Mike Osborne

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Mike Osborne was born in 1941 in Hereford and was an English jazz alto saxophonist, pianist and clarinettist. He attended Wycliffe College in Gloucestershire and studied at the Guildhall School of Music. From 1962 to 1972 he played in the band of Mike Westbrook. During those years he also worked with musicians such as Michael Gibbs, Mike Cooper, Stan Tracey, Kenny Wheeler, Humphrey Lyttelton, Alan Skidmore and John Surman. In the 1960s and 1970s he was a member of Brotherhood of Breath, the big band built around the South African pianist Chris McGregor.

Music and breakthrough

His quintet recorded the album Outback, with McGregor on piano, Harry Miller on bass and Louis Moholo on drums. He also made Border Crossing and All Night Long (Live at Willisau) with his trio for the label Ogun, and recorded the record Original with Stan Tracey, released in 1973, and the duo Tandem at the Bracknell Festival. Later albums included Marcel's Muse and Shapes in 1995. Force of Nature was released in 2008, and Dawn in 2015.

Influence

Health problems ended his career in 1982. He returned to Hereford and lived there in a care home, where he died in 2007. Osborne belonged to the generation of British jazz musicians who combined free jazz and big-band work, and showed that the saxophone in England could acquire a rough and lyrical voice of its own.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1970Outback
• 1973Original
• 1995Shapes
• 2008Force of Nature
• 2015Dawn