Alan Wilkinson

Wilkinson was a visual designer before he was a musician. He transferred from Manchester to Leeds in 1975 to be able to pursue a qualification in great arts using a focus on painting. After graduation, he started playing the alto saxophone. He became a member of the group Crow, which also included drummer Paul Hession, who become Wilkinson’s longtime associate. After touring Belgium and Holland using the music group, Wilkinson made a decision to quit painting and only music. In 1979, Wilkinson produced a music group and started experimenting with various other instruments — generally percussion — and integrating structure with improvisation. In 1982, he went to a summertime music college in South Wales, where he’d touch such prominent music artists as Peter Brötzmann, Barry Man, Fred Truck Hove, Keith Tippett, and Phil Wachsmann. Shortly afterward, Wilkinson started playing gigs in the London free of charge improv picture. He played within a trio with Hession and pianist Akemi Kuniyoshi; he also collaborated with drummer Steve Hubback on several tasks. In 1983, he made an appearance in duo with Hession on the tenth annual Totally free Music Celebration in Antwerp with the Holland Artwork Effort in Eindhoven. That season, he also helped organize the Termite Membership in Leeds, a place for the display of experimental music and various other executing arts. In 1985, Wilkinson became a member of the Ubiquity Orchestra, a big improvising outfit. From 1985-1988, he performed within a trio with Steve Noble and Tony Moore, and from 1987-1989 using a quartet that included Willi Kellers, Christoph Winckel, and Alex Maguire. Like the majority of British improvisers of notice, Wilkinson offers participated in Derek Bailey’s Organization Week activities; Organization collaborators possess included Barre Phillips, Ernst Reijseger, Don Byron, Ikue Mori, and Phil Minton, to mention several. In the ’90s, Wilkinson’s most crucial association was a trio that also included Hession and bassist Simon Fell. The music group created when Fell became a member of the longtime Hession/Wilkinson duo in 1989. It continuing to execute and record through the ’90s. In 1996, the music group documented with guitarist Joe Morris, performed with Bailey in the Termite Event, and played many times with Brotzmann and Kellers. In 2000, the music group documented for the Ecstatic Serenity! label.