Tony Coe
Tony Coe | |
---|---|
Birth name | Anthony George Coe |
Born | Canterbury, England | 29 November 1934
Genres | Jazz |
Occupation(s) | Musician Composer |
Instruments | Clarinet Bass clarinet Flute Saxophones |
Years active | 1953–present |
Labels | Storyville Hep Hathut |
Website | Official website |
Anthony George Coe (born 29 November 1934) is an English jazz musician who plays clarinet, bass clarinet, flute as well as soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones.
Career
Born in Canterbury, Kent, Coe started out on clarinet and was self-taught on tenor saxophone. He performed in an Army band from 1953-1956 and later playing with Humphrey Lyttelton's band from 1957 to 1962.[1]
In 1965 he was invited to join Count Basie's band ('I'm glad it didn't come off – I would have lasted about a fortnight')[2] and has since played with the John Dankworth Orchestra, the Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band, Derek Bailey's free improvisation group Company, Stan Tracey, Michael Gibbs, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bob Brookmeyer, and performed under Pierre Boulez as well as leading a series of groups of his own, including Coe Oxley & Co with drummer Tony Oxley. He played clarinet on Paul McCartney's recording of "I'll Give You a Ring" released in 1982[3] and saxophone on John Martyn's 1973 album Solid Air.
Coe has also worked with the Matrix, a small ensemble formed by clarinettist Alan Hacker, with a wide-ranging repertoire of early, classical, and contemporary music, the Danish Radio Big Band, Metropole Orchestra and Skymasters in the Netherlands. He has worked additionally with the Mike Gibbs big band and the United Jazz and Rock Ensemble.
Coe has recorded on soundtracks for several films, including Superman II, Victor/Victoria, Nous irons tous au paradis, Leaving Las Vegas, Le Plus beau métier du monde and The Loss of Sexual Innocence. He also composed the film score for Camomille.
Awards and honours
In 1976 a grant from the Arts Council enabled him to write Zeitgeist - Based On Poems Of Jill Robin, a large-scale orchestral work fusing jazz and rock elements with techniques from classical music which was recorded on EMI records on 29 and 30 July 1976 at Lansdowne Studios based in Holland Park, London.[4] In 1995 he received an honorary degree and the Danish Jazzpar Prize.
Discography
As leader
- Tony's Basement with the Lansdowne String Quartet (Columbia, 1967)
- Sax with Sex (Metronome, 1968)
- Pop Makes Progress with Robert Farnon (Chapter One, 1970)
- With Brian Lemon Trio (77 Records, 1971)
- Zeitgeist: Based on Poems of Jill Robin (EMI, 1977)
- Coe-Existence (Lee Lambert, 1978)
- Time with Derek Bailey (Incus, 1979)
- Get It Together with Al Grey (Pizza Express, 1979)
- Tournee Du Chat (Nato, 1983)
- Le Chat Se Retourne (Nato, 1984)
- Mainly Mancini (Chabada, 1985)
- Mer De Chine (Nato, 1988)
- Canterbury Song (Hot House, 1989)
- Les Voix D'Itxassou (Nato, 1990)
- Les Sources Bleues with Tony Hymas, Chris Laurence (Nato, 1991)
- Captain Coe's Famous Racearound with Bob Brookmeyer (Storyville, 1996)
- In Concert with John Horler, Malcolm Creese (ABCDs, 1997)
- Jazz Piquant N'oublie Jamais with Tina May (Doz, 1998)
- Days of Wine and Roses with Alan Barnes (Zephyr, 1998)
- Street of Dreams with Warren Vaché (Zephyr, 1999)
- Jumpin with Warren Vaché, Alan Barnes (Zephyr, 1999)
- Sun, Moon, and Stars with Alan Hacker (Zah Zah, 1999)
- British-American Blue with Roger Kellaway (Between the Lines, 2000)
- Dreams with Gerard Presencer, Brian Lemon, Dave Green (Zephyr, 2001)
- What in the World with Richard Sinclair, David Rees Williams (Sinclair Songs, 2003)
- More Than You Know with Tina May, Nikki Iles (33 Records, 2004)
As sideman
With Steve Beresford
- 1985 Eleven Songs for Doris Day (Chabada)
- 1988 L'Extraordinaire Jardin De Charles Trenet (Chabada)
- 1989 Pentimento (Cinenato)
- 1996 Cue Sheets (Tzadik)
With the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band (MPS)
- 1968 Latin Kaleidoscope (MPS)
- 1968 All Smiles (MPS)
- 1969 Faces (MPS)
- 1969 All Blues (MPS)
- 1969 Fellini 712 (MPS)
- 1969 More Smiles (MPS)
- 1969 At Her Majesty's Pleasure
- 1969 Let's Face the Music and Dance
- 1969 Live at Ronnie Scott's
- 1969 Rue Chaptal
- 1969 Volcano
- 1971 Off Limits (Polydor)
- 1971 Change of Scenes with Stan Getz (Verve)
- 1971 Second Greatest Jazz Big Band in the World (Black Lion)
- 1973 Big Band Sound of Kenny Clarke & Francy Boland
- 1975 Open Door (Muse)
- 1976 November Girl with Carmen McRae (Black Lion)
- 1976 Live at Ronnie Scotts (MPS)
- 1988 Meets the Francy Boland Kenny Clark Big Band with Gitte Hænning (veraBra)
- 1992 Clarke Boland Big Band en Concert avec Europe 1 (Tréma)
- 1999 Our Kinda Strauss
With Georgie Fame
- 1966 Sound Venture (Columbia)
- 1967 The Two Faces of Fame (CBS)
- 1968 The Third Face of Fame (CBS)
With Tony Hymas
- 1988 Flying Fortress (Nato)
- 1990 Oyate (Nato)
- 1995 Remake of the American Dream
With Franz Koglmann
- 1990 A White Line (hatART)
- 1991 The Use of Memory (hatART)
- 1991 L'Heure Bleue (hatART)
- 1993 Cantos I-IV (hatART)
- 1995 We Thought About Duke with Lee Konitz (hatART)
- 1998 Make Believe
- 1999 An Affair With Strauss (Between the Lines)
- 2001 Don't Play Just Be (Between the Lines)
- 2001 O Moon My Pin-Up (hatOLOGY)
- 2003 Fear Death by Water (Between the Lines)
- 2005 Let's Make Love (Between the Lines)
- 2009 Lo-Lee-Ta: Music on Nabokov
With Humphrey Lyttelton
- 1957 Here's Humph! (Parlophone)
- 1960 Blues in the Night (Columbia)
- 1965 Humphrey Lyttelton and His Band
- 1971 Duke Ellington Classics (Black Lion)
- 2001 The Humphrey Lyttelton Big Band with Jimmy Rushing
- 2002 Humph Bruce & Sandy Swing at the BBC
- 2003 A Night in Oxford Street
- 2005 Humph Dedicates (Vocalion)
- 2013 Live at the Nottingham Jazz Festival 1972 (Calligraph)
With Mike McGear
- 1972 Woman
- 1974 McGear (Warner Bros.)
With Norma Winstone
- 1986 Somewhere Called Home
- 1998 Manhattan in the Rain
With others
- 1966 Black Marigolds, Michael Garrick
- 1969 Windmill Tilter: Story of Don Quixote, John Dankworth/Kenny Wheeler
- 1971 Mirrors, Benny Bailey
- 1972 Bootleg Him!, Alexis Korner
- 1973 For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night, Caravan
- 1973 Labyrinth, Nucleus
- 1973 Nigel Lived, Murray Head
- 1973 Solid Air, John Martyn
- 1974 Krysia, Krysia Kocjan
- 1974 Living on a Back Street, The Spencer Davis Group
- 1974 The Road of Silk, Pete Atkin
- 1975 Floresta Canto, Phil Woods
- 1975 Only Chrome-Waterfall Orchestra, Mike Gibbs
- 1976 Terminator, Nick Ingman
- 1978 A Crazy Steal, The Hollies
- 1978 Clark After Dark: The Ballad Album, Clark Terry
- 1979 Harmony of the Spheres, Neil Ardley
- 1982 Tug of War, Paul McCartney
- 1983 Visit with the Great Spirit, Bob Moses
- 1984 Berlin Djungle, Peter Brötzmann
- 1984 I'm Alright, Loudon Wainwright III
- 1984 The Mystery of Man, Sarah Vaughan
- 1989 For Heaven's Sake, Benny Bailey
- 1994 Jazz Tete a Tete, Tubby Hayes
- 1994 R.S.V.P., Richard Sinclair
- 1994 View from the Edge, Theo Travis
- 1996 Cue Sheets, Steve Beresford
- 1998 N'Oublie Jamais, Tina May
- 1998 Ridin' High: The British Sessions 1960–1971, Cleo Laine
- 1999 Sun Moon & Stars, Alan Hacker
- 2000 Where But for Caravan Would I?, Caravan
- 2001 Easy to Remember, Joe Temperley
- 2002 At the BBC Vol. 2: More Wireless Days, Chris Barber
- 2002 In the Evening, Sandy Brown
- 2002 Labyrinth/Roots, Ian Carr/Nucleus
- 2002 Songs for Sandy, Digby Fairweather
- 2002 Spectral Soprano, Lol Coxhill
- 2003 Transformations, James Emery/Klangforum Wien/Emilio Pomárico
- 2006 Dhammapada, John Mayer
- 2006 Jazz Icons: Live in '58 & '70, Dizzy Gillespie
- 2007 Dixie Band Stomp, Joe Daniels
- 2008 Etudes/Radha Krishna, John Mayer
- 2008 Harlem Airshaft: The Music of Duke Ellington, Alan Barnes
- 2015 A Good Time Was Had By All, Danish Radio Big Band
References
- ^ Tony Coe Biography www.allmusic.com Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- ^ Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia (London: Penguin, 2005), p. 120.
- ^ Liner notes of the Columbia 12-inch single 44-03019.
- ^ Zeitgeist by Tony Coe www.discogs.com
External links
- 1934 births
- Living people
- Bebop saxophonists
- Bebop clarinetists
- Post-bop saxophonists
- Post-bop clarinetists
- Hard bop saxophonists
- Hard bop clarinetists
- English jazz saxophonists
- British male saxophonists
- English jazz clarinetists
- People from Canterbury
- People educated at Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys
- Nucleus (band) members
- Musicians from Kent
- 21st-century saxophonists
- 21st-century clarinetists
- British male jazz musicians
- Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band members
- Incus Records artists
- Storyville Records artists
- 21st-century male musicians