- Courtesy of Cuneiform Records
- Mike Osborne
A number of factors explain why the remarkable British saxophonist Mike Osborne isn’t better know in the US— various illnesses, including schizophrenia and lung cancer (which eventually killed him in 2007), as well as the fact that he never worked in any meaningful capacity with American players during his peak years in the 60s and 70s. He stepped away from music for good in 1982, but over the preceding half-decade he struggled to maintain a career. His obscurity (and, naturally, his fate) is tragic, as he was one of the UK’s most fiery and driving players. He was a key figure working with many of the country’s most important musicians: Mike Westbrook, Chris McGregor, Harry Beckett, John Surman, and, in the bands Osborne led himself, Louis Moholo, Harry Miller, and Alan Skidmore, among others.
Today’s playlist:
