Phil Wachsmann
Philipp John Paul Wachsmann (born 5 August 1944) is an African avant-garde jazz/ jazz fusion violinist born in Kampala, Uganda, probably better known for having founded his own group Chamberpot. He has worked with many musicians in the free jazz idiom, including Tony Oxley, Fred van Hove, Barry Guy, Derek Bailey and Paul Rutherford, among many others. Wachsmann is especially known for playing within the electronica idiom.
Also recorded as Philipp John Paul Wachsmann · Philipp Wachsmann · P. Wachsmann
Phil Wachsmann

Andy Newcombe Farnborough, UK · P1260947 · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Name
- Philipp John Paul Wachsmann
- Birthplace
- Kampala, Uganda
- Occupation
- Violinist, composer
- Born
- 1944 · Kampala.
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Fields
- free jazz · free improvisation · electroacoustic music · art music
- Languages
- English
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Philipp John Paul Wachsmann (born 5 August 1944) is an African avant-garde jazz/ jazz fusion violinist born in Kampala, Uganda, probably better known for having founded his own group Chamberpot. He has worked with many musicians in the free jazz idiom, including Tony Oxley, Fred van Hove, Barry Guy, Derek Bailey and Paul Rutherford, among many others. Wachsmann is especially known for playing within the electronica idiom.
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Phil Wachsmann (born 1944) is a British composer, jazz musician and musician, among other activities. The composer was born in Kampala. Phil Wachsmann is a member of Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble and Paul Lytton Quartet.
Genres include art music, electroacoustic music and free improvisation, among others. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q1378322 · wikipedia · Philipp Wachsmann
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Philipp John Paul Wachsmann • Birthplace — Kampala, Uganda • Occupation — Violinist, composer • Genre — Avant-garde jazz, jazz fusion, free jazz, electronica • Instrument — Violin
Career and working life
Career and working life
Wachsmann worked as jazz musician, composer, violinist and musician. Wachsmann was active from 1960. The fields Wachsmann worked in include free jazz, free improvisation, electroacoustic music and art music. Wachsmann played the jazz violin. Wachsmann worked in English.
Philipp Wachsmann with Ken Vandermark Paul Lytton (CINC) at Club W71, Weikersheim.
Schorle
Catalogued output
Compositions
The Player Is #9. The Player Is #6. The Player Is #7. The Player Is #2.
Trio Two. A.k.a
Writing on Ice
Prinknash (For Dom S.H.)
For Memoires of an Amnesiac
SoundScapes - Opening Night
A Punky and a Song
Shadow Without an Object
SoundScapes - Silence to Sound
Toward the Margins
The Crooner (for Johnny Hartman)
Hock Tide Tutti Men
Discography
Discography
• Chamberpot with Richard Beswick, Simon Mayo, Tony Wren (Bead, 1976) • Sparks of the Desire Magneto with Richard Beswick, Tony Wren (Bead, 1977) • Improvisations Are Forever Now (Vinyl Records, 1978) • For Harm with Harry de Wit (Bead, 1979) • Hello Brenda! with Richard Beswick (Bead, 1981) • Writing in Water (Bead, 1985) • Ellispontos (J.n.d., 1986) • The Glider & The Grinder with Tony Oxley (Bead, 1987) • Eleven Years from Yesterday with Peter Jacobsen, Ian Brighton, Marcio Mattos, Trevor Taylor (Bead, 1988) • Icarus with MarkRoger, Curphy Wastell, Carol Ann Jackson, Trevor Taylor (FMR, 1995) • Some Other Season with Paul Lytton (ECM, 1999) • August Steps with Teppo Hauta-Aho (Bead, 2000) • Wazahugy with Charlotte Hug, Ivar Grydeland & Ingar Zach (Sofa, 2002) • The Needles with Evan Parker, Teppo Hauta-aho (Leo, 2002) • Floating Phantoms with Tony Oxley and the B.I.M.P. Quartet (a/l/l, 2002) • Refractions in Air with Michael Bunce (Bead, 2003) • Zero Plus with Aurora Josephson, Jacob Lindsay, Damon Smith, Martin Blume (Balance Point Acoustics, 2003) • 888 with Evan Parker, Hugh Davies, Eddie Prevost (FMR, 2003) • Apparitions with Stan Adler, Paul Chauncy, Jon Lloyd, Rob Palmer (Leo, 2004) • Free Zone Appleby 2003 with Tony Coe, John Edwards, Alan Hacker, Sylvia Hallett, Marcio Mattos, Evan Parker, Kenny Wheeler (psi, 2004) • Startle the Echoes with Matthew Hutchinson (Bead, 2004) • Expanded Botanics with Peter Ole Jorgensen, Jakob Riis (Ninth World Music, 2004) • Free Zone Appleby 2004 with Evan Parker, Barry Guy, Paul Lytton, Joel Ryan (psi, 2005) • Free Zone Appleby 2005 with Evan Parker, Kenny Wheeler, Gerd Dudek, Paul Dunmall, Paul Rogers, John Edwards, Tony Marsh, Tony Levin (psi, 2006) • Pacific 2003 with Martin Blume (Bead, 2005) • Cinc with Paul Lytton, Ken Vandermark (Okka Disk, 2006) • Refugium with Jorgensen, Riis (Ninth World Music, 2006) • Free Zone Appleby 2006 with Evan Parker, Rudi Mahall, Aki Takase, Alexander von Schlippenbach, Paul Rutherford, Paul Lovens (psi, 2007) • St. Cyprians 3 with Howard Riley, Tony Wren (FMR, 2012) • Gateway '97 with Turner, Thomas, Frangenheim (Creative Sources, 2013) • Berlin Kinesis with Turner, Thomas, Frangenheim (Creative Sources, 2015) • Alizarin with Roger Turner (Bead, 2015) • Imagined Time with Paul Lytton (Bead, 2016) • Garuda with Lawrence Casserley (Bead, 2016) Emil Strandberg • A Trust in the Uncertain and a [Willingness to Be Exposed with, Sten Sandell, Patric Thorman (Found You, 2017) • Reunion Live from Cafe Oto with Evan Parker, John Russell, Ian Brighton, Marcio Mattos, Trevor Taylor (FMR, 2017) With Barry Guy's London Jazz Composers' Orchestra • Stringer (Four Pieces for Orchestra) (FMP, 1983) • Zurich Concerts (Intakt, 1987–88) • Harmos (Intakt, 1989) • Double Trouble (Intakt, 1990) • Study II (Intakt, 1991) • Theoria (Intakt, 1991) • Portraits (Intakt, 1993) • Three Pieces for Orchestra (Intakt, 1995) • Double Trouble Two (Intakt, 1998) • Radio Rondo/Schaffhausen Concert (Intakt, 2009) With Paul Lytton • The Balance of Trade (CIMP, 1996) With Roscoe Mitchell • Composition/Improvisation Nos. 1, 2 & 3 (ECM, 2004) With Tony Oxley • February Papers (Incus, 1977; Discus, 2020) • A Birthday Tribute: 75 years (Incus, 2013) recorded in 1977 and 1993 • Unreleased 1974–2016 (Discus, 2022) recorded in 1974, 1981, and 2016 With the Tony Oxley Celebration Orchestra • The Enchanted Messenger (Soul Note, 1995) With Evan Parker • Toward the Margins (ECM, 1996) • Drawn Inward (ECM, 1998) • Memory/Vision (ECM, 2002) • Boustrophedon (ECM, 2004) • The Moment's Energy (ECM, 2007)
Issued recordings
Primary material
Issued recordings
These are published sound issues catalogued under the name. Most postdate the works they carry, and an issue is never counted here as a work of composition. 5 issues carry dates between 2003 and 2007. The run opens with Free Zone Appleby 2002 and closes with Free Zone Appleby 2006.
Recordings and discography
Primary material
Recordings and discography
The discography assembled here shows how Wachsmann's work has been published in sound, not what Wachsmann made. 47 sound issues are catalogued, carrying dates from 1976 to 2021. An issue is a published recording, distinct from the composition it carries, from a printed score of that composition and from any single performance of it; none of the entries below is counted in the catalogue of compositions above, and several of them carry the same work in different readings. The 2000s are the densest decade of publication, with 15 issues. The performers and issuing labels are as the discographic register states them; where it names no performer the article names none.
888
2003
Alizarin
2015
Imagined Time
2016
Hello Brenda!
1981
Refractions in Air
2003
The Balderin Sali Variations
2019
The Needles, dated 2002. TrioRAPHIPHI
1991
Henry Diesel & James II
1983
Ellispontos
1986
Apparitions
2004
Writing in Water
1985
Gush Wachs
1996
A Trust In The Uncertain And A Willingness To Be Exposed
2017
Gateway '97
2013
Improvisations Are Forever Now (1977-9)
1978
Wazahugy
2002
Sparks of the Desire Magneto
1977
Cyprians 3
2012
Garuda
2016
A Birthday Tribute - 75 Years
2013
PISA 1980: Improvisors’ Symposium
1981
Wehay
1983
Zero Plus
2003
Free Zone Appleby 2002
2003
Free Zone Appleby 2005
2006
Free Zone Appleby 2006
2007
August Steps
2000
Some Other Season
1999
Startle the Echoes
2004
Chamberpot
1976
Icarus
1995
Strings
2018
Chathuna
1996
For Harm
1979
The Glider & The Grinder
1987
Pent
2021
Eleven Years From Yesterday
1988
Free Zone Appleby 2004
2005
Particularly Nasty Feather
1981
Reunion Live From Cafe Oto
2017
Translated Space
2019
CINC
2006
Pacific 2003
2005
Free Zone Appleby 2003
2004
Berlin Kinesis
2015
Where the work is held
Institutional memberships
Wachsmann is recorded as a member of Paul Lytton Quartet and Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble. Membership is stated by the bodies' own records and is not read here as evidence of office or of any particular role within them.
Authority records
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.Colin Larkin. The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz. Guinness Publishing. 412. 1992. 0-85112-580-8.
- 2.Carr, Ian. Jazz: The Rough Guide. The Rough Guides. 665–666. 1995. 1-85828-137-7.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
institutional register
Wikidata, structured authority record Q1378322: Phil WachsmannWikimedia Foundation
General reference
People, houses and institutions
Knowledge graph
People, houses and institutions
Teachers, collaborators, publishers and institutions recorded against this person, each on a stated basis.
Born at
1- KampalaPlace
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
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 15 August 2026.
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