Voted best male singer in Europe by International Jazz Forum in 1988, Phil Minton started out as a trumpeter, working in his teens with local dance groups in Devon. In 1963 he joined The Mike Westbrook Band. After then living abroad for several years Minton rejoined Westbrook’s projects in 1971, providing wonderfully theatrical vocals for his jazz rock venture Solid Gold Cadillac. During the mid-1970s Minton worked with experimental theatre groups, including Welfare State. Increasingly he felt trumpet was too limited for his expressive needs and in 1975 he formed the vocal quartet Voice with Maggie Nicols, Julie Tippetts and Brian Eley. Minton then honed and extended his vocal skills with musicians including Fred Frith, Peter Brötzmann, Lol Coxhill, John Zorn, Günter Christmann, Derek Bailey’s Company and Tony Oxley’s Celebration Orchestra. He is a unique solo performer and has had long-standing duos with Veryan Weston and Roger Turner. Minton’s Feral Choir, an international vocal workshop project begun in 1994, continues to flourish.
