Tony Oxley

One of the founders of jazz-based free improvisation in the U.K., from 1963 to 1966 Oxley was one-third of Joseph Holbrooke, a pioneering group based in Sheffield that also included guitarist Derek Bailey and then-bassist (later composer) Gavin Bryars. The group started out as a relatively conventional jazz outfit, but by 1965 it had begun playing totally improvised pieces. The group's relative isolation from other currents in British free music -- drummer John Stevens' London-based Spontaneous Music Ensemble was a contemporary -- purportedly helped the band develop a unique a...