Phil Minton
Phil Minton (born 2 November 1940) is a British avant-garde jazz/free-improvising vocalist and trumpeter. Minton is a highly dramatic baritone who tends to specialize in literary texts: he has sung lyrics by William Blake with Mike Westbrook's group, Daniil Kharms and Joseph Brodsky with Simon Nabatov, and extracts from James Joyce's Finnegans Wake with his own ensemble. He sings on a Jimi Hendrix tribute album, belting out the lyrics in over-the-top fashion.
Phil Minton

andynew · Image:Phil Minton-1.jpg · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Name
- Phil Minton
- Born
- 2 November 1940
- Birthplace
- Torquay, England
- Occupation
- Musician
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Fields
- jazz · free jazz
- Languages
- English
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Phil Minton (born 2 November 1940) is a British avant-garde jazz/free-improvising vocalist and trumpeter. Minton is a highly dramatic baritone who tends to specialize in literary texts: he has sung lyrics by William Blake with Mike Westbrook's group, Daniil Kharms and Joseph Brodsky with Simon Nabatov, and extracts from James Joyce's Finnegans Wake with his own ensemble. He sings on a Jimi Hendrix tribute album, belting out the lyrics in over-the-top fashion.
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In this article
Biography
Biography
Between 1987 and 1993 Minton toured Europe, North America, and Russia with Lindsay Cooper's Oh Moscow ensemble.[1][2] He is perhaps best known, however, for his completely free-form work, which involves "extended techniques" that can be as unsettling as they can be mesmerising. His vocals often include the sounds of retching, burping, screaming, and gasping, as well as childlike muttering, whining, crying and humming; he also has an ability to distort his vocal cords to produce two notes at once.

Phil Minton performing with expressive vocal improvisations in Smeltehytta during Kongsberg Jazzfestival, 4 July 2024.
Tore Sætre
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Phil Minton • Born — 2 November 1940 • Birthplace — Torquay, England • Genre — Free improvisation, avant-garde jazz • Occupation — Musician • Instrument — Vocals, trumpet • Years Active — 1969–present • Label — Emanem, FMP • Website — philminton.co.uk
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1940
Phil Minton born at Torquay.
Discography
• A Doughnut in Both Hands (Rift, 1981) • Voice of America with Fred Frith, Bob Ostertag (Rift, 1982) • Ways with Veryan Weston (ITM, 1987) • The Berlin Station (FMP, 1988) • Mouthful of Ecstasy (Les Disques Victo, 1996) • My Chelsea with Noel Akchote, Lol Coxhill (Rectangle, 1997) • Two Concerts (FMP, 1998) • A Doughnut in One Hand (FMP, 1998) • Apples of Gomorrah with John Butcher (GROB, 2002) • Mopomoso Solos 2002 with Chris Burn, Lol Coxhill (Emanem, 2004) • Five Men Singing (Les Disques Victo, 2004) • Constant Comments with Fred Van Hove (FMR, 2005) • The Enigma Carols (Recorded, 2005) • Scatter with Pat Thomas (FMR, 2007) • Tasting with Sophie Agnel (Another Timbre, 2007) • Slur (Emanem, 2007) • No Doughnuts in Hand (Emanem, 2008) • Midhopestones with Michel Doneda (Another Timbre, 2009) • Fragments of the Cadastre with Michel Doneda (Another Timbre, 2010) • Anicca (Dancing Wayang, 2011) • The Knowledge of Its Own Making with Simon Fell (Huddersfield Contemporary, 2014) • A Doughnut's End (Fataka, 2015) • Leandre – Minton (Fou, 2017) • Say Yes. Till No. (Neos, 2018) • Ductus Pneumaticus with Torsten Muller (WhirrbooM! 2018) • Blasphemious Fragments (Rastascan, 2019) With the Tony Oxley Celebration Orchestra • The Enchanted Messenger (Soul Note, 1995) With Mike Westbrook • Plays for the Record (Transatlantic, 1976) • Goose Sauce (Original, 1978) • Mama Chicago (RCA, 1979) • Bright as Fire (Original, 1980) • The Paris Album (Polydor, 1981) • The Cortège (Original, 1982) • On Duke's Birthday (hat Art, 1985) • Off Abbey Road (Enja, 1990)
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.LeFanu, Nicola. Reclaiming the Muse. Harwood Academic Publishers. 71. 1994. 978-3-7186-5528-1.
- 2.Jones, Andrew. Plunderphonics, 'Pataphysics & Pop Mechanics: An Introduction to Musique Actuelle. SAF Publishing. 104. 1995. 978-0-946719-15-0.
- 3.Goldsmith, Kenneth. Phil Minton: A Doughnut in One Hand. A Popular Guide to Unpopular Music.
- 4.AGAMEMNON II:2 – Pauline Oliveros, Phil Minton, Roger Turner. 28 June 2019.
- 5.Home. Avclub.com.
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Phil Minton is recorded as singer, trumpeter, performing artist, composer and musician.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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