Jüngst erschien auf Room40 eine kollaboratives Album mit elf eine große Bandbreite eröffnenden Tributestücken zu dem bekannten englischen Sopransaxofonisten Lol Coxhill (1932 – 2012), der den meisten als Jazzmusiker in Erinnerung geblieben ist, aber auch in anderen Bereichen – (Post-)Punk, Prog, Elektronik, Chanson – sowie als Schauspieler in Erscheinung getreten ist. Das vorliegende Projekt entstand unter der Leitung seines Freundes und Mitmusikers Mike Cooper, der in jedem der Stücke Sounds beiträgt und mit jeweils einem Saxofonisten in den kreativen Dialog geht. Beteiligt an den Duetten sind John Butcher, Michel Doneda, Elliott Sharp, Errico Di Fabritiis, Josep Galiena, Gianni Gebbia, Max Nagl, Aaron Hwkins, Jon Raskin, Larry Stabbins und Terry Day. “Lol and I passed one another during the 60s and early 70s at many festivals we were both playing on, like ships passing on the ocean”, erinnert sich Cooper. “I like to think that we both intuitively knew we would come together at some point in the future when the time was right to make some music.

Our roots were similar. I was playing acoustic Country Blues and he was usually with a Blues or RandB band. “Watcha Mike” was his greeting and that was worth a lot to me at the time. I felt we were ‘mates’. Eventually in the early 1980s, together with drummer/percussionist Roger Turner, we formed the improvising trio The Recedents. It was time and that time lasted for 20 plus years. To me he was the shaman; the shape shifter; the joker – the one who “…exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwise disobey normal rules and defy conventional behaviour.” – he would of course have denied this and would accuse me of talking ‘a load of bollocks’ – which he often did and which was and still is often true”. Cooper betont den persönlichen und überpersönlichen Charakter dieser Hoomage: “This compilation is my way of paying homage to him and to offer an opportunity to his fellow soprano saxophone players to join me in it. He touched all of these musicians lives and I thank them for their participation”. Das Tribute erscheint digital, der Erlös geht an Coxhills Frau Uli.