Alan Skidmore nook

[Bright Moments]

here we can talk about tenor/soprano sax player alan skidmore. having heard an excellent outing "live at cologne - Jan 12, 1978" i am ready to learn about who this excellent musician is and also to solicit some recommendations PLEASE!!

[sidewinder]

Proceed immediately past Go, do not collect £200 to..

His first album - and a rare one on the Deram Nova vinyl. Still available on CD in the UK from Dutton Vocalion, so you do not have to search for a version with OBI (is that some sort of Brit Beatlemania OBI design - LOL !)

Very fine session with Kenny Wheeler in the lineup.

Incidentally - I saw him on one occasion in a front line along with Pat LaBarbera and backed by Elvin Jones. Elvin used him quite a bit in Europe.

What an excellent tenor player he is. Not sure about his more recent 'Ubizo' recordings as I've not got them - any thoughts out there?

Edited August 29, 2010 by sidewinder

[ep1str0phy]

I looove his playing in the company of reedists of comparable weight (any number of groups with Mike Osborne and John Surman, the Brotherhood). He's such a precise and at times relentless player that it helps to have something a little rough or grainy to mix in.

I went nuts when I saw the lineup for Once Upon A Time, but I have to admit to being a little disappointed upon listening. The album has the overall sonority and character of the 2nd Miles Quintet (with analogous instrumentation), but the ensemble lacks the chattery looseness of the Miles band. Beautiful music, but a little steely in a way that's failed to engage me on an emotional level. I honestly find this to be the case with many of the albums that have come under the Vocalion banner (which does more or less encompass a school or community of UK jazz players), and I've done a substantial amount of listening (and continue to do so) to alter this assessment...

(Speaking a bit to the above, although a little off-topic) I do feel to an extent that, in broader terms, the most really "alive" improvised music to come out of the 60's/70's UK tended to embrace the aforementioned austerity and either take it to its logical extreme (Derek Bailey's serial-sounding free music, which seems at times to aspire to such iciness that it winds up in some weird, beautiful, craggy middle ground--or Evan Parker's music, which is so exact and mechanically powerful that it gets a little emotionally overwhelming) or introduce rogue elements (the infusion of South African players who are, in sound and predilection, almost the polar opposite of folks like Surman, Skidmore, etc.--and because of that maybe the best suited collaborators).

[clifford_thornton]

Yeah, pound for pound I might prefer TCB, but I have yet to hear any Alan Skidmore I don't like. That SOH trio (Skidmore, Oxley, Haurand) is nice, too, though the LPs don't come up very often. I've also got some really, really nice live recordings of Skidmore bands from the 70s that eclipse either of the two "proper" vinyls.

[A Lark Ascending]

This is excellent:

As is:

Both from the 70s.

A lot of what he did in the 90s was in 'Homage to 'Trane' territory. Very enjoyable (especially live) but not music I often return to. More recently he's been recording with South African musicians (more World music than Blue Notes). I must go back and give those a listen.

[BillF]

This is excellent:

As is:

Both from the 70s.

A lot of what he did in the 90s was in 'Homage to 'Trane' territory. Very enjoyable (especially live) but not music I often return to. More recently he's been recording with South African musicians (more World music than Blue Notes). I must go back and give those a listen.

Saw him a decade ago in Wigan in a "Homage to Bird and Trane" session with Peter King and a roarin' rhythm section. Wow!

[A Lark Ascending]

Saw him a decade ago in Wigan in a "Homage to Bird and Trane" session with Peter King and a roarin' rhythm section. Wow!

Sounds like a great bill.

But did you ever see his dad, Bill?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Skidmore

[sidewinder]

Yeah, pound for pound I might prefer

Interesting. My preference is for the earlier album but I'll have a listen to both of the vinyls today to see if I change my views.

Another one to check out is the previously mentioned 'SOS' (Surman, Osborne, Skidmore). Remember seeing them get 5 minutes on the TV, back in the day.

Edited August 30, 2010 by sidewinder

[BillF]

Saw him a decade ago in Wigan in a "Homage to Bird and Trane" session with Peter King and a roarin' rhythm section. Wow!

Sounds like a great bill.

But did you ever see his dad, Bill?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Skidmore

Yes, I saw Jimmy Skidmore twice with Humphrey Lyttelton's band at Leeds Town Hall in 1957 and 58. It was at a time when the traddies were berating Humph for "going modern". In fact, he was playing swinging Kansas City jazz, having augmented his band with a superb sax section of Skidmore, Tony Coe and Joe Temperley. (How far they were to go!) Skidmore played a central role in Humph's humour, e.g. arriving late on stage in time for a number allegedly called "Suddenly It's Skidmore". The '58 concert had a VIP presence - Jimmy Rushing!! Asked if he thought the band would be OK for him, he is said to have replied, "Waal, it's the real home cookin', y'know!"

[RogerF]

I would say that Skidmore's TCB must rank as one of the top 100 British jazz albums of all time. Ironically it has not yet received a re-issued on CD in the UK but was reissued in Japan on CD a few years ago. So copies are available very sporadically on eBay as would be the original vinyl, but that may set you back a few (hundred) dollars. The personnel on TCB are the 'usual suspects' and include Surman, Osborne and Malcolm Griffiths. I feel this album, rather than the also excellent Once Upon a Time sticks in the memory much more clearly.

ps the personnel changes slightly on different tracks but does feature some of the above at various times.

Edited August 30, 2010 by RogerF

[Head Man]

I would say that Skidmore's TCB must rank as one of the top 100 British jazz albums of all time. Ironically it has not yet received a re-issued on CD in the UK but was reissued in Japan on CD a few years ago. So copies are available very sporadically on eBay as would be the original vinyl, but that may set you back a few (hundred) dollars. The personnel on TCB are the 'usual suspects' and include Surman, Osborne and Malcolm Griffiths. I feel this album, rather than the also excellent Once Upon a Time sticks in the memory much more clearly.

ps the personnel changes slightly on different tracks but does feature some of the above at various times.

Yes that's one I missed when it came out in Japan and I've been regretting it ever since! Does anyone know where I can pick up a CD copy?

Update:

Hiroshi's found me a copy!

Edited August 31, 2010 by Head Man