Tony Oxley obit

Drummer Tony Oxley has Passed Away, Aged 85

Oxley devoted his life to improvised music, paving the way for future generations.

He was not on the list.

Percussionist and free music icon Tony Oxley passed away this morning, December 26, aged 85. Oxley enjoyed a reputation as one of the British free music greats, known for blending styles, which he would break down, mold, and reconstruct according to his creative vision.

Born in Sheffield, Oxley first taught himself to play the piano by the age of eight. He moved onto drums at 17, starting self-taught, and then receiving lessons from Haydon Cook. While drafted into the military, he drummed in the Black Watch band, learning new techniques and music theory. His service and performance in the band gave him a chance to visit the U.S., where he witnessed live shows by Philly Joe Jones, Horace Silver, Art Blakey, and many more jazz legends.

After these transformative live shows, Oxley began experimenting with his musical expression. After a few attempts with different musicians, he formed a jazz trio with guitarist Derek Bailey and double bassist Gavin Bryars. The group called themselves Joseph Holbrooke, after the British composer. While the trio started out doing jazz standards, their music quickly transformed into a mix of avant-garde, radical jazz, and anything else you could fit in between.

This change in direction would be the moment Tony Oxley truly found himself in improvised music, and he happily continued on that road ever since. During his long career, Oxley performed with greats such as Bill Evans, Charlie Mariano, Sonny Rollins, Evan Parker, and many more.

As his lasting legacy, Tony Oxley co-founded Incus Records in 1970, which has become an important platform for improv music across the globe.

In 1963, he began working with Gavin Bryars and guitarist Derek Bailey, in a trio known as Joseph Holbrooke. Oxley moved to London in 1966 and became house drummer at Ronnie Scott's, where he accompanied visiting musicians such as Joe Henderson, Lee Konitz, Charlie Mariano, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, and Bill Evans until the early 1970s. He was a member of bands led by Gordon Beck, Alan Skidmore, and Mike Pyne.

In 1969, Oxley appeared on the John McLaughlin album Extrapolation and formed a quintet with Bailey, Jeff Clyne, Evan Parker, and Kenny Wheeler, releasing the album The Baptised Traveller. Following this album the group was joined by Paul Rutherford on trombone and became a sextet, releasing the 1970 album 4 Compositions for Sextet. That same year Oxley helped found Incus Records with Bailey and others and Musicians Cooperative. He received a three-month artist-in-residence job at the Sydney Conservatorium in Australia in 1970. Around this time he joined the London Jazz Composers Orchestra and collaborated with Howard Riley. In 1973 he became a tutor at the Jazz Summer School in Barry, South Wales, and in 1974 he formed the band Angular Apron. Through the 1980s he worked with Tony Coe and Didier Levallet and started the Celebration Orchestra during the latter half of the decade. In the late 1980s, Oxley toured and recorded with Anthony Braxton, and also began a working relationship with Cecil Taylor.

 

Discography

As leader

The Baptised Traveller (CBS, 1969)

4 Compositions for Sextet (CBS, 1970)

Ichnos (RCA Victor, 1971)

Jazz in Britain '68–'69 with John Surman, Alan Skidmore (Decca Eclipse, 1972)

Tony Oxley (Incus, 1975)

The Tony Oxley/Alan Davie Duo with Alan Davie (ADMW, 1975)

February Papers (Incus, 1977)

S. O. H. (EGO, 1979)[9]

Ach Was!? with Ulrich Gumpert, Radu Malfatti (FMP, 1981)

SOH (View, 1981)

Nutty On Willisau with Tony Coe (hatART, 1984)

Live at Roccella Jonica with Norma Winstone, Kenny Wheeler, Paolo Fresu, John Taylor, Paolo Damiani (Ismez/Polis Music, 1985)

Tomorrow Is Here Jazzfest Berlin 1985, Live from the Philharmonie (Dossier, 1986)

The Glider & The Grinder with Philipp Wachsmann (Bead, 1987)

Live in Roccella Jonica 1986 with Palle Mikkelborg, Charlie Mariano, Paolo Damiani, Tiziana Ghiglioni (Ismez/Polis, 1987)

Bodies with Claudio Fasoli, Mick Goodrick, Palle Danielsson (New Sound Planet, 1990)

Explore with Stefano Battaglia (Splasc(h), 1990)

In the Evenings Out There with Paul Bley, Gary Peacock, John Surman (ECM, 1993)

The Tony Oxley Quartet (Incus, 1993)

Sulphur with Stefano Battaglia, Paolino Dalla Porta (Splasc(h), 1995)

The Enchanted Messenger (Soul Note, 1995)

Deep with Ekkehard Jost, Reiner Winterschladen, Ewald Oberleitner (Fish Music, 1997)

Soho Suites (Recordings from 1977 & 1995) with Derek Bailey (Incus, 1997)

Digger's Harvest with Alexander von Schlippenbach (FMP, 1999)

Triangular Screen (Sofa, 2000)

Floating Phantoms (a/l/l, 2002)

GratHovOx with Frank Gratkowski, Fred Van Hove (Nuscope, 2002)

S.O.H. Live in London with Alan Skidmore, Ali Haurand (Jazzwerkstatt 2007)

The Advocate with Derek Bailey (Tzadik, 2007)

Tony Oxley/Derek Bailey Quartet (Jazzwerkstatt, 2008)

Live at Jazzwerkstatt Peitz with Conny Bauer, Gianluigi Trovesi, Dietmar Diesner (Jazzwerkstatt 2008)

Improvised Pieces for Trio with Sebastiano Meloni, Adriano Orru (Big Round, 2010)

A Birthday Tribute: 75 years (Incus, 2013)

Beaming (Confront Recordings, 2020)

Elaboration of Particulars (Confront, 2021) recorded in 1977 and 1978

Unreleased 1974–2016 (Discus, 2022)

With The Quartet

 

Dedications (Konnex, 1984)

Relation (Konnex, 1985)

Interchange (Konnex, 1986)

Live (Konnex, 1987)

As guest

With Gordon Beck

 

Experiments with Pops (Major Minor, 1968)

Gyroscope (Morgan, 1969)

Seven Steps to Evans – A Tribute to the Compositions of Bill Evans (MPS, 1980)[10]

When Sunny Gets Blue (Spring '68 Sessions) (Turtle, 2018)

With Bill Dixon

 

Vade Mecum (Soul Note, 1994)

Vade Mecum II (Soul Note, 1994)

Papyrus Volume I (Soul Note, 1999)

Papyrus Volume II (Soul Note, 1999)

Berlin Abbozzi (FMP, 2000)

With Barry Guy/London Jazz Composers Orchestra

 

Ode (Incus, 1972)

Stringer (FMP, 1983)

Zurich Concerts (Intakt, 1988)

With Joseph Holbrooke

 

' 98 (Incus 2000)

The Moat Recordings (Tzadik, 2006)

With Rolf Kühn

 

Devil in Paradise (BASF, 1971)

Going to the Rainbow (BASF, 1971)

With Howard Riley

 

Flight (Turtle, 1971)

Synopsis (Incus 1974)

Overground (Emanem, 2001)

With Tomasz Stańko

 

Matka Joanna (ECM, 1995)

Leosia (ECM, 1997)

With John Surman

 

How Many Clouds Can You See? (Deram, 1970)

Adventure Playground (ECM, 1992)

With Cecil Taylor

 

Leaf Palm Hand (Disc 6 of 11-disc set Cecil Taylor in Berlin '88) (FMP, 1989)

Looking (Berlin Version) The Feel Trio (FMP, 1990)

Looking (Berlin Version) Corona (FMP, 1991)

Celebrated Blazons (FMP, 1993)

Melancholy (FMP, 1999)

Nailed (FMP, 2000)

2 Ts for a Lovely T (Codanza, 2002)

Taylor/Dixon/Oxley (Les Disques Victo, 2002)

Ailanthus/Altissima: Bilateral Dimensions of 2 Root Songs (Triple Point, 2009)

Conversations with Tony Oxley (Jazzwerkstatt, 2018)

Birdland, Neuburg 2011 (Fundacja Słuchaj!, 2020)

Being Astral and All Registers – Power of Two (Discus, 2020)

With others

Paul Bley, Chaos with Furio Di Castri (Soul Note, 1998)

Anthony Braxton, Seven Compositions (Trio) 1989 (hatART, 1989)

Peter Brötzmann, Berlin Djungle (FMP, 1987)

Bill Evans, The 1972 Ljubljana Concert (2018)

Georgie Fame, The Two Faces Of Fame (CBS, 1967)

Michael Gibbs, Michael Gibbs (Deram, 1970)

George Gruntz, Monster Sticksland Meeting Two: Monster Jazz (MPS, 1974)

Tubby Hayes, Seven Steps to Heaven: Live at the Hopbine 1972 (Gearbox, 2013)

Giorgio Gaslini & Jean-Luc Ponty, Jean-Luc Ponty Meets Giorgio Gaslini (1974)

Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Keep On Driving (MPS, 1970)

Didier Levallet, Scoop (In+Out, 1983)

John McLaughlin, Extrapolation (1969)

Mark Nauseef, All In All In All (Relative Pitch, 2018)

Paul Rutherford & Iskra 1912, Sequences 72 & 73 (Emanem, 1997)

Ronnie Scott, Live at Ronnie Scott's (CBS, 1968)

Alan Skidmore, Once Upon a Time (Deram, 1970)

Vangelis, Hypothesis (Bellaphon, 1978)

Jasper van 't Hof and George Gruntz, Fairytale (MPS 1979)

Kenny Wheeler, Song for Someone (Incus, 1973)