Gary Windo

Gary Windo (born November 7, 1941 in Brighton , † July 25, 1992 in New York City ) was a British jazz saxophonist ( alto and soprano saxophone , flute , composition).

Live and act

Windo comes from a musical family and played the accordion and drums as a child; At the age of 12 he switched to guitar, at 17 to saxophone. In the early 1960s he went to New York, studied with Warne Marsh and Lennie Tristano , but could not establish himself there as a musician. In 1969 he moved to London , where he jammed with Chick Corea and Johnny Griffin , then played with Brian Auger , Jack Bruce , Graham Bond and Mitch Mitchell . In 1970 he became a member of Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath (until 1975). He also played with Centipede and in a quartet with Roy Babbington , Mongezi Feza and Robert Wyatt . In 1971 he formed his own quartet with Feza, Ray Russell and Alan Rushton.

Windo founded the jazz quartet WMMW with Wyatt, Ron Mathewson and Dave MacRae in 1973 and was briefly part of Wyatt's art rock band Matching Mole . He then played with his wife Pam Windo ( Avant Gardeners , Reel Recordings ), guitarist Richard Brunton, Steve Hillage and Julie Tippetts . He was also involved in record projects by Hugh Hopper and Nick Mason and played with Carla Bley on their 1977 European tour (including the New Jazz Meeting Baden-Baden , to which he contributed Kwela compositions). An album he produced between 1976 and 1978 in the Pink Floyd studio with many of these musicians did not want to release a label at the time ( Steam Radio Tapes , 2013). He then moved to the United States to continue working with Bley, but also with Michael Mantler .

His own record projects failed, so that he had to work as a studio musician, but also for Saturday Night Live and other television shows. He toured with Pam Windo & the Shades and released his first solo album in 1982 ("Dogface"). Between 1984 and 1988 he had his own quartet with whom he played rock-oriented music, as documented on the album "Deep Water" (1987). He also worked with Frank Lowe and the Harlem Gospel Brass Band . Since the late 1980s, Windo focused on instrumental lessons, but continued to perform with numerous bands. He died of an asthma attack. Shortly before his death, he had put together the basis for the CD "His Master's Bones" (published in 1996) from unpublished material, which was followed posthumously as a further selection "Anglo-American" (2004).

Sources and web links

• biography
• Gary Windo at Allmusic (English)