Larry Stabbins
Encyclopedia
Larry Stabbins is a British
jazz
saxophonist, flutist and composer
.
. He started working with pianist Keith Tippett
when he was sixteen and later contributed to various Tippett projects such as Centipede
, Ark, Tapestry and the Keith Tippett Septet. In addition they also worked as a trio for a time with percussionist Louis Moholo.
In London in the early 70’s after a brief period in the Chris McGregor
’s Brotherhood of Breath
, he played with John Stevens
’ Spontaneous Music Orchestra, and occasionally with SME. During this period he also worked as a freelance commercial musician, playing studio sessions, nightclubs and West End shows as well as playing in more jazz based situations such as Mike Westbrook
’s 'Solid Gold Cadillac'. In 1980’s he joined the Tony Oxley
Quintet and played in various versions of it and also the Celebration Orchestra, for many years.
Around the same time he joined the London Jazz Composers Orchestra and also Peter Brotzmann
’s Alarm Orchestra and its successor the Tentet 'Marz Combo'. He also worked with, among others, the Eddie Prevost
Quartet, Trevor Watts
’ Moire Music, Louis Moholo
’s Spirits Rejoice, Elton Dean
’s Ninesense and the Heinz Becker
Quintet.
He also played in the cult pop group Weekend and started writing with its guitarist Simon Booth. This later evolved into Working Week, a band that took a mix of Latin, soul and jazz into the pop charts. From out of the Latin Jazz Dance scene in London clubs, the band mixed jazz with Latin dance rhythms and vocals by singers such as Juliet Roberts
, Julie Tippetts, Robert Wyatt
and Tracy Thorn. The band toured extensively in Europe and Japan, performing at most of Europe's major Jazz Festivals, recording five albums for Virgin Records
. Following the breakup of Working Week he formed QRZ? a fusion of jazz and rap which also recorded for Virgin.
In recent years he has worked with Keith Tippett’s Tapestry Orchestra, in Louis Moholo
’s Dedication Ochestra, in a quartet with Howard Riley
, playing the music of Robert Wyatt in Soupsongs, and in Jerry Dammers
Spatial AKA Orchestra
.
The album 'Stonephace' on Tru Thoughts Recordings, a collaboration with rave producer and DJ Krzysztof Oktalski, featured Portishead guitarist Adrian Utley
and Helm DeVegas on keyboards plus a guest appearance from trumpet player Guy Barker
.
His latest project 'Stonephace Stabbins' features Mercury nominated pianist Zoe Rahman, Crispin `Spry` Robinson from 90's Jazz /Rap band Galliano
on percussion, Karl Rasheed Abel on bass and Pat Illingworth on drums, all of whom also play in Jerry Dammers’ Spatial AKA Orchestra
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
saxophonist, flutist and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Biography
Larry Stabbons learned clarinet at school at the age of eight, when his musical idol was Acker Bilk. He started playing saxophone at the age of eleven. He was soon playing in local dance bands, doing his first paid gig at twelve, and later also in soul bands, playing the music of Junior Walker and James BrownJames Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
. He started working with pianist Keith Tippett
Keith Tippett
Keith Tippett is a British jazz pianist and composer.Tippett, the son of a local police officer, went to Greenway Boys Secondary Modern school in Southmead, Bristol. He formed his first jazz band called The KT7 whilst still at school and they performed numbers popular at the time by The Temperance...
when he was sixteen and later contributed to various Tippett projects such as Centipede
Centipede (band)
Centipede were an English jazz/progressive rock/Canterbury sound big band with more than 50 members, organized and led by the British free jazz pianist Keith Tippett...
, Ark, Tapestry and the Keith Tippett Septet. In addition they also worked as a trio for a time with percussionist Louis Moholo.
In London in the early 70’s after a brief period in the Chris McGregor
Chris McGregor
Christopher McGregor , was a South African jazz pianist, bandleader and composer born in Somerset West, South Africa.- Early influences :...
’s Brotherhood of Breath
Brotherhood of Breath
The Brotherhood of Breath was a big-band created in the late 1960s by South African pianist/composer Chris McGregor , essentially an extension of McGregor's previous band The Blue Notes....
, he played with John Stevens
John Stevens (drummer)
John William Stevens was an English drummer. He was one of the most significant figures in early free improvisation, and a founding member of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble .-Biography:Stevens was born in Brentford, the son of a tap dancer...
’ Spontaneous Music Orchestra, and occasionally with SME. During this period he also worked as a freelance commercial musician, playing studio sessions, nightclubs and West End shows as well as playing in more jazz based situations such as Mike Westbrook
Mike Westbrook
Michael John David 'Mike' Westbrook is an English jazz pianist, composer, and writer of orchestrated jazz pieces.-Early work:Mike Westbrook grew up in Torquay...
’s 'Solid Gold Cadillac'. In 1980’s he joined the Tony Oxley
Tony Oxley
Tony Oxley is an English free-jazz drummer and one of the founders of Incus Records.-Biography:Tony Oxley was born in Sheffield, England. A self-taught pianist by age eight, he first began playing the drums at seventeen. While in the Black Watch military band from 1957 to 1960 he studied music...
Quintet and played in various versions of it and also the Celebration Orchestra, for many years.
Around the same time he joined the London Jazz Composers Orchestra and also Peter Brotzmann
Peter Brötzmann
Peter Brötzmann is a German artist and free jazz saxophonist and clarinetist.Brötzmann is among the most important European free jazz musicians. His rough, lyrical timbre is easily recognized on his many recordings.-Early life:...
’s Alarm Orchestra and its successor the Tentet 'Marz Combo'. He also worked with, among others, the Eddie Prevost
Eddie Prévost
Edwin Prévost is an English drummer and percussionist.Prévost began as a jazz drummer before branching out into entirely improvised music. He was a co-founder of the group AMM, and remains its only constant member...
Quartet, Trevor Watts
Trevor Watts
Trevor Charles Watts is an English jazz and free-improvising alto and soprano saxophonist. He is largely self-taught, having taken up the cornet at age 12 then switched to saxophone at 18. While stationed in Germany with the RAF , he encountered the drummer John Stevens and trombonist Paul...
’ Moire Music, Louis Moholo
Louis Moholo
Louis Tebugo Moholo , is a South African jazz drummer.He formed The Blue Notes with Chris McGregor, Johnny Dyani, Nikele Moyake, Mongezi Feza and Dudu Pukwana, and emigrated to Europe with them in 1964, eventually settling in London, where he formed part of a South African exile community that made...
’s Spirits Rejoice, Elton Dean
Elton Dean
Elton Dean was an English jazz musician who performed on alto saxophone, saxello and occasionally keyboard....
’s Ninesense and the Heinz Becker
Heinz Becker
Heinz Reinhard Becker was a Major League Baseball first baseman who played for the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians...
Quintet.
He also played in the cult pop group Weekend and started writing with its guitarist Simon Booth. This later evolved into Working Week, a band that took a mix of Latin, soul and jazz into the pop charts. From out of the Latin Jazz Dance scene in London clubs, the band mixed jazz with Latin dance rhythms and vocals by singers such as Juliet Roberts
Juliet Roberts
Juliet Roberts is a British jazz, rock and house music singer of Grenadian descent.-Career:She originally recorded as Julie Roberts in 1982, and performed on the 1983 Top 10 hit single, "It's Over" by the Funkmasters...
, Julie Tippetts, Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine, with a long and distinguished solo career...
and Tracy Thorn. The band toured extensively in Europe and Japan, performing at most of Europe's major Jazz Festivals, recording five albums for Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
. Following the breakup of Working Week he formed QRZ? a fusion of jazz and rap which also recorded for Virgin.
In recent years he has worked with Keith Tippett’s Tapestry Orchestra, in Louis Moholo
Louis Moholo
Louis Tebugo Moholo , is a South African jazz drummer.He formed The Blue Notes with Chris McGregor, Johnny Dyani, Nikele Moyake, Mongezi Feza and Dudu Pukwana, and emigrated to Europe with them in 1964, eventually settling in London, where he formed part of a South African exile community that made...
’s Dedication Ochestra, in a quartet with Howard Riley
Howard Riley
John Howard Riley is an English jazz pianist and composer.Riley began on piano at age six, and began playing jazz as early as age 13. He studied at the University of Wales , Indiana University in America under Dave Baker , and then at York University...
, playing the music of Robert Wyatt in Soupsongs, and in Jerry Dammers
Jerry Dammers
Jeremy David Hounsell "Jerry" Dammers is a British musician who is a founder and keyboard player of the Coventry, England based ska revival band The Specials, The Special A.K.A...
Spatial AKA Orchestra
The Spatial AKA Orchestra
The Spatial AKA Orchestra is an English jazz fusion group, led by former Specials frontman and keyboard player Jerry Dammers. With music written by Dammers, The Independent described their music as "afro-futurism" in the style of Sun Ra...
.
The album 'Stonephace' on Tru Thoughts Recordings, a collaboration with rave producer and DJ Krzysztof Oktalski, featured Portishead guitarist Adrian Utley
Adrian Utley
Adrian Francis Utley is an English musician and a member of the band Portishead.-Biography:Utley is self-taught on guitar, bass and keyboards, and played professionally from the age of 18 in working men's clubs, night clubs, holiday camps, and in cabaret, backing soul artists...
and Helm DeVegas on keyboards plus a guest appearance from trumpet player Guy Barker
Guy Barker
Guy Barker is an English jazz trumpeter and composer. Barker was born in Chiswick, London, the son of an actress and a stuntman. He started playing the trumpet at the age of twelve, and within a year had joined the National Youth Jazz Orchestra...
.
His latest project 'Stonephace Stabbins' features Mercury nominated pianist Zoe Rahman, Crispin `Spry` Robinson from 90's Jazz /Rap band Galliano
Galliano (band)
Galliano were a London-based acid jazz group, which started in 1988. The group was the first signing to Eddie Piller and Gilles Peterson's Talkin' Loud label. The original members were Rob Gallagher , Constantine Weir , Michael Snaith , and Crispin Robinson...
on percussion, Karl Rasheed Abel on bass and Pat Illingworth on drums, all of whom also play in Jerry Dammers’ Spatial AKA Orchestra
Discography
- 1971 - Keith Tippett's `Centipede` - Septober Energy (RCA)
- 1973 - Spontaneous Music Orchestra - Mouthpiece (Emanem 4039)
- 1976 - Ashbury/Stabbins Duo - Fire Without Bricks (Bead 4)
- 1978 - Keith Tippett's Ark - Frames (Ogun)
- 1979 - Mama Lapato - Mama Lapato (Bead 20)
- 1980 - London Jazz Composers Orchestra - Stringer (FMP SAJ-41)
- 1982 - Moholo, Stabbins, Tippett - Tern (FMP SAJ-43/44 - Unheard Music Series)
- 1983 - Eddie Prevost Quartet - Continuum (Matchless MR7 Re-released with extra tracks as MRCD07 1999)
- 1985 - Keith Tippett Septet - A Loose Kite...(Ogun 007/008)
- 1985 - Tony Oxley Celebration Orchestra - Tomorrow Is Here (Dossier ST 7507)
- 1985 - Working Week - Working Nights (Virgin Records)
- 1986 - Working Week - Companeros Virgin Records)
- 1987 - Working Week - Surrender (Virgin Records)
- 1989 - Working Week - Fire In The Mountain (Virgin Records)
- 1989 - Working Week - Black and Gold (Virgin Records)
- 1992 - Peter Brotzmann Tentet - The Marz Combo - (FMP CD47)
- 1999 - Larry Stabbins & Oktal - Prayer (One track on Talking Drums - Unknown Public 12)
- 2001 - Wren/Stabbins/Riley/Sanders - Four In The Afternoon (Emanem 4067)
- 2003 - Larry Stabbins - Monadic (Emanem)
- 2009 - Stonephace - Stonephace (Tru Thoughts)
External links
- Stonephace Latest project.
- Biography European Improvisers pages.
- ABJ Biography All About Jazz biography.
- Emanem Reviews Article regarding Monadic.
- [ All Music Guide] Discography, biography.
- Tru Thoughts Brighton based record label for Stonephace.
- Discogs Discogs.com listing for Larry Stabbins.