By Martin
Schray

As soon as Jost Gebers, the person behind the seminal file label FMP, and Tony
Oxley needed to take Oxley’s drum gear in a Volkswagen bus from West
to East Berlin. On the border a GDR border guard was checking them and
puzzled over what unusual stuff was being transported. Gebers defined to
him that Oxley was a drummer. When the border guard then discovered a violin,
the matter was clear to him. Oxley needed to be a musical clown. Now, Tony
Oxley, who was something however a clown, and fairly an exceptional sound researcher,
percussionist, violinist and digital musician, has handed away.

Oxley was born in Sheffield and taught himself to play the drums. When he
was drafted into the British military, he turned a percussionist within the
army orchestra. Whereas serving, Oxley was capable of journey to the United
States the place he heard jazz greats, reminiscent of Artwork Blakey, Horace Silver, and
Philly Joe Jones dwell. To see these individuals dwell was a life-changing
expertise. Again house in Sheffield, he fashioned a jazz combo which he led for
three years. In 1963, he had one other decisive encounter: He met guitarist
Derek Bailey, who was dwelling simply across the nook. “A as soon as in a century
coincidence,“ was how Oxley described the assembly to the German music
journalist Bert Noglik. With bassist Gavin Bryars they fashioned a trio known as
Joseph Holbrooke named after a long-deceased British composer. The group
began out taking part in jazz requirements, however shortly advanced into other forms of
music, pushed by the pursuits of the three. Bryars was enthusiastic about
avant-garde classical composers, Oxley within the extra radical gamers in
up to date jazz and Bailey in each. Improvised music was the frequent
denominator that stored the trio going. It was music just about unknown in
England or elsewhere in Europe on the time. In accordance to Oxley and Bailey
the music developed just about out of itself within the course of Joseph
Holbrooke’s taking part in. In 1967 Oxley moved to London. Earlier than lengthy he had
established himself as the home drummer at one of many metropolis’s hottest
jazz golf equipment, Ronnie Scott’s. Though Oxley had already moved past
conventional jazz in his personal music, he loved performing with the gamers
who had helped invent jazz – legends such as Ben Webster, Joe Hendeson,
Stan Getz, and Invoice Evans. Thus, he developed a particular rhythmic type.
He was capable of play time in type of polyrhythmic beats, with out shedding the
authentic groove, simply to choose it up afterward. For a lot of musicians he was a
actual problem.

Oxley’s work at Ronnie Scott’s had given him a strong repute as a jazz
drummer though he had already linked to the freely improvised scene.
In 1969, he carried out on John McLaughlin’s first LP Extrapolation, and as a
member of Miles Davis’s band the guitarist was already up and coming. His
connection to him was the explanation why Oxley was provided a recording contract
by CBS and he was capable of launch The Baptised Traveller, which featured
members of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble: Evan Parker on saxophone, Derek
Bailey on guitar, Kenny Wheeler on trumpet, and Jeff Clyne on bass. The
outcome was a imaginative and prescient of the way forward for jazz, hardly heard at the moment.
Oxley’s band even managed to make one other file for CBS, 4 Compositions
For Sextet, Paul Rutherford on trombone augmented them. Commercially the
albums have been not profitable, no surprise CBS sacked him.

But, Oxley was on the protected facet as to cash due to his engagement at
Ronnie Scott’s, however normally improvised music in Nice Britain didn’t do
effectively. It was hardly attainable for the musicians to search out gigs, media and
file labels merely ignored it. This was the explanation why Oxley co-founded
the Musicians Cooperative with Bailey, Parker and a number of other different musicians
in 1970. One other transfer was to begin Incus Data, an unbiased
artist-owned file label, with Evan Parker and Derek Bailey. Lastly, the
musicians have been capable of doc their music, to launch and distribute
their albums with out being dependent on the massive majors.

Nonetheless, Oxley turned the drummer who was so influential for future
generations when he determined to broaden his drum equipment. He began to
experiment with numerous types of amplification and digital gadgets such
as ring modulators, for instance. He particularly preferred to use them on the
international objects he had included into the equipment: bowls, items of wire,
screws, and different metallic objects that have been capable of create a variety of
pure sounds. His already distinctive rhythmic type was linked to a brand new sound
universe. On the newest from that second on nobody appeared like Tony Oxley.

As to music two extra conferences have been essential in Toney Oxley’s life: The one
with the painter Alan Davie, who gave him his first violin. Oxley was
instantly within the rhythmic prospects of the instrument (not
the melodic ones, once more sometimes Oxley) and he began to work with string
ensembles of every kind from that second on. The opposite one was Oxley’s
encounter with Cecil Taylor. He met him when the pianist had an FMP
residence in Berlin throughout the summer season of 1988. He performed with him as a
duo, with William Parker within the Really feel Trio, and within the 17-piece Cecil Taylor
European Orchestra. What’s extra, Taylor launched him to Invoice Dixon,
with whom he additionally recorded a number of albums for the Italian Soul Word label.
Oxley turned Taylor’s favorite associate for the remainder of the pianist’s life.

Tony Oxley oeuvre is so enormous and numerous, it’s arduous to offer
suggestions. His early recordings are definitely essential landmarks for
the event of European free jazz. The Baptised Traveller (CBS, 1969) and Ichnos (RCA Victor, 1971) with the identical band, solely that Barry Man has
changed Jeff Clyne, are simply spectacular. Tony Oxley (Incus, 1975) – additionally
with the identical collaborators (however Dave Holzworth is on bass and Howard Riley
on piano) – should even be talked about. Oxley’s trio with Riley and Barry Man
is unquestionably recommendable, for instance Synopsis (Eminem, 1974). His work
with Cecil Taylor is well-documented and virtually all of the releases are
glorious. Above all, the primary Really feel Trio album,

Wanting

(FMP 1990), with William Parker on bass is excellent, presumably one of many
finest free music recordings ever made and one I maintain particularly dearly. As a
duo the 2 developed a wide ranging vitality, simply take heed to Leaf Palm Hand
(FMP, 1989) and

Ailanthus / Altissima: Bilateral Dimensions Of two Root Songs

(Triple Level Data, 2009). Private favorites of mine are his albums on
Soul Word with Invoice Dixon (trumpet), Barry Man and William Parker on bass –
Vade Mecum I and II (1994 and 96).

“I contemplate myself extra a percussionist, in distinction to a jazz drummer who
retains time“, Oxley instructed Bert Noglik within the aforementioned interview. “In
the brand new improvised music, a percussionist can interrupt the stream of his
taking part in with out affecting the character of his relationship to the opposite
gamers.“ Ought to St. Peter have checked Tony Oxley on the gates of heaven
and the drummer had his stuff with him, he will certainly not have taken him
for a clown, however for what he’s: one of many biggest drummers of the final
60 years. The jazz band in heaven can look ahead to him.

Annotation: components of this obituary are primarily based on a textual content by Gerald E. Brennan
on Tony Oxley

Watch Mr. Oxley play: