𝐀𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐚𝐱𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐋𝐨𝐮 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐃 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐂𝐃 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲.
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I believe Lou to have been one of the most original saxophonists of our time, - one of those legendary figures little known to the general public, but a major influence on all those who knew and worked with him.

He was in my band in the early 60s in a sax section with Mike Osborne and John Surman. He then spent many years on the Improvised Music scene, as a founder member of AMM, often in partnership with the drummer Eddie Prévost. This revolutionary group achieved international recognition and made a number of albums.

Eventually, Lou settled in the West Country, still playing, but in relative obscurity. This is where we got together again, ten years ago, when Lou joined the big band that became The Uncommon Orchestra. As a free improviser with strong jazz roots, his playing in the context of a large ensemble was a revelation. Lou took part in many projects and performances with the band until a couple of years ago when health problems began to limit his activities.

Lou was greatly loved and respected. At Lou's funeral on October 17th in his village church in Cheriton Bishop, North of Dartmoor, his wife Penny, family and friends were joined by musicians from London and the South West. The service ended with his unaccompanied tenor saxophone in one of those limitless streams of invention, audacity and lyricism that only Lou could produce.

A master, and a great loss.
Mike Westbrook
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𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳, 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘴: 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘖𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘙𝘰𝘻 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨.
𝘓𝘰𝘶 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘖𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘔𝘔, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘬’𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘚𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴, 𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 “𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵” 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘭𝘺𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘪𝘨- 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘰𝘯 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯𝘯𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘹 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘺. 𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭-𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴 (𝘋.𝘛.𝘛.𝘔. 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋.𝘛.𝘛.𝘔.2) 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘰-𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦. 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘊𝘋 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮.
𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯 - 𝘑𝘢𝘻𝘻 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭