Derek Bailey was an English avant-garde guitarist and an important figure in the free improvisation movement. Bailey abandoned conventional performance techniques found in jazz, exploring atonality, noise, and whatever unusual sounds he could produce with the guitar. Much of his work was released on his own label Incus Records. In addition to solo work, Bailey collaborated frequently with other musicians and recorded with collectives such as Spontaneous Music Ensemble and Company.
Incus Records is a British record company and label founded by Derek Bailey, Tony Oxley, Evan Parker and Michael Walters that specializes in free jazz and improvised music.
Evan Shaw Parker is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation.
Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards.
Tony Oxley was an English free improvising drummer and electronic musician.
Barry John Guy is an English composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of orchestras in the UK and Europe. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music under Buxton Orr, and later taught there.
Paul William Rutherford was an English free improvising trombonist.
Philipp John Paul Wachsmann is an African avant-garde jazz/jazz fusion violinist born in Kampala, Uganda, probably better known for having founded his own group Chamberpot. He has worked with many musicians in the free jazz idiom, including Tony Oxley, Fred van Hove, Barry Guy, Derek Bailey and Paul Rutherford, among many others. Wachsmann is especially known for playing within the electronica idiom.
John Howard Riley is an English pianist and composer, who worked in jazz and experimental music idioms.
The Enchanted Messenger is a live album by a fifteen-piece ensemble called the Tony Oxley Celebration Orchestra, led by English percussionist Tony Oxley, and with trumpeter Bill Dixon appearing as a featured artist. It was recorded in November 1994 at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt on the last day of the Berlin Jazz Festival, and was released in 1995 by Soul Note. The album documents a realization of a 19-part graphic score by Oxley. The performance, which was preceded by two days of rehearsal, was also broadcast on Berlin radio and television.
Chicago 2002 is a live album by trombonist Paul Rutherford. It was recorded on April 26 and 27, 2002, at The Empty Bottle in Chicago, and was released later that year by Emanem Records. The album features an extended Rutherford solo followed by three tracks on which he is joined by saxophonists Lol Coxhill and Mats Gustafsson, trombonist Jeb Bishop, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, bassist Kent Kessler, and percussionist Kjell Nordeson.
In Backward Times is a live album by trombonist Paul Rutherford. Drawn from archival tapes, it was recorded in 1979, 1988, 2004, and 2007, in Milano, London, and Brussels, and was released in 2017 by Emanem Records. On track 1, Rutherford is accompanied by live electronics, while track 2 is a duet with bassist Paul Rogers. Track 3 is a solo performance, and track 4 is a trio setting featuring cellist Marcio Mattos and pianist Veryan Weston. The final track was recorded roughly three months before Rutherford's death, and documents his last public performance.
The Tony Oxley Quartet is an album by the group of the same name, led by percussionist Tony Oxley, and featuring guitarist Derek Bailey, keyboardist Pat Thomas, and electronic musician Matt Wand. It was recorded on April 8, 1992, at WDR, Cologne, and was released in 1993 by Incus Records.
February Papers is an album by percussionist Tony Oxley. It was recorded during February 1977 at Hampden Gurney Studios in London, and was released on LP later that year by Incus Records. On the album, Oxley is joined by guitarist Ian Brighton, violinists David Bourne and Philipp Wachsmann, and bassist Barry Guy. In 2020, the album was reissued on CD by Discus Music.
Floating Phantoms is a live album by the B.I.M.P. Quartet, led by percussionist Tony Oxley, and featuring violinist Phil Wachsmann, keyboardist Pat Thomas, and electronic musician Matt Wand. It was recorded on November 5, 1999, at the "Total Music Meeting" in Berlin, and was issued in 2002 by the German label a/l/l, an imprint of FMP, as their inaugural release.
The Tony Oxley/Alan Davie Duo is an album by percussionist Tony Oxley and multi-instrumentalist Alan Davie. It was recorded during 1974 and 1975 at various live and studio locations, and was initially released on vinyl on Davie's ADMW label. In 2003, it was reissued on CD in remastered form with two bonus tracks by the German label a/l/l, an imprint of FMP.
Triangular Screen is a live album by Tony Oxley Project 1, led by percussionist Oxley, and featuring guitarist Ivar Grydeland and double bassist Tonny Kluften. One track was recorded during March 2000 at the Kongsberg Jazzfestival in Kongsberg, Norway, and the remaining tracks were recorded during May 2000 at Blå in Oslo, Norway. The album was released later that year by the Norwegian Sofa label.
Beaming is an album by Tony Oxley. It was recorded on November 25, 2019, in Viersen, Germany, and was released in 2020 by Confront Recordings. The album features Oxley on electronics, plus percussionist Stefan Hölker, in a context in which improvisations by both musicians are combined with percussion music performed and recorded by Oxley in 1972.
Elaboration of Particulars is an album by percussionist Tony Oxley and multi-instrumentalist Alan Davie. It was recorded during 1977 and 1978 at Gamels Studio in Rush Green, Hertford, United Kingdom, and was released by Confront Recordings in 2021.
Unreleased 1974–2016 is an album by drummer and electronic musician Tony Oxley. The first three tracks were recorded in 1974, and feature Oxley with trumpeter Dave Holdsworth, trombonist Paul Rutherford, pianist Howard Riley, and bassist Barry Guy. These tracks were remastered and edited into their final form in 2005, 2019, and 2020. Track four, recorded in 1981, is performed by Oxley, saxophonist Larry Stabbins, violinist Phil Wachsmann, pianist Howard Riley, and guitarist Hugh Metcalfe, while the fifth and final track, recorded in 2016, pairs Oxley with percussionist Stefan Hölker. Drawn from Oxley's personal archive of recordings, the album was released in 2022 by Discus Music.
