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Alan Richard James Skidmore (born 21 April 1942) is an English jazz tenor saxophonist, and the son of saxophonist Jimmy Skidmore.

Career

He was born in London, England. Skidmore began his professional career in his teens, and early in his career he toured with comedian Tony Hancock. In the 1960s, he began frequently appearing with the BBC Radio Big Band, then worked with Alexis Korner, John Mayall, and Ronnie Scott. Commissioned by the BBC in order to represent the UK at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Skidmore formed a group with Harry Miller, Tony Oxley, John Taylor, and Kenny Wheeler. This group won three of six awards at Montreux, following which Skidmore was invited to record an album of the group's performances, forming the basis for Once Upon a Time. In the early 1970s, he started a saxophone-only band with John Surman and Mike Osborne. He has also worked with Mose Allison, Kate Bush, Elton Dean, Georgie Fame, Mike Gibbs, George Gruntz, Elvin Jones, Van Morrison, Stan Tracey, Charlie Watts, and Mike Westbrook.

Discography

• Once upon a Time (Deram Records DN11/SDN11, issued 1970)
• TCB (Philips 6308 041, recorded 21 October 1970)
• Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath (RCA/Neon, 1971)
• Jazz in Britain '68–69 with John Surman, Tony Oxley (Decca Eclipse ECS 2114, 1972, previously unreleased masters recorded at various sessions in 1968 and 1969)
• SOS with John Surman and Mike Osborne (Ogun, recorded Worthing, 9–11 February 1975)
• El Skid with Elton Dean, Chris Laurence, John Marshall (Vinyl Records, recorded Riverside Studios, 25–26 February 1977)
• European Jazz Quintet - Live at the Moers Festival (Ring-Moers 01018, recorded Moers, Germany, 29 May 1977)
• European Jazz Quintet (EGO, 1978)
• S.O.H. with Tony Oxley, Ali Haurand (EGO, 1979)
• S.O.H. with Tony Oxley, Ali Haurand (View Records VS 0018, Neuss, Germany, 25 April 1981)
• European Jazz Quintet III (Fusion, 1982)
• Tribute to Trane (Miles Music, recorded London, 18–19 February 1988)
• East To West with Stan Tracey (Miles Music MM 081CD, recorded Hong Kong, 1989, and Ronnie Scott's, London, February 1992)
• After the Rain (with string orchestra) (Miles Music 1998)
• The Call (Provocateur PVC 1018, Cape Town, April 1999 and London, May 1999)
• Ubizo (Provocateur PVC 1036, ca.2002)
• Bremen to Bridgwater with Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath (Cuneiform, 2004) recorded in 1971 and 1975
• S.O.H. Live in London (Jazzwerkstatt, 2007)
• Eclipse at Dawn with Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath (Cuneiform, 2008) recorded in 1971
• Jazz Live Trio with Kenny Wheeler (TCB, 2012)

References

1. ^ Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. ISBN 0-85112-580-8.
2. ^ "Alan Skidmore". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
3. Male, Andrew (2021). "'Rawness, freedom, experimentation': the Brit jazz boom of the 60s and 70s". The Guardian. No. 18 August. Guardian News & Media Limited. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
4. Searle, Chris (2019). "'He has inspired my whole life in jazz'". Morning Star Online. No. 09 September. People’s Press Printing Society. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
5. ^ Shipton, Alyn; Skidmore, Alan. "BBC Jazz Library - Alan Skidmore". BBC Radio 3 Jazz Library. BBC. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
6. "Discography". 27 June 2017. Archived from the original on 12 October 2006.
7. "Alan Skidmore | Album Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 August 2021.

External links

• Official site

• 1942 births
• Living people
• 21st-century English male musicians
• 21st-century British saxophonists
• English male saxophonists
• Brotherhood of Breath members
• Canterbury scene
• Centipede (band) members
• English blues musicians
• English jazz saxophonists
• European Jazz Ensemble members
• English jazz tenor saxophonists
• English male jazz musicians
• The Dedication Orchestra members