Tony Oxley
Encyclopedia
Tony Oxley is an English
free-jazz drummer
and one of the founders of Incus Records
.
, England
. A self-taught pianist
by age eight, he first began playing the drum
s at seventeen. While in the Black Watch
military band
from 1957 to 1960 he studied music theory
and improved upon his drumming technique. From 1960 to 1964 he led his own quartet
which performed locally in England
, and 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 as Joe Henderson
, Lee Konitz
, Charlie Mariano
, Stan Getz
, Sonny Rollins
and Bill Evans
until the early 1970s. He was also a member of various groups led by musicians such as Gordon Beck
, Alan Skidmore
and Mike Pyne.
In 1969 Oxley appeared on the recording of the later released John McLaughlin
album Extrapolation
and also formed his own quintet
consisting of Derek Bailey, Jeff Clyne
, Evan Parker
and Kenny Wheeler
, releasing the album Baptized 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
along with Derek Bailey and others and also the Musicians Cooperative. He also received a three-month "artist-in-residence" at the Sydney Conservatorium in Australia
in 1970. Around this time he joined the London Jazz Composers Orchestra and also got involved with collaborations with Howard Riley
. In 1973 he became an instructor in jazz
at the Barry Summer School located in Wales
, and in 1974 he formed another group of his own known as Angular Apron. Through the 1980s he worked with various musicians, including Tony Coe
and Didier Levallet
, also forming his own Celebration Orchestra during the latter half of that decade. Oxley also did extensive touring with Anthony Braxton
in 1989, and also began a long-lasting working relationship with Cecil Taylor
during this period.
In 1993 he joined an international quartet that included Tomasz Stańko
, Bobo Stenson
, and Anders Jormin.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
free-jazz drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
and one of the founders of Incus Records
Incus Records
Incus Records is an artist-owned record label, founded by Derek Bailey, Tony Oxley, Evan Parker and Michael Walters, specialising in the dissemination of free-improvised music. The first release on the label was The Topography of the Lungs, recorded by Bailey, Parker and Han Bennink in 1970...
.
Biography
Tony Oxley was born in SheffieldSheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. A self-taught pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
by age eight, he first began playing the drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s at seventeen. While in the Black Watch
Black Watch
The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The unit's traditional colours were retired in 2011 in a ceremony led by Queen Elizabeth II....
military band
Military band
A military band originally was a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the title of Bandmaster or Director of Music...
from 1957 to 1960 he studied music theory
Music theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
and improved upon his drumming technique. From 1960 to 1964 he led his own quartet
Quartet
In music, a quartet is a method of instrumentation , used to perform a musical composition, and consisting of four parts.-Western art music:...
which performed locally in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and in 1963 he began working with Gavin Bryars
Gavin Bryars
Richard Gavin Bryars is an English composer and double bassist. He has been active in, or has produced works in, a variety of styles of music, including jazz, free improvisation, minimalism, historicism, experimental music, avant-garde and neoclassicism.-Early life and career:Born in Goole, East...
and guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Derek Bailey in a trio known as Joseph Holbrooke
Joseph Holbrooke
Joseph Charles Holbrooke was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was sometimes referred to as "the cockney Wagner".-Family:...
. Oxley moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1966 and became house drummer at Ronnie Scott's, where he accompanied visiting musicians as Joe Henderson
Joe Henderson
Joe Henderson was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than forty years Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent labels, including Blue Note.-Early life:From a very large family with five sisters and nine...
, Lee Konitz
Lee Konitz
Lee Konitz is an American jazz composer and alto saxophonist born in Chicago, Illinois.Generally considered one of the driving forces of Cool Jazz, Konitz has also performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings...
, Charlie Mariano
Charlie Mariano
Carmine Ugo Mariano was an American jazz alto saxophonist. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and died in Cologne, Germany.-Biography:Mariano was the son of Italian immigrants....
, Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
, Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
and Bill Evans
Bill Evans
William John Evans, known as Bill Evans was an American jazz pianist. His use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists including: Chick Corea, Herbie...
until the early 1970s. He was also a member of various groups led by musicians such as Gordon Beck
Gordon Beck
Gordon James Beck was an English jazz pianist.Beck was born in Brixton, London, and attended Pinner County Grammar School . He studied piano in his youth, but decided to go into a career as an engineering technical draughtsman...
, Alan Skidmore
Alan Skidmore
Alan Skidmore is a tenor saxophonist of jazz and blues music, son of the saxophonist Jimmy Skidmore.-As a sideman:...
and Mike Pyne.
In 1969 Oxley appeared on the recording of the later released John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin (musician)
John McLaughlin , also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer...
album Extrapolation
Extrapolation (album)
Extrapolation is the debut album by Jazz guitarist John McLaughlin. It was recorded at Advision Studios in London on January 18, 1969 and first released later that year by Giorgio Gomelsky's Marmalade Records....
and also formed his own quintet
Quintet
A quintet is a group containing five members.It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single unit....
consisting of Derek Bailey, Jeff Clyne
Jeff Clyne
Jeffrey Ovid 'Jeff' Clyne was a British jazz bassist .-Biography:...
, Evan Parker
Evan Parker
Evan Shaw Parker is a British free-improvising saxophone player from the European free jazz scene.Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free jazz and free improvisation, and has pioneered or substantially expanded...
and Kenny Wheeler
Kenny Wheeler
Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC is a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. since the 1950s....
, releasing the album Baptized Traveller. Following this album the group was joined by Paul Rutherford
Paul Rutherford
Paul Rutherford is the former backing vocalist, dancer and occasional keyboardist with 1980s pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood , one of the group's two openly gay singers....
on trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
and became a sextet
Sextet
A sextet is a formation containing exactly six members. It is commonly associated with vocal or musical instrument groups, but can be applied to any situation where six similar or related objects are considered a single unit....
, releasing the 1970 album 4 Compositions for Sextet. That same year Oxley helped found Incus Records
Incus Records
Incus Records is an artist-owned record label, founded by Derek Bailey, Tony Oxley, Evan Parker and Michael Walters, specialising in the dissemination of free-improvised music. The first release on the label was The Topography of the Lungs, recorded by Bailey, Parker and Han Bennink in 1970...
along with Derek Bailey and others and also the Musicians Cooperative. He also received a three-month "artist-in-residence" at the Sydney Conservatorium in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 1970. Around this time he joined the London Jazz Composers Orchestra and also got involved with collaborations with Howard Riley
Howard Riley
John Howard Riley is an English jazz pianist and composer.Riley began on piano at age six, and began playing jazz as early as age 13. He studied at the University of Wales , Indiana University in America under Dave Baker , and then at York University...
. In 1973 he became an instructor in jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
at the Barry Summer School located in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, and in 1974 he formed another group of his own known as Angular Apron. Through the 1980s he worked with various musicians, including Tony Coe
Tony Coe
Anthony George Coe is a composer and jazz musician who plays clarinet, bass clarinet, and tenor saxophone.Coe began his performing career playing with Humphrey Lyttelton's band from 1957 to 1962...
and Didier Levallet
Didier Levallet
Didier Levallet is a French jazz double bassist, composer, arranger and leader.A self-taught bassist, Levallet made his professional debut in Paris in 1969, working with such artists as Ted Curson, Johnny Griffin, Kenny Clarke, Mal Waldron, Hank Mobley, Archie Shepp, Tony Oxley, Steve Lacy, Harry...
, also forming his own Celebration Orchestra during the latter half of that decade. Oxley also did extensive touring with Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton is an American composer, saxophonist, clarinettist, flautist, pianist, and philosopher. Braxton has released well over 100 albums since the 1960s...
in 1989, and also began a long-lasting working relationship with Cecil Taylor
Cecil Taylor
Cecil Percival Taylor is an American pianist and poet. Classically trained, Taylor is generally acknowledged as one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an extremely energetic, physical approach, producing complex improvised sounds, frequently involving tone clusters and...
during this period.
In 1993 he joined an international quartet that included Tomasz Stańko
Tomasz Stanko
Tomasz Stańko is a Polish trumpeter, composer and improviser. Often recording for ECM, Stańko is strongly associated with free jazz and the avant-garde....
, Bobo Stenson
Bobo Stenson
Bo Gustav Stenson is a Swedish jazz pianist. Stenson was noted as early as 1963, when he stepped up from the local scene in Västerås to start playing frequently in Stockholm, where he accompanied a long line of visiting American players including Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Gary Burton...
, and Anders Jormin.
As collaborator
}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}- John SurmanJohn SurmanJohn Douglas Surman is an English jazz saxophone, bass clarinet and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music as a basis...
: Adventure PlaygroundAdventure Playground (album)Adventure Playground is an album by English saxophonist John Surman featuring Paul Bley, Gary Peacock and Tony Oxley recorded in 1991 and released on the ECM label.-Reception:The Allmusic review awarded the album 4 stars....
(ECM, 1991)}}}}}}}} - Tomasz StańkoTomasz StankoTomasz Stańko is a Polish trumpeter, composer and improviser. Often recording for ECM, Stańko is strongly associated with free jazz and the avant-garde....
: Matka JoannaMatka JoannaMatka Joanna is an album by Polish jazz trumpeter and composer Tomasz Stańko recorded in 1994 and released on the ECM label. The music was inspired by Jerzy Kawalerowicz's 1961 movie Matka Joanna od Aniołów.-Reception:...
(ECM, 1994)}}}}}} - Tomasz Stańko: LeosiaLeosia (album)Leosia is an album by Polish jazz trumpeter and composer Tomasz Stańko recorded in 1996 and released on the ECM label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Michael G. Nastos awarded the album 3½ stars stating "As ECM recordings go, Leosia is one of the label's, and certainly trumpeter Tomasz Stanko's,...
(ECM, 1996)}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}