Alan Wilkinson

Alan Wilkinson is a saxophonist from Ilford, in the United Kingdom, born in 1955. He plays soprano, alto and baritone saxophones, and also uses voice. He becomes involved in free jazz, avant-garde jazz and free improvisation through a career centred on live performance, collaboration and ensemble work.

Early life and move into music

After a short period in Manchester, Wilkinson moves to Leeds in 1975 to study for a Fine Arts degree with a focus on painting. He initially considers a career in librarianship, but after completing his degree he begins playing alto saxophone and turns from painting to music.

Early groups and improvisation

Wilkinson joins Crow with Mathew Coe, also known as Xero Slingsby, Richard Ward and drummer Paul Hession, a long-time associate. After a short tour of Belgium and Holland, he gives up painting and concentrates on saxophone. In 1979 he forms Art, Bart & Fargo with Hession and tenor saxophonist Pete Malham. That group experiments with a wide range of other instruments, mainly percussion, and mixes composition with pure improvisation. It performs in England, Belgium and Germany before disbanding after three years.

Improvised music scene and organising work

In 1982 Wilkinson attends the Improvised Music Summer School in South Wales, where he meets players including Peter Brötzmann, Barry Guy, Fred Van Hove, Keith Tippett, Phil Wachsmann and Radu Malfatti. This leads to gigs on the London improvised music scene, a trio with Paul Hession and Japanese pianist Akemi Kuniyoshi, and many performances with drummer Steve Hubback in varied combinations. In 1983 he appears in duo with Hession at the 10th annual Free Music festival in Antwerp and at the Holland Art Initiative in Eindhoven. That same year he is among the original organisers of the Termite Club in Leeds, which specialises in improvised and experimental music and performing arts.

Later ensembles and collaborations

From 1985 to 1988, Wilkinson plays in a trio with Steve Noble and Tony Moore, touring in Britain, Belgium, Holland and Denmark. In 1985 he also joins the large improvising ensemble The Ubiquity Orchestra. From 1987 to 1989 his work includes a widely toured quartet with Willi Kellers, Christoph Winckel and Alex Maguire, which continues through to 1992, as well as a tour of England and Wales with Phil Durrant, Thebe Lipere, Will Evans, Louis Moholo and Keith Tippett. He also plays with Mick Beck’s large group Feet Packets and tours England with Alex Maguire’s nine-piece Cat o’Nine Tails.

Derek Bailey’s Company and other projects

Wilkinson is invited to play in Derek Bailey’s Company on several occasions. He first appears in 1987 on a tour of Switzerland and Italy with Steve Noble, Barre Phillips and Ernst Reijseger. He returns in 1988 for a Company Week at the ICA in London alongside Dennis Palmer, LaDonna Smith, Gregg Bendian and Milo Fine, and in 1993 he helps organise and takes part in Company Week at the Place Theatre with musicians including Don Byron, Robyn Schulkowski, Ikue Mori and Phil Minton.

Other associations include the John Law Quartet, the London group Ya Basta, and Real Time with artist Gina Southgate and drummer Mark Sanders, sometimes joined by Maggie Nicols or Susanna Ferrar. He also plays solo from 1991 onwards.

Hession / Wilkinson / Fell

Wilkinson is especially known for the trio Hession / Wilkinson / Fell, formed when Simon Fell joins the long-standing duo with Paul Hession in 1989. The group is known for high-energy free improvisation, beginning with a forceful sound before moving into more varied dynamics. It also works in different settings, including a short UK tour with guitarist Joe Morris and a performance with Derek Bailey at the annual Termite Festival in Leeds. Wilkinson and Fell later tour the UK as part of a quartet with Peter Brötzmann and Willi Kellers, revisiting a line-up they have used before.