The man is a national treasure, and Spectral Soprano is crammed full of fine examples of his work in progress. Recommended. - BBC website

No 21 - Wire magazine albums of the year 2000
Lol Coxhill with Tony Knight's Chessmen, Paul Schutze, Steve Miller, Bruce Turner, Dave Green, Veryan Weston, Pat Thomas, Lu Edmonds, Bob Cobbing, Hugh Metcalfe, Jennifer Pyke, Stu Butterfield, Olly Blanchflower, Colin Wood, David G Holland, John Edwards, Steve Noble, Pete Kempster, Peter Love, Jeff Griffin, The Recedents, Laurie Allen, Rik Rue, The Melody Four, Paul Rutherford, Knut Aufermann, Michael Kosmides, John Edwards, London Improvisers Co-op.

Lol Coxhill, adenoidal soprano saxist and the very personification of struggle and integrity in the UK's early improvised music scene, was blowing up a storm in 1971, when this album was first released. Within a few minutes he has reminded us how beautifully he can play... - Richard Cochrane

Featuring Pierre Courbois, Jasper Van't Hof.

"This wonderful British saxophonist is at home in any conceivable musical context (and a few inconceivable ones!). He has recorded numerous solo albums, most of which would probably not interest progressive rock fans. One possible exception is 1974's The Story So Far... Oh, Really? a release which he shared with ex-Caravan keyboardist Steve Miller (brother of Hatfield, etc. guitarist Phil Miller). The music on both sides is that slightly goofy, jazzy-type stuff which all Canterbury fans will immediately recognize and appreciate. Backing musicians include drummer Laurie Allan, bassist Archie Leggett, Kevin Ayers (guitar on one cut) and Robert Wyatt (voice on one cut). Contrary to the liner notes, on Side One (the Steve Miller side) there are only two solo piano pieces, three piano-drums duets (with Laurie Allan), and one piano-sax-bass-drums quartet. A must-have for Canterburians." - Dave Wayne, Gibraltor Encylopaedia of Progressive Rock

Lol Coxhill, Steve Miller and Laurie Allen.

No 33 Best albums of 1975 - Scaruffi.com

"It's just as outrageous as his previous releases...." - EUROCK;

Cover notes: This play is in 2 parts. oriiginally recorded in the 1930s, was rediscovered by David Bedford with whom I performed it in the early 70s. At that time we were hoping to record it with a full cast and appropriate effects, but were unable to arouse the interest of any of the existing companies at that time.

When I performed this piece 'solo' at the 1977 Bracknell Jazz Festival, Micheal Eagleton invited me to record and release it in the form of a 12" single on the new 'Chiltern Sound' jazz label. I hope that David Bedford will eventually also release his version. My own readings of the parts of Major Tim Harding, the doctor and the brigadier, sadly, don't match up to his, but one must do one's best as did Gertrude Lawrence.

Listen to this record before you part with your week's culture allowance - but then purchase a copy, if only because I seem such a warm honest person. - Lol Coxhill, F.D.A.T.

A Play in 2 Acts by William J. Stone. Lol Coxhill.

"This Ogun CD is actually the reissue of two Coxhill albums from the '70s. The first, "Diverse" -- which is comprised of two improvisations ("Diver" and "Divers") with bassist Dave Green, percussionist John Mitchell, and cellist Colin Wood -- was issued in 1977 and is represented here last. The second, The Joy of Paranoia -- which features Coxhill in settings from solo to trio -- was released in 1978....In all, this is a fine retrospective view of Coxhill, even if it is only for two years. This was a particularly fertile period for him, and listeners will be more than gratified by its breadth and scope". - Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

Featuring Lol Coxhill, Michael Garrick, Dave Green, John Mitchell, Paul Mitchell-Davidson, Ken Shaw, Veryan Weston, Colin Wood, Richard Wright.

The first six tracks feature Coxhill soloing through a variety of subtle and atmospheric effects via the electronics of Simon Emmerson. To be honest, these are simply stunning...Both Weston and Coxhill weave and interplay, creating some fascinating textures... - Dave W Hughes - Modern Dance 2001

This is one of the, if not the first recording of a saxophonist being processed in real-time. Coxhill dialogues with his electronic ghost, interacting with Emmerson's manipulations (20 years later John Butcher and Phil Durrant would use the same technique, with much better technology). - François Couture - All-Music Guide 2001

Lol Coxhill with Simon Emmerson and Veryan Weston. 

Cover notes: The Reims concert was an unscheduled performance that took place during the 'Musiques de Traverses' festival of 1981. It was recorded by Dominique Diebold at the Maison de la Culture Andre Malreaux. The pieces on side B are from a short tour undertaken in 1978. In Poitiers the concert was promoted by 'L'Orielle Est Hardies' - at the auditorium Sainte Croix on 25th October. The recording was by Michel Demily of the M.j.c. 'Alienor d'Aquitaine'. In Limoges, Jean-Claude 'James' Dupron put on the concert one day later and recorded it on a cassette.

The three pieces were edited and collated by Fred Frith in New York in November 1982.

Lol Coxhill and Fred Frith 

Cover notes: Recorded during performance on May 3rd 1980 at "Floz", Berlin by Jost Gebers. This is a recording of the first meeting on stage of these 3 musicians as a trio together. Mike had not played with David before, and did not know the Rondo tunes. We agreed however, not to rehearse any material but simply decided on a programme as we went along, i.e. when to play solo or in duo or trio cobinations. On the selection presented here we decided to exclude most episodes of solo and dup playing, and also to create a balance between spontaneous and pre-meditated material.

Featuring Lol Coxhill, David Holland and Mike Cooper.

Cover notes: This album with Lol Coxhill came about largely as a result of my increasing disaffection with the idea of continually striving to become an instrumental 'virtuoso'. This ambition seemed progressively more irrelevant, especially as I have always been more affected by music as sound rather than as performance. With regard to composition, I have now reached a point where, rather than writing songs per se (something I was never very good at) I am interested in the results of assembling recorded sounds (preferably 'natural' rather than electronic) using studio techniques in order to surprise myself, without aiming for a specific mood in order to elicit Pavlovian response from the listener... - Morgan Fisher

This album with Morgan Fisher is the result of the latest of a number of collaborations with musicians working primarily in the elctronic field of music. Unlike my previous recordings, including solo pieces, musch of this music has been created by Morgan alone, from pre-recorded notes and phrases supplied by me for this prpose. My real contribution here lie in the first and last tracks of side A, where the music was initially developed in sequence collectively and then treated further by Morgan. - Lol Coxhill

A brief discussion with Lol proved that we are both able to view our own performance as a raw material which can be subject to extreme dissection and reconstruction. This album was subsequently recorded, fairly rapidly, spontaneously and intuitively. - Morgan Fisher

Lol Coxhill and Morgan Fisher.

Featuring Joelle Leandre, Christian Rollet, Bagad de Kemperle, Paul Rutherford, Annik Nozati, Sven-Ake Johanson, Louis Sclavis, Misha Mengelberg, Emmanuel Bex, Xavier Jouvelet, Raymond Boni, Jacques Berrocal, Tony Coe.

Cover note: MUSIC LOVERS throughout the world thrill to the sound of the melody four, Chabada's very own caballeros, though Tony, Steve and Lol are by no means inseparable. What better proof than this superb album by an artist so unique that no other has dared to attempt emulation. Try as one might, it would be impossible to confuse this voice with those of Sinatra, Bennett, Mathis, Inglesias, Tiny Tim or Doris Day.

RELAX! You are in good hands. Coxhill's co-pilots on this aural adventure are the best. Veryan Weston and Steve Beresford on piano and Stuart Hall playing bass, violin and guitar. Add to this distinctive sounds of the Coxhill soprano, listen well...and FLY!!!

Duo with Pat Thomas.

Lashing piano licks, moody and alive collide with blissed skronk and smooth cadence of Lol's sax. Soundscapes such as break beats, electronics, and obscure samples, opens up a very nice can of musical worms. Tracks that show no direction seem to subconsciously deliver you to the promised land. Piano terets meets soliloquy sax. Very hip bop new soundin' fresh. A total A+. - KFCJ

Is this what they mean by "Postmodern Improvisation"?...You never know what kind of sound is going to come out next: dialogue from movies, samples of rhythm tracks (hip-hop, latin jazz, etc.), samples of Coxhill's improvising. There are also a couple of spoken word segments from Coxhill that have a very English sense of humo(u)r. Sometimes I get the impression that Coxhill and Thomas are in two separate worlds, but I have to say on the whole this is pretty entertaining. - www.ethnomusic.ucla.edu

Duo with Pat Thomas.

Like Lol, Weston is a brilliant miniaturist and the combination of the two is exquisite. - The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD' 1998

Beautifully recorded...Boundless is a recommended listen for fans of either of these fine musicians. - Francois Couture, All-Music Guide 2001

Coxhill has great fun displaying his penchant for meandering melodic lines, all bent notes and blind alleys. His playing has always worked well in this context, such as in his duets with Dave Holland (the other one), Steve Miller and, of course, in his long history of encounters with Weston, who manages to be both eager and accommodating. The high production quality - good room, good piano - is a joy. - Roger Thomas, Gramophone 1999

Duo with Veryan Weston.

"Original and infectious blend of breezy melodies and cutting edge improvisations inside original compositions and jazz standards." - Scottish Music Centre

"... one of the most inventive jazz outfits on the Scottish scene..."
-The List.

This is, quite simply, an object lesson in improvising, from two masters of the art. - John Eyles

Lol Coxhill and Veryan Weston

If there's a man capable of having you passing 80 minutes listening to a single instrument playing, that's Coxhill...Lol's soprano sax is so deliciously lyrical and full of fantasies - not to mention every trick in the technique book - that you can preposterously use this record as soundtrack of a part of your life...what remains at the end is purely Coxhill's: sense of humour, deep heart, the desire of trying virgin paths. A fabulous brain. - Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes 2003

This is, quite simply, an object lesson in duo improvising, from two masters of the art. - John Eyles

Lol Coxhill solo plus the Unlaunched Orchestra: Knut Aufermann, Steve Beresford, Olly Blanchflower, Lol Coxhill, Lu Edmonds, Michael Kosmides, Neil Metcalfe, Steve Noble, Paul Rutherford, Ian Smith, Pat Thomas, ALex Ward, Veryan Weston.

"Sixteen challenging improvisations from this unfamiliar partn