Spring Heel Jack is an English electronic music

Electronic music

Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...

 group consisting of John Coxon and Ashley Wales.

Formed in 1993 in London, England, Spring Heel Jack began their career exploring drum and bass

Drum and bass

Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...

 and jungle

Oldschool jungle

Jungle is a genre of electronic music that incorporates influences from genres including breakbeat hardcore, and reggae/dub/dancehall. There is debate as to whether jungle is a separate genre from drum and bass as many use the terms interchangeably...

, but have since branched out into free improvisation

Free improvisation

Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician involved. The term can refer to both a technique and as a recognizable genre in its own right....

 and jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, collaborating with many acclaimed musicians from Europe and the United States.

History

Wales was formerly a composer of contemporary classical music, while Coxon was a successful remixer and producer (most notably for Betty Boo

Betty Boo

Alison Moira Clarkson better known as Betty Boo, is an English singer, songwriter and pop-rap artist...

) prior to their joining forces.

Their first three drum and bass

Drum and bass

Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...

 albums released during the 1990s earned positive reviews for their innovative take on the genre. They also co-wrote and produced the 1996 track "Walking Wounded," a major UK hit for Everything But The Girl

Everything but the Girl

Everything but the Girl was a two-person English band, formed in Hull during 1981, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, and singer Ben Watt . They are currently inactive although vocalist Tracey Thorn hinted that they may reform someday...

.

The cinematic Disappeared (2000) marked a transition for Wales and Coxon, and featured noted British saxophonist John Surman

John Surman

John Douglas Surman is an English jazz saxophone, bass clarinet and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music as a basis...

, whose appearance was a harbinger of later changes.

Masses (2001), the first of several albums for the cross-genre Blue Series of Thirsty Ear

Thirsty Ear

Thirsty Ear Recordings is an American independent record label. It was founded in the late 70s as a marketing company and expanded to issue its own records in 1990....

, was an even more radical departure. Collaborators have included saxophonists Evan Parker

Evan Parker

Evan Shaw Parker is a British free-improvising saxophone player from the European free jazz scene.Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free jazz and free improvisation, and has pioneered or substantially expanded...

 and Tim Berne

Tim Berne

Tim Berne is an American jazz saxophone player and composer.Described by critic Thom Jurek as commanding "considerable power as a composer and ... frighteningly deft ability as a soloist," Berne has composed and performed prolifically since the 1980s...

; bassist William Parker

William Parker (musician)

William Parker is an American free jazz double bassist, poet and composer.-Biography:Parker was not formally trained as a classical player, though he did study with Jimmy Garrison, Richard Davis, and Wilbur Ware and learned the tradition. Parker is one of few jazz bassists who regularly plays arco...

; trumpeters Roy Campbell

Roy Campbell, Jr.

Roy Campbell, Jr. is versatile trumpeter frequently linked to free jazz, though he has also performed rhythm and blues, bebop and funk at times during his career. Born in Los Angeles, California in 1952, Campbell was raised in New York. At age fifteen Campbell began learning to play trumpet and...

, Kenny Wheeler

Kenny Wheeler

Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC is a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. since the 1950s....

 and Wadada Leo Smith

Wadada Leo Smith

Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith is a trumpeter and composer working primarily in the fields of avant-garde jazz and free improvisation.-Biography:...

; trombonist Paul Rutherford

Paul Rutherford (trombone player)

Paul William Rutherford was an English free improvising trombonist.-Biography:Born in Greenwich, South East London, Rutherford initially played saxophone but switched to trombone...

; drummer Han Bennink

Han Bennink

Han Bennink is a Dutch jazz drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured his playing on clarinet, violin, banjo and piano....

; pianist Matthew Shipp

Matthew Shipp

Matthew Shipp is an American pianist, composer and bandleader.Shipp was raised in Wilmington, Delaware, and began playing piano at six years old. His mother was a friend of trumpeter Clifford Brown....

; and guitarist Jason Pierce

Jason Pierce

Jason Pierce , also known as J. Spaceman or Spaceman, is an English musician. He was formerly the joint leader – with Peter Kember – of the alternative rock band Spacemen 3, and is now the leader and sole permanent member of the band Spiritualized.In between his work with Spiritualized...

In 2006 Coxon and Wales began to operate a record label, Treader, releasing CDs by themselves and other associated artists, including some of their recent collaborators.

Selected discography

• There Are Strings (1995)
• 68 Million Shades... (1996)
• Versions (1996)
• Busy, Curious, Thirsty (1997)
• Treader (1999)
• Oddities (2000)
• Disappeared
  Disappeared (album)
  Disappeared is an album by English electronic duo Spring Heel Jack. The album was released by Thirsty Ear on August 22, 2000.-Track listing:# "Rachel Point" - 6:31# "Mit Wut" - 7:06...
  
  (2000)
• Masses (2001)
• Amassed (2002)
• Live (2003)
• The Sweetness of the Water (2004)
• Songs and Themes (2008)