Biography
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Born
29 January 1930
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Born In
Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom
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Died
25 December 2005 (aged 75)
Famed for his work on improvisational music, Bailey also co-founded, in 1970, the record label Incus with Tony Oxley and Evan Parker, often said to be the first British independent label owned by musicians.
This naturally progressed into the co-founding of Musics magazine in 1975. It became one of the most influential jazz publications in England, and instrumental for the formation of the London Musicians Collective.
Bailey's improv musician community grew in 1976 when he formed Company, to include like-minded improvisors, such as Anthony Braxton, Lol Coxhill, Fred Frith, Steve Lacy, Leo Smith, Han Bennink, Henry Kaiser and others who gave annual concerts.
Bailey once suggested to critic John Corbett that his music should just be called "free," so that the term would have four letters like "jazz" and "rock," but be neither. As Bailey said: "Four letter words are good for music, it seems to me, if you want to nail something onto it."
Derek & The Ruins live at the Purcell Rooms, South Bank, London, Apr 3 1997.
The Ruins are Sasaki Hisashi on bass and Yoshida Tatsuya on drums and voice. The above show was part of a broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Mixing It programme.
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