egg Dance, the country fair with whistles, trombone and drums of Big German Band, the festive solo of Luke Jamboree, the mantra of Arena, the drunken alley-singer solos, the surreal inserts handled by a few instruments seized by exotic fevers, ending with a colossal samba-paced carnival. Compared to Ear of the Beholder, one notes a greater compositional and performance care: the irony has a chance to unfold with a more mature attention to detail.

Coxhill continued down that road without shame and even sets up a Johnny Rondo Trio responsible for a dance-mix record, Murder In The Air (Chiltern Sound, 1977), and for period 45s with ambiguous titles (Las Bicicletas and Il Froga Silencio, 1982), which terrorize crowds of defenseless punks. In reality, this is simply another face of his genuine populism. The first Johnny Rondo Combo, formed in 1974, played in provincial little theaters and at student dances, trying to imitate the cruise-ship orchestras that draw their melodic fantasies from the repertoire of exotic folklore. The Trio (sax, piano, and cello) was born in 1976 with the intention of continuing to exploit the same sources, but applying them to free music. The Duo (with the young Dave Holland on piano) gives regular concerts and records an album with Mike Cooper on guitar, Johnny Rondo Duo (may 1980 - FMP, 1980). Between a frenzied Russian Dance, stuffed with Slavic melodies and South-American rhythms, which Coxhill’s village saxophone and Holland’s music-hall piano ennoble with touches of moving naïveté, and the disjointed Scales, for dissonant piano and detuned guitar, soar the evocative Floz Variations, sufficiently disjointed to not even remotely recall their premise, a compendium of instrumental noises (Variation V) and surreal monologues by Coxhill (Variation VII). In 1985 Coxhill would also be the protagonist of an equally absurd trio with Steve Beresford and Tony Coe, the Melody Four, intent on revisiting tunes and instrumental themes made famous by television and cinema.

After recording another solo album, Dunois Solos (november 1981 - Nato, 1981), divided into Distorted Reminiscences and Further Developments, and one in duet with Frith recorded live, he returns in grand style with Instant Replay (may 1982 - Nato, 1983), a double album that brings back the offbeat pastiche of the debut work.

Couscous (september 1983 - Nato, 1984), with the Variations pour Violoncelle, Contrabasse, Sopranino et Piano (Coxhill, bassist Joëlle Léandre, pianist Steve Beresford, cellist Georgie Born), and Frog Dance (Impetus, 1986), the soundtrack to a film (including two electroacoustic jams with the Recedents), are consistently bold and creative albums that rarely settle into stereotypes. On the live album Café De La Place (august 1985 - Nato, 1985) he duets in a village square with a local accordionist or on a churchyard with a folk singer.

Other works from this period include: Moot (september 1978 - Ictus, 1978), with Andrea Centazzo, Chantenay 80 (september 1980 - Nato, 1981), Slow Music (may 1980 - Voiceprint, 1980), with Morgan Fisher, An End To The Matter (Blueprint, 1980), Situations (september 1978 - Ictus, 1982), the cassette Home Produce (Tago Mago, 1982), French Gigs (october 1978 and april 1981 - AAA, 1983), with Fred Frith.

The Recedents were Mike Cooper, Roger Turner and Lol Coxhill, and released Barbecue Strut (Nato, 1986) and Zombie Bloodbath on the Isle of Dogs (Nato, 1988), with the 10-minute Under Threat, in the subversive tradition of the Johnny Rondo Duo. Also nostalgic is the project Before My Time (Chabada, 1987), a quintet with pianist Steve Beresford, percussionist Roger Turner, guitarist Mike Cooper and keyboardist Pat Thomas.

Coxhill further wasted his talent mimicking the musichall on 10:02 (march 1985 - Nato, 1985), with Daniel DeShays on "sound treatment", and pretending to be a crooner on The Inimitable (august 1985 - Nato, 1985).

The 1990s were equally unstable. On one hand Coxhill played solo and with others in the vein of creative jazz: Termite One (november 1989 - Bruce's Fingers, 1999), a 1989 live performance by Lol Coxhill, George Haslam, Paul Rutherford, Simon Fell and Paul Hession; Solo (Shock, 1990); Three Blokes (september 1992 - FMP, 1992), soprano saxophone duets with Steve Lacy and Evan Parker; Boundless (january 1998 - Emanem, 1998) and Worms Organising Archdukes (march 2001 - Emanem, 2001), duets with pianist Veryan Weston; Alone and Together (may 1999 - Emanem, 1999), live solos and duos; London Gigs (april 2000 - Prominence, 2000), with Enzo Rocco; Tsunami (june 2000 - FMR, 2000) and Coxhill Street (june 2001 - FMR, 2001), with the George Burt and Raymond MacDonald Quartet.

On the other hand, Coxhill fooled around with dance-music on Halim (Nato, 1993) and One Night in Glasgow (july 1994 - Scatter, 1994), featuring keyboardist Pat Thomas, and with cabaret on My Chelsea (november 1997 - Rectangle, 1997), featuring vocalist Phil Minton and guitarist Noel Akchote, followed by Time stories (Intakt, 1997) featuring the same trio, and on Au Bordel (august 1998 - Winter & Winter, 1998), featuring guitarist Noel Akchote and others.

Coxhill also appears on the two volumes of Freedom of the City (may 2001 - Emanem, 2001) and on the Dedication Orchestra albums.

Coxhill on Ogun (Ogun, 1998) and Spectral Soprano (Emanem, 2001) are anthologies.

Out To Launch (april 2002 - Emanem, 2003) documents three solo live improvisations, notably the 28-minute Music for Feathery Fronds (april 2002) and the 24-minute Relaunch One (march 2002), as well as the Unlaunched Orchestra for electroacoustic ensemble.

Mopomoso Solos (november 2002 - Emanem, 2004) is a collaboration with guitarist John Russell, pianist Chris Burn, bassist John Edwards and vocalist Phil Minton.

Milwaukee (april 2002 - Emanem, 2004) documents a 2002 performance with bassist Torsten Mueller and trombonist Paul Rutherfor. The highlights are a 22-minute trombone solo, a 14-minute bass solo and a 15-minute soprano solo.

Acts of Love (june 2003 - Mutable, 2005) documents a session with pianist Borah Bergman and drummer Paul Hession.

More Together Than Alone (Emanem, 2007) contains uneventful duets recorded between 2001 and 2005, plus one more memorable solo, the 20-minute Alone At The Vortex (july 2000).

The live albums Darkly (1983) (recorded in 1981 and in 1983) and Darkly Again (recorded in 1979 and in 1983) documented a trio with trumpeter Franz Koglmann and percussionist Andrea Centazzo.

Coxhill ’85 (june 1985) documents a live solo performance.

From Whichford Hill (march 2006) contains pieces recorded by Coxhill on soprano saxophone, George Haslam on baritone saxophone, Richard Leigh Harris on piano and Steve Kershaw on double bass.

The Early Years (january 2004) documents a trio with John Edwards on double bass and Steve Noble on drums.

Final Tuning: The Gradisca Concert (november 2008) documents a live performance with italian guitarist Enzo Rocco.

Success With Your Dog (Emanem, 2010) was a collaboration between Lol Coxhill (on soprano sax) and Roger Turner (on drumset and percussion), notably the 25-minute Paying Through The Nose (may 2003).

Old Sights New Sounds (october 2010) documents a duet between Lol Coxhill and clarinetist Alex Ward.

The 2CD+DVD set The Poppy Seed Affair contains two rarities and a soundtrack composed with guitarist Gerry F. Fitz-Gerald, and performed with the addition of Archie Leggett on bass and Robert Wyatt on drums.

The live The Rock On The Hill (october 2010) features a trio with Barre Phillips (double bass) and JT Bates (drums).

Morphometry (july 2008) documents duets with fellow saxophonist Raymond McDonald.

Lol Coxhill played on the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra's 39-minute piece on Improcherto (for HB) (march 2011), an all-acoustic 20-member unit.

Sitting On Your Stairs (Emanem, 2013) documents the last studio recording by Lol Coxhill before his death, a soprano duet with French saxophonist Michel Doneda.

Tree Dancing (march 2010) documents a live performance by the stellar quartet of saxophonists Lol Coxhill, Joe McPhee and Evan Parker and drummer Chris Corsano.

The double-disc Spectral Soprano (Emanem, 2022) collects unreleased music spanning 1954-99.

Lol Coxhill died in july 2012.