Tony Coe born 29 November 1934

Anthony George Coe (29 November 1934 – 16 March 2023) was an English jazz musician who played clarinet, bass clarinet, and flute as well as soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones. As a clarinetist in his mature years he was widely regarded in the jazz environment as one of the best in the world. 

Coe 2nd from right with Lyttelton

Born in Canterbury, Kent, England, Coe started out on clarinet and was self-taught on tenor saxophone. At just 15 years of age in 1949 he played in the Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys trad band and two years later, aged 17, became a full professional with Joe Daniels. In 1953, aged 18, he joined the army where he played clarinet in the Military band and saxophone with the unit Dance Band. After demob in 1955 he spent some time in France with the Micky Bryan Band before rejoining Joe Daniels. In 1957 Tony's father went to see Humphrey Lyttelton and, as a result, Tony spent just over four years with Humphrey's band from 1957 to the end of 1961. This was a period when Coe was brought to the attention of critics and fans as well as giving him some degree of international fame. 

He left Lyttleton at the end of 1961 to form his own outfit, shifting more or less exclusively to the tenor saxophone and clarinet. In 1965, Coe was invited to join Count Basie's band (later saying: "I'm glad it didn't come off – I would have lasted about a fortnight") and has since played with the John Dankworth Orchestra, the Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band, Derek Bailey's free improvisation group Company, Stan Tracey, Michael Gibbs, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bob Brookmeyer, and performed under Pierre Boulez as well as leading a series of groups of his own, including Coe Oxley & Co with drummer Tony Oxley. 

As leader, his notable albums in this period include 1967's Tony's Basement for Denis Preston, a combination of jazz players and string quartet which "suits his evenness of tone and highly personal sound perfectly, and which recalls Stan Getz's beautiful Focus". In 1967-68 he performed regularly with the John Dankworth band, and from 1968-72 with the classy Clarke/Boland orchestra in Europe. In the 70’s Coe played regularly in Henri Mancini’s orchestra on tours to Europe. Coe and Mancini had been mutual admirers ever since the former’s replacement of the original Pink Panther saxophonist, Plas Johnson, on the theme tune, and the Englishman’s subtle version of the saxophone part was an audience favourite on tours. 

                                   

In 1976, a grant from the Arts Council enabled him to write Zeitgeist - based on poems of Jill Robin, a large-scale orchestral work fusing jazz and rock elements with techniques from classical music which was recorded on EMI records on 29 and 30 July 1976 at Lansdowne Studios based in Holland Park, London. Another recording with Denis Preston is his "Third Stream masterpiece" Zeitgeist from 1977. He played saxophone on John Martyn's 1973 album, Solid Air and clarinet on Paul McCartney's recording of "I'll Give You a Ring", released in 1982. 

Coe also worked with the Matrix, a small ensemble formed by clarinettist Alan Hacker, with a wide-ranging repertoire of early, classical, and contemporary music, the Danish Radio Big Band, Metropole Orchestra and Skymasters in the Netherlands. He has worked additionally with the Mike Gibbs big band and the United Jazz and Rock Ensemble. As leader, a career highlight from 1989 is the Canterbury Song album featuring the American pianist Horace Parlan. 

Coe recorded on soundtracks for several films, including Superman II, Victor/Victoria, Nous irons tous au paradis, Leaving Las Vegas, Le Plus beau métier du monde and The Loss of Sexual Innocence. He also composed the film score for Camomille. In 1995 the music world paid Coe due respect for three decades of accomplishment when he became the first non-American to receive the prestigious Jazzpar prize. In celebration he composed a fine extended big-band work, Captain Coe’s Famous Racearound (named after a childhood toy, and a venture he would come to regard as one of his lifetime favourites) for a performance conducted by the American jazz composer Bob Brookmeyer at the Jazzpar awards ceremony in Copenhagen. 

In the 2000s and beyond he would continue to play sporadically and to record with compatible partners and friends, including the trumpeter Gerard Presencer, Horler, the pianist Nikki Iles and the singer Tina May, as well as the saxophonist and bandleader Alan Barnes. In 2021 Coe and Horler belatedly released Dancing in the Dark, a long-neglected tape of their appearance at the 2007 Appleby jazz festival in Cumbria, for which Coe had made a last-minute decision to perform entirely on the clarinet. He continued to perform and record music well into his later years, and he remained an important figure in the jazz community until his death. 

Coe, who lived in Canterbury, died on 16 March 2023, at the age of 88.

(Edited from Wikipedia & The Guardian)