Lol Coxhill

:(See also Coxhill-Bedford Duo, Kevin Ayers, Frank Chickens, Longest Gaps Between Peel Session Appearances‎‎)
thumb|right|320px|I Am The Walrus from Ear of Beholder (Dandelion, 1971)
George W. Lowen Coxhill, generally known as Lol Coxhill (19 September 1932 – 10 July 2012) was an English free improvising saxophonist and raconteur. He played the soprano or sopranino saxophone.
He grew up in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, and bought his first saxophone in 1947. 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..(Read more at Wikipedia)
== Links To Peel ==
Peel apparently first became aware of Coxhill when he saw the musician busking on London's South Bank in 1968. . In an International Times column he mentions "an amazing soprano-playing busker who was even mentioned by (Melody Maker gossip columnist} the Raver. If you see him, thank him how you will for playing such nice music..." 
After being signed to the DJ's Dandelion label, the saxophonist recorded as a solo artist, releasing the double album Ear Of The Beholder. In issue 5 of the "new music" magazine Impetus (July 1977) Coxhill explained how the album came to be recorded:
:Peel heard me when I was playing in the street and asked me if I would like to do something. The original idea was that I should do the whole thing in the street, but I told him I didn't want to. I wanted to do at least a double (I'd even thought of a triple) so that I could establish that I'm not just a street musician but that I slot into lots of things, I've never been a straight blues player, I've never been a straight soul player, I've never been a straight anything.
As a result of Peel's attention, Coxhill was featured on the front page of Cream magazine in August 1971, unusual exposure for such an uncompromising and uncommercial musician. He was interviewed for the publication by Punch and Times columnist (and jazz bass player) Miles Kington, who had played alongside the saxophonist on a few jazz sessions and was aware of his busking. Kington explained how the cover story came to pass:
:John Peel got very interested in him and asked him to do an album for Dandelion. Lol said yes, as long as he was given complete control, which he was, and the double LP came out. Bob Houston, who edits this magazine, rang me up and said it is about time we had someone on the cover who is real and not Mick Jagger, and would I talk to Lol Coxhill?...(Cream, August 1971, p.18) 
Coxhill also recorded for Dandelion as part of the Coxhill-Bedford Duo. With Bedford and guitarist Mike Oldfield, he had been part of the Kevin Ayers Whole World band before making his solo debut and for a time in the mid-1970s was contracted to Virgin Records subsidiary label Caroline, which specialised in avant-garde material. He subsequently played on the 1977 Damned LP Music For Pleasure and recorded a Peel session with the Frank Chickens in the 1980s.
== Festive Fifty Entries ==
*None
== Sessions ==
*Two sessions under own name. No known commercial release.
1. Recorded: 1972-05-22. First broadcast: 13 June 1972. Repeated: 29 August 1972
*Felicidad / Whitefield Music II / Mood / Whispering
2. Recorded: 1973-05-07. First broadcast: 19 June 1973. Repeated: 23 October 1973
*Bath 72 / Monk / Fire And Rain / Theme For Mrs. Greig
(Please correct mistakes and add any missing info)
== Other Shows Played ==
*14 February 1983: Disco Dementia (7" - Il Froga Silencio) Umyu F-3.005
*20 February 1983 (BFBS): Disco Dementia (7" - Il Froga Silencio) Umyu F-3.005
*21 April 1986: Changing Partners (10" album - The Inimitable) Chabada OH9 (see Mostly Peel Spring 1986)
*23 April 1986: Little Froggies (LP - The Inimitable) Chabada
*13 January 1995: Two Little Pigeons (album - Ear Of Beholder) (Dandelion)
== See Also==
*Gigography 1972
== External Links ==
*Wikipedia entry
*Official site
*Cream Magazine 1971: Cover
*jazzwisemagazine.com: Saxophonist Lol Coxhill Dies Age 79 (July 10, 2012)
*Guardian: obituary (July 11, 2012)
Category:Artists