Phil Minton

Phil Minton (born ; November 02, 1940 in Torquay, England.) – vocalist, composer, lingua-artist. He got his first lessons in trumpet playing at the age of 15. Since 1959 till 1961 he was a member of the Brian Waldron Quintet (Torquay). After moving to London in 1962 he worked as a vocalist and trumpet player with the Mike Westbrook Orchestra (since 1962 till 64, and since 1971 till1990), touring in various countries of the world and taking part in festivals in Adelaide, Edinburgh, New York, Strasbourg and Berlin. He is the founder and leader of the vocal band Voice (in collab. with M. Nichols, J. Tippets), and also of a great number of impromptu vocal duets and trios with F. Frith, R. Turner, P. Brotzmann, G. Christmann, G. Lewis, R. Malfati, M. Waisvisz and others, giving concerts in Europe, Russia, USA and Australia. At that time he participated in various intermedia artistic projects, like for example, in Konrad Boehmer’s opera Apocalipsis cum figuris, M. Figgis’s theatrical performances and so on. In the late 1980s, besides tough touring, he participated in a number of international festivals, including the ones in Victoriaville, Willisaw, Vancouver, Linz, and also at the Ars Electronica (Linz), Musica Strasbourg (Strasbourg) and others. In 1988 Phil Minton was called the Best Male Singer in Europe by the International Jazz Forum Magazine. In collaboration with V. Weston he arranged a number of musical projects, including Songs from a prison diary (based on recordings made by Ho Chi Minh in prison, score for 22 voices), that was presented at the international festival Musica‘91 in Strasbourg and got The Cornelius Cardew Composition Prize (among others collaborative works with V. Weston are such as: Naming the animals, Mahno). In the 1990s he actively collaborated with G. Graewe’s GrubenKlang Orchester, he was a member of Trio Raphiphi (together with R. Malfati and Ph. Wachsmann), in the trio with J. Butcher and E. Hirt, with M. Mattos and M. Blume and many others. He took part in various musical festivals both as a solo musician and a member of groups, including the following festivals: Music Triennale (Cologne, 1994), Vocal Festival (Stockholm, 1994), Angelica 94 (Bologna, 1994), Berlin Jazz Festival (Berlin, 1994), Music Festival (Salzburg, 1995), International Sound Art Festival (Hannover, 1995), Vocal Jazz Festival (Novosibirsk, 1995) and many others. Minton conducted a number of concert tours with B. Ostertag’s electronic projects in the USA, Europe and Japan (1995), in Europe and the USA as a member of Phil Minton Quartet (together with R. Turner, D. Butcher, V. Weston, 1996), in Europe (with Tom Cora and Roof, 1997), in Europe (with C. Bley, 1997-98) and many others. He made numerous radio and TV recordings in Germany, Switzerland, Russia, Austria, Sweden, Canada, including retrospect programs about his creative activities, made by Yoon for the German channels SWF and SFB. Among his biggest works for the radio is the main part in the radio-opera Odysseus 7 (Bayericher Rundfunk, Munich). He is the author of around one hundred musical pieces recorded solo and in groups at various studios in Great Britain and abroad. The recent releases are: Two concerts (FMP, 1995), Bad Minton (Long Arms Records, 1995), Time stories (in collab. with D. Moss, Intakt, 1997), Verbatim, flesh and blood (Seeland, 1998). Phil Minton lives and works in London (Great Britain).