Tony Oxley RIP

[Steve Reynolds]

Per Mark Wastell

June 15, 1938 

December 26, 2023

The legendary iconic drummer/composer/inventor/improvisor is gone

 

saw him once in duo with Cecil at Tonic on Norfolk Street

 

RIP, sir

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by Steve Reynolds

[sidewinder]

Very sad news, if confirmed true. RIP, one of Yorkshire's finest.

Saw him just the once but it was that amazing concert with Cecil Taylor and Anthony Braxton in London some years ago.

Edited December 26, 2023 by sidewinder

[mjazzg]

A real giant

Certainly seems to be gaining traction online that he has died. And I'm sure Mark at Confront would be very sure before confirming.

I saw that Oxley, Taylor, Braxton concert too, extraordinary. Also saw him at RFH with Bill Dixon, extraordinary again.

Over recent years I've bought a number of releases on Confront and Discus and never been disappointed.

Such a long and fruitful career.

If I was at home with my LPs 'Ichnos' and '4 Compositions' would be on this evening.

[soulpope]

R.I.P   ....

[BillF]

Saw him at Ronnie Scott's in the sixties.

[sidewinder]

5 minutes ago, BillF said:

Saw him at Ronnie Scott's in the sixties.

There was some good film footage of him in action there in that 'Ronnie's' documentary with Stan Tracey and Rick Laird also in the house rhythmn section.

28 minutes ago, mjazzg said:

I saw that Oxley, Taylor, Braxton concert too, extraordinary.

If my memory is right (and that concert definitely left an imprint) the collective intensity these guys were generating had me thinking they were about to self-levitate at one stage. Extraordinary.

Edited December 26, 2023 by sidewinder

[Clunky]

Sad news. A great talent.

[Jason Bivins]

Saw him only once, sitting next to Steve.

 

Absolute legend, thank you sir and rest easy.

[optatio]

R.I.P. ...

[John L]

Very sad.  RIP

[OliverM]

Very sad. Such a fantastic musician!

[romualdo]

I'm shocked - too soon!!!

RIP Tony

just checked my iTunes library & I have him on over 33 hours of recordings (mostly vinyl/CD that I've transferred to iTunes), starting at Joseph Holbrooke & running up to Birdland 2011 with CT (hadn't picked up "Beaming" yet from 2019)

such a superb musician

Edited December 27, 2023 by romualdo

[JSngry]

Not as familiar with him as I should be, but I saw him on VHS with Cecil and that was some deep music on all sides and in the middle.

RIP

[Rabshakeh]

Very sad news to hear. A titan. 

[Д.Д.]

Very sad news. I saw him live with Cecil, he was fascinating to hear.  

Edited December 28, 2023 by Д.Д.

[randyhersom]

If you do downloads, this is an exceptional value:

https://www.amazon.com/2-Ts-Lovely-Cecil-Taylor/dp/B00008UVCH/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

 

[Roger Farbey]

Not for nothing he won top place in the drummer section of the Melody Maker Jazz Polls for four years running (1969-1972). I witnessed him playing with Gordon Beck at the Barry Jazz Summer School. He was phenomenal and electrifying. IMO he was the best drummer the UK has produced. Apparently John McLaughlin employed him on Extrapolation because there wasn't another drummer available who could handle the complex time signatures. He will be sorely missed. RIP Tony.

[clifford_thornton]

On 12/27/2023 at 4:39 PM, Roger Farbey said:

Not for nothing he won top place in the drummer section of the Melody Maker Jazz Polls for four years running (1969-1972). I witnessed him playing with Gordon Beck at the Barry Jazz Summer School. He was phenomenal and electrifying. IMO he was the best drummer the UK has produced. Apparently John McLaughlin employed him on Extrapolation because there wasn't another drummer available who could handle the complex time signatures. He will be sorely missed. RIP Tony.

Well put. Was lucky to see him a few times, twice with Cecil and once in duo with Min Tanaka (as part of a Cecil fete). Two of the occasions he was on electronics, but the first time in 2002 he was behind an extended kit. Beautiful. May he RIP.

[adh1907]

Good tribute from Steve Beresford in London Jazz News:

https://londonjazznews.com/2024/01/01/tony-oxley-a-tribute-by-steve-beresford/
 

I was lucky enough to be at the two London concerts mentioned above. Powerful stuff. He also played and toured (well, Manchester at least) with Sonny Rollins in the 60s. With Stan Tracey on piano. That must have been interesting.

Anthony