Larry Stabbins (born 9 September 1949 in Bristol) is a British jazz saxophonist, flutist and composer.
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Larry Stabbons learned clarinet at school at the age of eight, when his musical idol was Acker Bilk. He started playing saxophone at the age of eleven. He was soon playing in local dance bands, doing his first paid gig at twelve, and later also in soul bands, playing the music of Junior Walker and James Brown. He started working with pianist Keith Tippett when he was sixteen and later contributed to various Tippett projects such as Centipede, Ark, Tapestry and the Keith Tippett Septet. In addition they also worked as a trio for a time with percussionist Louis Moholo.
In London in the early 70’s after a brief period in the Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood of Breath, he played with John Stevens’ Spontaneous Music Orchestra, and occasionally with the Spontaneous Music Ensemble (SME). During this period he also worked as a freelance commercial musician, playing studio sessions, nightclubs and West End shows as well as playing in more jazz based situations such as Mike Westbrook’s 'Solid Gold Cadillac'.[1] In 1980’s he joined the Tony Oxley Quintet and played in various versions of it and also the Celebration Orchestra, for many years. Around the same time he joined the London Jazz Composers Orchestra and also Peter Brotzmann’s Alarm Orchestra and its successor the Tentet 'Marz Combo'. He also worked with, among others, the Eddie Prevost Quartet, Trevor Watts’ Moire Music, Louis Moholo’s Spirits Rejoice, Elton Dean’s Ninesense and the Heinz Becker Quintet.
He also played in the cult pop group Weekend and started writing with its guitarist Simon Booth. This later evolved into Working Week, a band that took a mix of Latin, soul, jazz and funk into the pop charts. From out of the Latin Jazz Dance scene in London clubs, the band mixed jazz with Latin dance rhythms and vocals by singers such as Juliet Roberts, Julie Tippetts, Robert Wyatt and Tracy Thorn.[2] The band toured extensively in Europe and Japan, performing at most of Europe's major Jazz Festivals, recording five albums for Virgin Records. Following the breakup of Working Week he formed QRZ? a fusion of jazz and rap which also recorded for Virgin[3] and the German label Loud Minority.
In recent years he has worked with Keith Tippett’s Tapestry Orchestra, in Louis Moholo’s Dedication Ochestra, in a quartet with Howard Riley, playing the music of Robert Wyatt in Soupsongs, and in Jerry Dammers Spatial AKA Orchestra.
The album 'Stonephace' on Tru Thoughts Recordings, a collaboration with rave producer and DJ Krzysztof Oktalski, featured Portishead guitarist Adrian Utley and Helm DeVegas on keyboards plus a guest appearance from trumpet player Guy Barker.[4]
His latest project 'Stonephace Stabbins' features Mercury nominated pianist Zoe Rahman, Crispin `Spry` Robinson from 90's Jazz/Rap band Galliano on percussion, Karl Rasheed Abel on bass and Pat Illingworth on drums, all of whom also play in Jerry Dammers’ Spatial AKA Orchestra