Paul Lytton (born 8 March 1947, London) is an English free jazz and free improvising percussionist.

Paul Lytton at Club W71, Weikersheim, 2011
Paul Lytton (2016) in Aarhus, Denmark. Playing with Mette Rasmussens Quintet

Lytton began on drums at age 16. He played jazz in London in the late 1960s while taking lessons on the tabla from P.R. Desai. In 1969 he began experimenting with free improvisational music, working in a duo with saxophonist Evan Parker. After adding bassist Barry Guy, the ensemble became the Evan Parker Trio. He and Parker continued to work together into the 2000s; more recent releases include trio releases with Marilyn Crispell in 1996 (Natives and Aliens) and 1999 (After Appleby).

A founding member of the London Musicians Collective, Lytton worked extensively on the London free improvisation scene in the 1970s, and aided Paul Lovens in the foundation of the Aachen Musicians' Cooperative in 1976.

Lytton has toured North America and Japan both solo and with improvisational ensembles. In 1999, he toured with Ken Vandermark and Kent Kessler, and recorded with Vandermark on English Suites. Lytton also collaborated with Jeffrey Morgan (alto & tenor saxophone), with whom he recorded the CD Terra Incognita Live in Cologne, Germany.

He played also on White Noise's pioneer electronic pop music album An Electric Storm in 1969.

Discography (partial)

edit

As leader

edit

As sideman or co-leader

edit

With Barry Guy and Marilyn Crispell

With Barry Guy/The London Jazz Composers' Orchestra

With the Barry Guy New Orchestra

With Roscoe Mitchell

 
Paul Lytton, the sound tinkerer, at Stadtgarten Cologne 2012

With Evan Parker

With Evan Parker, Barry Guy, and Marilyn Crispell

With Ken Vandermark, et alia

References

edit
  1. ^ "Paul Lytton: The Inclined Stick". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  2. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 919. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  3. ^ "Paul Lytton: ?!". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  4. ^ "Okka Disk Titles". Okka Disk. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
edit