Editing Lol Coxhill

{{short description|English free improvising saxophonist (1932–2012)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox musical artist 
| name                = Lol Coxhill
| image               = Lol Coxhill 2.jpg
| caption             = Coxhill at the Red Rose Club<br>in [[North London]], 2007
| background          = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name          = George William Lowen Coxhill
| birth_place         = [[Portsmouth]], [[Hampshire]], England
| birth_date          = 19 September 1932
| death_place         = London, England
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|2012|7|10|1932|9|19|df=yes}}
| instrument          = [[Soprano saxophone]], [[sopranino saxophone]]
| genre               = [[Free improvisation]]
| occupation          = Musician
| years_active        = 
}}

'''George Lowen Coxhill''' (19 September 1932&nbsp;– 10 July 2012)<ref name="Spicer">{{cite web |last1=Spicer |first1=Daniel |title=Saxophonist Lol Coxhill Dies Age 79 |url=https://www.jazzwise.com/other/article/jazz-breaking-news-saxophonist-lol-coxhill-dies-age-79 |website=Jazzwise |access-date=7 March 2021 |date=10 July 2012}}</ref> known professionally as '''Lol Coxhill''', was an English [[free improvisation|free improvising]] saxophonist. He played [[soprano saxophone|soprano]] and [[sopranino saxophone|sopranino]] saxophone.

==Biography==
Coxhill was born, to George Compton Coxhill and Mabel Margaret Coxhill (née Motton), in [[Portsmouth]], [[Hampshire]], UK.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jazzword.com/reviews/derek-bailey-evan-parker-steve-beresford-lol-coxhill-roger-turner-mike-cooper/|title=The Work of Lol Coxhill|website=Jazzword}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/display/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-2000104800|title=Coxhill, Lol|website=Grove Music Online|doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-2000104800}}</ref> He grew up in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, and bought his first saxophone in 1947. He originally trained as a [[bookbinder]], and worked in a factory work until the  mid-1960s.<ref name="petts">https://www.thewire.co.uk/news/19191/lol-coxhill-rip</ref>

After national service he became a busy semi-professional musician, touring US airbases with Denzil Bailey's Afro-Cubists and the Graham Fleming Combo. In the 1960s he played with visiting American blues, soul and jazz musicians including [[Rufus Thomas]], [[Mose Allison]], [[Otis Spann]], and [[Champion Jack Dupree]]. He also developed his practice of playing unaccompanied solo saxophone, often busking in informal performance situations. Other than his solo playing, he performed mostly as a sideman or as an equal collaborator, rather than a conventional leader – there was no regular Lol Coxhill Trio or Quartet as would normally be expected of a saxophonist. Instead he had many intermittent but long-lasting collaborations with like-minded musicians.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was a member of [[Canterbury scene]] bands [[Delivery (British band)|Carol Grimes and Delivery]]<ref>{{cite web|title =Lol Coxhill: Biography |publisher=AllMusic|first=Ron|last=Wynn | url ={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p8333|pure_url=yes}} |access-date =27 July 2010}}</ref> and then [[Kevin Ayers|Kevin Ayers and the Whole World]].<ref>{{cite web|title =Kevin Ayers and the Whole World: Shooting at the Moon |publisher=AllMusic|first=David Ross|last=Smith | url ={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r29618|pure_url=yes}} |access-date =27 July 2010}}</ref>

He became known for his solo playing and for work in duets with pianist Steve Miller<ref>{{cite magazine|title =Extended Analysis: Steve Miller/Lol Coxhill: The Story So Far...Oh Really?|magazine=All About Jazz |first=Nic|last=Jones | url =http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=26761 |date =28 August 2007 |access-date =27 July 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title =Cd/LP Review: Miller/Coxhill Coxhill/Miller / "The Story So Far..." "...Oh Really?"|magazine=All About Jazz |first=John|last=Kelman | url =http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=26385 |date =24 July 2007 |access-date =27 July 2010}}</ref> and guitarist G. F. Fitzgerald.

He was thought to have largely inspired [[Joni Mitchell]]'s song "For Free", while busking solo on the old footbridge which formed part of the [[Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges|Hungerford Bridge]] between Waterloo and Charing Cross.<ref>{{cite news|last=Walters|first=John L|title=Guardian obituary|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/jul/11/lol-coxhill|access-date=11 July 2012|location=London|work=The Guardian|date=11 July 2012}}</ref>

Coxhill collaborated with other musicians including [[Mike Oldfield]], [[Morgan Fisher]] (of [[Mott the Hoople]]), [[Chris McGregor]]'s [[Brotherhood of Breath]] and its musical descendant [[The Dedication Orchestra]], [[Django Bates]], [[The Damned (band)|the Damned]], Hugh Metcalfe, [[Derek Bailey (guitarist)|Derek Bailey]], [[Fred Frith]] and [[performance art]] group [[Welfare State International|Welfare State]].

He lived for a while in the Digswell Arts Trust in Welwyn Garden City and was a much liked member of the commune.

He often worked in small collaborative groups with semi-humorous names such as the Johnny Rondo Duo or Trio (with pianist Dave Holland – not the bassist of the same name), the Melody Four (characteristically a trio, with [[Tony Coe]] and [[Steve Beresford]]), and The Recedents (with guitarist Mike Cooper and percussionist [[Roger Turner (musician)|Roger Turner]]), known as such because the members were (in Coxhill's words) "all bald", though the name may additionally be a play on the American band [[the Residents]]. Typically these bands performed a mix of free improvisation interspersed with ballroom dance tunes and popular songs. There was humour throughout his music but he sometimes felt it necessary to tell audiences that the free playing was not intended to be a joke.

Coxhill was compere and occasional performer at the [[Bracknell Jazz Festival]], and a raconteur as well as a musician; he often would introduce his music by saying the words, "what I am about to play you may not understand".  It was following a performance at [[Bracknell]] that he recorded the melodramatic monologue ''Murder in the Air''.

His son Simon is a [[Punk rock|punk]] drummer who played with Acme Sewage Co.<ref>{{cite web|title=ACME SEWAGE CO|url=http://www.boredteenagers.co.uk/acme_sewage_co.htm|website=www.boredteenagers.co.uk|access-date=20 March 2018}}</ref> his daughter Claire is a vocalist and his daughter Maddie sings and plays in a ukulele band.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Feather|first1=Leonard|last2=Gitler|first2=Ira|title=The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz|date=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199886401|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KEHGs88c-aAC&dq=lol+Coxhill+son+simon&pg=PT341|language=en}}</ref> All three children appear with their father on "I am the Walrus", one of the tracks on ''Ear of Beholder'' and later featured on ''The Exotic Beatles part 2''.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Exotic Beatles, Pt. 2 – Various Artists {{!}} Songs, Reviews, Credits {{!}} AllMusic|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-exotic-beatles-pt-2-mw0000400687|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=20 March 2018}}</ref>

On 26 July 2007, Coxhill married Ulrike Gertrud Scholz. They had been together since 1991.<ref>{{cite news|last=Salewicz|first=Chris L|title=The Independent obituary|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/lol-coxhill-saxophonist-whose-work-ranged-punk-farthest-reaches-free-jazz-7936298.html|access-date=11 July 2012|location=London|work=The Independent|date=11 July 2012}}</ref> He died in London on 10 July 2010, aged 79. He had been seriously ill for about six months.<ref name="petts"/>

==Discography==
{{div col}}
* ''Ear of Beholder'' (Dandelion, 1971)
* ''Toverbal Sweet'' (Mushroom, 1972)
* ''Coxhill/Miller/Miller/Coxhill'' (Caroline, 1973)
* ''Welfare State & Lol Coxhill'' (Caroline, 1975)
* ''Fleas in Custard'' (Caroline, 1975)
* ''Diverse'' (Ogun, 1977)
* ''Lid'' (Ictus, 1978)
* ''The Joy of Paranoia'' (Ogun, 1978)
* ''Moot'' (Ictus, 1978)
* ''Digswell Duets'' (Random Radar, 1979)
* ''Slow Music'' (Pipe, 1980)
* ''Chantenay 80'' (Nato, 1981)
* ''Instant Replay'' (Nato, 1983)
* ''French Gigs'' (AAA, 1983)
* ''The Dunois Solos'' (Nato, 1984)
* ''Cou$cou$'' (Nato, 1984)
* ''The Inimitable'' (Chabada, 1985)
* ''10:02'' (Nato, 1985)
* ''Cafe De La Place'' (Nato, 1986)
* ''Frog Dance'' (Impetus, 1986)
* ''Before My Time'' (Chabada, 1987)
* ''Termite One'' (Bruce's Fingers, 1990)
* ''The Holywell Concert'' (Slam, 1990)
* ''Solo'' (Shock, 1990)
* ''Halim'' (Nato, 1993)
* ''Three Blokes'' (FMP, 1994)
* ''One Night in Glasgow'' (Scatter, 1995)
* ''Xmas Songs'' (Rectangle, 1998)
* ''Boundless'' (Emanem, 1998)
* ''Alone and Together'' (Emanem, 1999)
* ''Mouth'' (Fragile Noise, 2001)
* ''Worms Organising Archdukes'' (Emanem, 2002)
* ''Spectral Soprano'' (Emanem, 2002)
* ''Milwaukee 2002'' (Emanem, 2003)
* ''Out to Launch'' (Emanem, 2003)
* ''Darkly'' (Ictus, 2006)
* ''Darkly Again'' (Ictus, 2006)
* ''More Together Than Alone'' (Emanem, 2007)
* ''The Early Years'' (Ping Pong, 2007)
* ''Fine Tuning'' (Amirani, 2010)
* ''Success with Your Dog'' (Emanem, 2010)
* ''The Rock On the Hill'' (Nato, 2011)
* ''Old Sights, New Sounds'' (Incus, 2011)
* ''Sitting On Your Stairs'' (Emanem, 2013)
* ''Morphometry'' (Glo-Spot, 2020)
{{div col end}}

===As sideman===
'''With [[Kevin Ayers]]'''
* ''[[Shooting at the Moon (album)|Shooting at the Moon]]'' (Harvest, 1970)
* ''[[The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories]]'' (Island, 1974)
* ''Odd Ditties'' (Harvest, 1975)
* ''Singing the Bruise'' (Band of Joy, 1996)
* ''The Garden of Love'' (Voiceprint, 1997)
* ''Too Old to Die Young'' (Hux, 1998)
* ''Banana Follies'' (Hux, 1998)

===As sideman/session player (partial list)===
{{div col}}
*1971 ''[[No Roses]]'' – [[Shirley Collins]] and the [[Albion Country Band]] 
*1971 "[[Tokoloshe Man]]" – [[John Kongos]] 
*1972 ''Boo'' – Juliet Lawson (Sovereign Records) 
*1973 ''1984'' – [[Hugh Hopper]] 
*1973 ''Lonely Street'' – [[Delroy Washington]] (Count Shelly Records) – sax accompaniment and solo
*1974 ''[[The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories]]'' – [[Kevin Ayers]] 
*1975 ''The Death of Imagination'' – [[Penny Rimbaud]] (Red Herring Records)
*1977 ''[[Music for Pleasure (The Damned album)|Music for Pleasure]]'' – [[The Damned (band)|The Damned]] 
*1980 ''[[Way & Bar]]'' – [[John Otway]] & [[Wild Willy Barrett]] 
*1980 ''[[Krazy Kong Album]]'' – Wild Willy Barrett – sax solo on title track
*1982 ''The Flying Padovanis'' – Va Plus Haut – sax solo on the track
*1983 ''It's All Done By Mirrors'' – The Astronauts
{{div col end}}

'''With [[Company (free improvisation group)|Company]]'''
* ''Company 6'' (Incus, 1978)
* ''Company 7'' (Incus, 1978)
* ''Fictions'' (Incus, 1981)

'''With others'''
{{div col}}
* [[Mick Audsley]], ''Dark and Devil Waters'' (Sonet, 1973)
* [[Mick Audsley]], ''Storyboard'' (Sonet, 1974)
* [[Heidi Berry]], ''Love'' (4AD, 1991)
* [[Borah Bergman]], ''Acts of Love'' (Mutable Music, 2005)
* [[Thomas Borgmann]], ''Kith 'n Kin'' (Cadence,  1998)
* [[Caravan (band)|Caravan]], ''[[Waterloo Lily]]'' (Deram, 1972)
* [[Andrea Centazzo]], ''Situations'' (New Tone, 2000)
* Andrea Centazzo, ''Thirty Years from Monday'' (Ictus, 2006)
* [[Eugene Chadbourne]], ''Jesse Helms Busted with Pornography'' (Fire Ant, 1996)
* Eugene Chadbourne, ''Psychad'' (Swamp Room, 1997)
* [[Shalom Chanoch]], ''Shalom'' (DJM, 1971)
* [[Shirley Collins]] and [[The Albion Band|The Albion Country Band]], ''[[No Roses]]'' (Pegasus, 1971)
* [[Lindsay Cooper]], ''Music from the Gold Diggers'' (Sync Pulse, 1983)
* Lindsay Cooper, ''Rags & the Golddiggers'' (ReR, 1991)
* [[Mike Cooper (musician)|Mike Cooper]], ''Island Songs'' (Nato, 1996)
* [[Morgan Fisher]], ''Claws Cherry'' (Red,  1980)
* [[Frank Chickens]], ''We Are Frank Chickens'' (Kaz, 1984)
* [[Henry Padovani|The Flying Padovani's]], ''Western Pasta'' (Demon, 1981)
* [[Carol Grimes]], ''[[Fools Meeting]]'' (B&C, 1970)
* [[GP Hall]], ''Figments of Imagination'' (FMR, 1996)
* [[George Haslam]], ''Solos East West'' (Slam, 1997)
* George Haslam, ''From Whichford Hill'' (Slam, 2008)
* [[Charles Hayward (musician)|Charles Hayward]], ''Mathilde 253'' (Slam, 2011)
* [[Hugh Hopper]], ''1984'' (CBS, 1973)
* [[John Kongos]], ''Kongos'' (Fly, 1971)
* [[Alexis Korner]], ''Bootleg Him!'' (Warner Bros., 1972)
* Alexis Korner, ''Both Sides'' (Castle Music, 2006)
* [[Phil Minton]], ''My Chelsea'' (Rectangle, 2011)
* [[Tom Newman (musician)|Tom Newman]], ''Fine Old Tom'' (Virgin,  1975)
* [[John Otway]] & [[Wild Willy Barrett]], ''[[Way & Bar]]'' (Polydor, 1980)
* [[Playgroup (band)|Playgroup]], ''Epic Sound Battles Chapter Two Cherry'' (Red, 1983)
* [[Penny Rimbaud]], ''The Death of Imagination'' ((Red,  Herring, 2001)
* [[Paul Rutherford (trombonist)|Paul Rutherford]], ''[[Chicago 2002]]'' (Emanem, 2002)
* [[Second Hand (band)|Second Hand]], ''Death May Be Your Santa Claus'' (See for Miles, 1997)
* [[Spontaneous Music Ensemble]], ''Trio/Triangle'' (Emanem, 2008)
* [[John Stevens (drummer)|John Stevens]], ''A Luta Continua'' (Konnex, 1994)
* [[David Toop]], ''Black Chamber'' (Sub Rosa, 2003)
* [[Ultramarine (band)|Ultramarine]], ''Hymn Remixes'' (Blanco y Negro, 1994)
* [[Gary Windo]], ''His Master's Bones'' (Cuneiform, 1996)
* [[Trevor Watts]], ''Trevor Watts' Moire'' (Music Arc, 1985)
* [[Robert Wyatt]], ''Flotsam Jetsam'' (Rough Trade,  1994)
{{div col end}}

==Filmography==
* Hospital patient in [[Stephen Frears]]'s ''Walter'', 1982, [[Central Independent Television]]
* ''Frogdance'', a documentary about Coxhill, was shown by [[Channel 4]] (1987)
* Appearance as a butler in Sally Potter's 1992 film ''[[Orlando (film)|Orlando]]''
* Cameo appearance in the season-five episode "A Much Underestimated Man" of the TV detective series ''Strangers'' (a precursor to the series [[Bulman]])
* Appearance as a priest in [[Derek Jarman]]'s 1986 film ''[[Caravaggio (1986 film)|Caravaggio]]''
* Appearance as a priest in Fhiona Louise's 1989 film ''[[Cold Light of Day (1989 film)|Cold Light of Day]]''

==Further reading==
* ''The Bald Soprano: A Portrait of Lol Coxhill'' by [[Jeff Nuttall]]. [[Nottingham]], Tak Tak Tak, 1989.
* ''The Sound of Squirrel Meals: The Work of Lol Coxhill'' edited by Barbara Schwarz, Black Press, 2006.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Lol Coxhill}}
*{{IMDb name|id=0185304}}
* [https://www.facebook.com/groups/46643628397/ Lol Coxhill's Facebook page]
* [http://efi.group.shef.ac.uk/mcoxhill.html Biography and discography from European Free Improvisation Pages] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501083817/http://efi.group.shef.ac.uk/mcoxhill.html |date=1 May 2008 }}
* [http://efi.group.shef.ac.uk/video/vcoxhil1.mov Video sample from ''Frogdance''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060622222306/http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/video/vcoxhil1.mov |date=22 June 2006 }}
* [[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire's]][https://web.archive.org/web/20070613182618/http://www.rtxarchive.com/archive/articles/wire175.html ''100 Records That Set The World On Fire (When No One Was Listening)'']
* [http://www.besbrodepianos.co.uk/events.htm#diabetes Fund raising concert in aid of diabetes uk 7 June 2003 at Besbrode Pianos Leeds]

{{Albion Band}}
{{Brotherhood of Breath}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coxhill, Lol}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:2012 deaths]]
[[Category:Avant-garde jazz musicians]]
[[Category:English jazz soprano saxophonists]]
[[Category:English male saxophonists]]
[[Category:Emanem Records artists]]
[[Category:English buskers]]
[[Category:Free improvisation]]
[[Category:Musicians from Portsmouth]]
[[Category:People from Aylesbury]]
[[Category:Delivery (band) members]]
[[Category:English male jazz musicians]]
[[Category:The Albion Band members]]
[[Category:Brotherhood of Breath members]]
[[Category:The Dedication Orchestra members]]
[[Category:Incus Records artists]]
[[Category:Mushroom Records artists]]
[[Category:FMP/Free Music Production artists]]
[[Category:20th-century English saxophonists]]