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.
Evan Shaw Parker is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation.
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.
Emanem Records is a record company and independent record label founded in London, England in 1974 by Martin Davidson and Madelaine Davidson to record free improvisation.
Paul William Rutherford was an English free improvising trombonist.
Simon H. Fell was an English jazz bassist and composer; he is primarily known for his work as a free improviser and the composer of ambitiously complex post-serialist works.
Nipples is a 1969 album by free jazz saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, originally released on the Calig record label. The title track is performed by a sextet comprising Brötzmann, Evan Parker, Derek Bailey (guitar), Fred Van Hove (piano), Han Bennink (drums), and Buschi Niebergall (bass). The other track featured, "Tell a Green Man", is performed by a quartet made up of Brötzmann, Van Hove, Niebergall, and Bennink.
The Baptised Traveller is the debut album by English free-jazz drummer Tony Oxley, which was recorded in 1969, released on CBS as part of their Realm Jazz Series and reissued on CD by Columbia in 1999. The album, the first of a trilogy that Oxley recorded for major labels, has enjoyed legendary status for years as an avant-garde classic.
4 Compositions for Sextet is an album by English free-jazz drummer Tony Oxley, which was recorded in 1970 and released on CBS. The album, the second of a trilogy that Oxley recorded for major labels, features the same band with whom he recorded the previous, The Baptised Traveller, expanded to a sextet with the addition of trombonist Paul Rutherford.
Ode is an album by the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra composed by bassist Barry Guy and conducted by his teacher, Buxton Orr. It was recorded as part of the English Bach Festival at the Oxford Town Hall in 1972 and first released as a double album on the Incus label then as a double CD on Intakt in 1996 with additional material.
Song for Someone is the second album led by trumpeter and composer Kenny Wheeler which was recorded in 1973 and released on the Incus label. The album was rereleased on CD on Psi Records in 2004.
Dart Drug is an album by improvising musicians Derek Bailey and Jamie Muir, recorded at Crane Grove, London, in August 1981. It was produced by Derek Bailey and released on LP by Incus Records in 1981. It was reissued on CD by Incus in 1994, and by Honest Jon's in 2018.
Oort–Entropy is an album by bassist Barry Guy. It was recorded in May and July, 2004, at SWR Studio in Baden-Baden, Germany, and was released in 2005 by Intakt Records. On the album, which features a three-part composition by Guy, he plays bass and conducts members of his New Orchestra: Evan Parker and Mats Gustafsson on saxophone, Hans Koch on bass clarinet, Herb Robertson on trumpet, Johannes Bauer on trombone, Per Åke Holmlander on tuba, Agustí Fernández on piano, and Paul Lytton and Raymond Strid on percussion. Oort–Entropy is the group's second recording, following 2001's Inscape–Tableaux.
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.
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.
Sequences 72 & 73 is an album by trombonist Paul Rutherford and the group known as Iskra 1912. It was recorded during 1972–1974 in London, and was released in 1997 by Emanem Records. The album features studio recordings of two ensemble works composed and conducted by Rutherford, plus a live recording of a solo trombone piece.
A Birthday Tribute: 75 years is a live album by percussionist Tony Oxley released in celebration of his seventy-fifth birthday. The album begins with two quartet tracks recorded during 1993, on which Oxley is joined by guitarist Derek Bailey, keyboardist Pat Thomas, and electronic musician Matt Wand. The remaining three tracks were recorded during 1977, and feature Oxley in a duo with trombonist Paul Rutherford, a trio with violinist Philipp Wachsmann and guitarist Ian Brighton, and a solo percussion work with electronics. The album was released in 2013 by Incus Records.
Soho Suites is a two-CD album by guitarist Derek Bailey and percussionist Tony Oxley. The music on disc one was recorded at a studio in Soho, London, during February 1977, while disc two documents a live session at the Knitting Factory in New York City on September 19, 1995. The album was released in 1997 by Incus Records.
