Paul Lytton (born 8 March 1947,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

) is an English

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

and free improvising

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

ist. Lytton began on drums at age 16. He played jazz in London in the late 1960s while taking lessons on the

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

from P.R. Desai. In 1969 he began experimenting with free improvisational music, working in a duo with saxophonist

Evan Parker Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944) is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation. Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free ja ...

. After adding bassist

Barry Guy Barry John Guy (born 22 April 1947, in London, England) is an English composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of or ...

, the ensemble became the Evan Parker Trio. He and Parker continued to work together into the 2000s; more recent releases include trio releases with

Marilyn Crispell Marilyn Crispell (born March 30, 1947) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Scott Yanow described her as "a powerful player... who has her own way of using space... She is near the top of her field." Jon Pareles of ''The New York Times'' ...

in 1996 ('' Natives and Aliens'') and 1999 (''

After Appleby ''After Appleby'' is a double-CD album by the members of the Evan Parker Trio (saxophonist Evan Parker, bassist Barry Guy, and drummer Paul Lytton), with guest pianist Marilyn Crispell. One CD was recorded on June 28, 1999, at Gateway Studio in L ...

''). A founding member of the

London Musicians Collective The London Musicians Collective (LMC) is a cultural charity based in London, England devoted to the support and promotion of contemporary, experimental and improvised music. From its foundation in 1975 until its reorganization in 2009, the LMC or ...

, Lytton worked extensively on the London free improvisation scene in the 1970s, and aided

Paul Lovens Paul Lovens (born 6 June 1949) is a German musician. He plays drums, percussion, singing saw, and cymbals. He has performed with the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra and Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra. He was born in Aachen, Germany. In the early ...

in the foundation of the Aachen Musicians' Cooperative in 1976. Lytton has toured North America and Japan both solo and with improvisational ensembles. In 1999, he toured with

Ken Vandermark Ken Vandermark (born September 22, 1964) is an American composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist. A fixture on the Chicago-area music scene since the 1990s, Vandermark has earned wide critical praise for his playing and his multilayered composit ...

and

Kent Kessler Kent Kessler (born January 28, 1957) is an American jazz double-bassist. Career Although born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, Kessler grew up on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He began playing trombone at age ten. When he was thirteen, he moved with his f ...

, and recorded with Vandermark on '' English Suites''. Lytton also collaborated with Jeffrey Morgan (alto & tenor saxophone), with whom he recorded the CD ''Terra Incognita'' Live in Cologne, Germany. He played also on

White Noise In signal processing, white noise is a random signal having equal intensity at different frequencies, giving it a constant power spectral density. The term is used with this or similar meanings in many scientific and technical disciplines, i ...

's pioneer electronic pop music album '' An Electric Storm'' in 1969.

Discography (partial)

As leader

*''The Inclined Stick'' (Po Torch, 1979) *'' The Balance of Trade'' (CIMP, 1996) *''?!'' (Pleasure of the Text, 2015)

As sideman or co-leader

With

and

* ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'' (Intakt, 2001) * ''

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

'' (Intakt, 2004) * '' Phases of the Night'' (Intakt, 2008) * '' Deep Memory'' (Intakt, 2016) With

/The London Jazz Composers' Orchestra * ''

Ode An ode (from ) is a type of lyric poetry, with its origins in Ancient Greece. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structu ...

'' (Incus, 1972) * ''

Zurich Concerts ''Zurich Concerts'' is a double live album by Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra featuring recordings of two large-scale compositions, one by Guy, the other by guest artist Anthony Braxton. The Guy work was recorded on November 11 ...

'' (Intakt, 1988) * ''

Harmos ''Harmos'' is an album by Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra that features a recording of a large-scale, 44-minute composition by Guy. It was recorded in April 1989, just before the LJCO's 20th anniversary, in Zürich, Switzerland, ...

'' (Intakt, 1989) * '' Double Trouble'' (Intakt, 1990) * ''

Theoria Christian mysticism is the tradition of mysticism, mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation f the personfor, the consciousness of, and the effect of ..a direct and transformative pr ...

'' (Intakt, 1992) * ''

Double Trouble Two ''Double Trouble Two'' is an album by Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra with guest artists Irène Schweizer (piano), Marilyn Crispell (piano), and Pierre Favre (drums). Documenting a large-scale, 47-minute composition by Guy, ...

'' (Intakt, 1998) * '' Radio Rondo/Schaffhausen Concert'' (Intakt, 2009) With the

New Orchestra * ''

Inscape–Tableaux ''Inscape–Tableaux'' is an album by bassist Barry Guy. It was recorded on May 18 and 19, 2000, at Rote Fabrik in Zürich, Switzerland, and was released in 2001 by Intakt Records. On the album, which features a seven-part composition by Guy, he p ...

'' (Intakt, 2001) * '' Oort–Entropy'' (Intakt, 2005) With

Roscoe Mitchell Roscoe Mitchell (born August 3, 1940) is an American composer, jazz instrumentalist, and educator, known for being "a technically superb – if idiosyncratic – saxophonist". ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' described him as "one of the key figure ...

*'' Composition/Improvisation Nos. 1, 2 & 3'' (ECM, 2004) With

*'' Collective Calls (Urban) (Two Microphones)'' (Incus, 1972) * '' At the Unity Theatre'' (Incus, 1975) *''

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

'' (Impetus, 1990) *'' 50th Birthday Concert'' (Leo, 1994) *'' The Redwood Session'' (CIMP, 1995) *''

Toward the Margins ''Toward the Margins'' is an album by the Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble, recorded in 1996 and released on the ECM New Series the following year.

'' (ECM, 1996) *'' Drawn Inward'' (ECM, 1998) *'' At the Vortex'' (Emanem, 1998) *'' Memory/Vision'' (ECM, 2002) * ''

America 2003 ''America 2003'' is a two-disc live album by saxophonist Evan Parker, pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, and drummer Paul Lytton. It documents two concerts presented during a month-long tour of the United States, with disc one recorded on May 1, ...

'' (Psi, 2004) with

Alexander von Schlippenbach Alexander von Schlippenbach (born 7 April 1938) is a German jazz pianist and composer. He came to prominence in the 1960s playing free jazz in a trio with saxophonist Evan Parker and drummer Paul Lovens, and as a member of the Globe Unity Orch ...

*''

Boustrophedon Boustrophedon () is a style of writing in which alternate lines of writing are reversed, with letters also written in reverse, mirror-style. This is in contrast to modern European languages, where lines always begin on the same side, usually the l ...

'' (ECM, 2004) *'' The Bishop's Move'' (Les Disques Victo, 2004) *'' The Moment's Energy'' (ECM, 2007) *''

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. As of 1 August 2023, Hasselt had a total population of 80,846. The old ...

'' (Psi, 2012) *'' Live at Maya Recordings Festival'' ( NoBusiness, 2013) *'' Music for David Mossman: Live at Vortex London'' (Intakt, 2018) With

, and

*'' Natives and Aliens'' (Leo, 1997) *''

'' (Leo, 2000) With

, et alia * Paul Lytton/Ken Vandermark: '' English Suites'' (Wobbly Rail, 2000) * Paul Lytton/Ken Vandermark/

Philipp Wachsmann Philipp John Paul Wachsmann (born 5 August 1944) is an African avant-garde jazz/jazz fusion violinist born in Kampala, Uganda, probably better known for having founded his own group Chamberpot. He has worked with many musicians in the free jazz id ...

: ''CINC'' (

Okka Disk Okka Disk is an independent American jazz record company and label founded in Chicago by Bruno Johnson in 1994. Okka began as a rock music label, but Johnson soon changed direction to record free jazz.

, 2006) * Paul Lytton/ +

Ikue Mori (born 17 December 1953), also known as Ikue Ile, is a drummer, electronic musician, composer, and graphic designer. Mori was awarded a "Genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation in 2022. Biography Ikue Mori was born and raised in Japan. She sa ...

/Ken Vandermark: ''The Nows'' (

Clean Feed Clean may refer to: * Cleaning, the process of removing unwanted substances, such as dirt, infectious agents, and other impurities, from an object or environment * Cleanliness, the state of being clean and free from dirt Arts and media Music Al ...

, 2012)

References

External links

Paul Lytton Paul Lytton (born 8 March 1947, London) is an England, English free jazz and free improvisation, free improvising percussionist. Lytton began on drums at age 16. He played jazz in London in the late 1960s while taking lessons on the tabla from ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lytton, Paul 1947 births Living people English jazz drummers British male drummers Musicians from London CIMP artists British male jazz musicians Globe Unity Orchestra members FMP/Free Music Production artists ECM Records artists Leo Records artists Incus Records artists Intakt Records artists NoBusiness Records artists Okka Disk artists Clean Feed Records artists Emanem Records artists Psi Records artists