Alan Skidmore
b. Alan Richard James Skidmore, 21 April 1942, Kingston-on-Thames, London, England. Skid plays soprano and tenor saxes, flutes and drums. He is the son of Jimmy Skidmore, who gave him a discarded tenor which Alan ignored until he was about 15. At that time he decided to teach himself to play. A muscular and versatile player himself, the musicians he particularly admires include Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Michael Brecker, Ronnie Scott, Andy Sheppard and, above all, John Coltrane. Skid began playing professionally in 1958, and did various commercial engagements, including tours with comedian Tony Hancock and singer Matt Monro and five years in the house band at London's Talk Of The Town night club. In 1961 he made the first of many appearances on BBC radio's JAZZ CLUB, and also met his idol, Coltrane. In the following years Skidmore worked with numerous important and/or successful bands, including Eric Delaney where he replaced his father when Jimmy decided to leave (in 1963), Alexis Korner (1964), John Mayall's Blues Breakers (1964), Ronnie Scott (1965), Georgie FameAnd The Blue Flames (1970), Mike Westbrook (1970-71), Michael Gibbs (1970-71), and Chris McGregor's Brotherhood Of Breath (1971). In 1969 he had formed his own quintet, with which he won the best soloist and best band awards at the Montreux Jazz Festivaland gained a scholarship to Berklee, though he did not take this up. In 1973 he co-founded SOS, probably the first all-saxophone band, with Mike Osborne and John Surman. He has subsequently had various small groups of his own, including El Skid (co-led with Elton Dean), SOH, and Tenor Tonic, and has worked with the George Gruntz Concert Band, the Elvin JonesJazz Machine, the Charlie Watts Orchestra, Stan Tracey, Van Morrison, Georgie Fame again, and with the West German Radio Band as featured soloist from 1981 to 1984. In April 1991 he was reunited with Surman when they played as a duo at a benefit for Osborne.