Steve Miller Trio feat. Lol Coxhill - Miller's Tale

Steve Miller Trio feat. Lol Coxhill - Miller's Tale

Matchless Recordings MR9 1986

I'm sure that followers of this blog cannot have failed to register the passing away of Lol Coxhill last week. Regular followers would also know that we have posted Coxhill many times in the past. So, to commemorate his passing, here is a live set from 1985 with the Steve Miller Trio. Miller and Coxhill have collaborated in the past, most notably on two lps out on the Virgin subsidiary Caroline from 1973 and 1974, respectively. These have been compiled on a double cd on the Cuneiform label, with lots of extra material from what I read. Might be well worth picking up for those who did not get the original albums. Miller and Coxhill were part of the whole Canterbury prog jazz rock scene which spawned a bunch of outfits, among others Delivery, with which both were associated, and Kevin Ayers and the Whole World which made a memorable album called "Shooting at the Moon", featuring Coxhill. Happily, some BBC sessions have recently trickled out on cd and those with long memories may recall we posted a set from Holland a while back.

While the earlier collaborations were fragmented and ad-hoc-ish, this set here is one contiguous performance spread over four sides where Miller and Coxhill are joined by Tony Moore on bass and Eddie Prevost, of AMM provenance, on drums. The Matchless label is very much alive as an outlet for AMM projects and other specimens of British improv. 

An intensely concentrated set, this one, freely improvised, no steady rhythmic backbone to discern here, Coxhill floating and gliding over the piano-led trio. Not as obviously whimsical as other Coxhill projects, but somewhat chamber-like with the type of close listening among the players one associates with the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and similar British improv combos. Not the stuff to grab you by the throat, but to gradually insinuate itself with you. A pleasant listening experience, whose rewards are acquired cumulatively. On top of it all, Coxhill's slippery soprano.

This is for blogger chum Marc down under who might not have this one (and who is a Lol aficionado, of course).

The facts:

Steve Miller Trio meets Lol Coxhill - Miller's Tale

Matchless Recordings MR9 1986

Steve Miller - piano

Tony Moore - double bass

Eddie Prevost - drums

Lol Coxhill - soprano saxophone

Side A - Nigh-and-Sly

Side B - Nether Eye

Side C - A Largeish Quart

Side D - Nowell's Flood

Recorded at a concert given at the Bull and Gate, Kentish Town, London on 11th November 1985 which was financially assisted by the Musicians' Union.

As the liner notes say; "You can hear witty barbs, serious debates, elbowing jokes, biting comments, affectionate banter, sarcastic asides and moments of repose".

More Coxhill coming up in the time to come!