The Other Robert Wyatt

The life and career of Robert Wyatt are a huge goldmine for fans of the Canterbury master. Beyond his classic solo discography or the one with his historic bands – Wilde Flowers, Soft Machine and Matching Mole – made up of milestones and immortal tracks, for which we refer you to our features and respective monographs, there exists an endless series of releases and collaborations that are truly hard to untangle. Just as the most devoted follower of the Canterbury scene will struggle enormously to make sense of its various generations, quickly giving up on tracing the family tree of such a complex dynasty, even Wyatt's most die-hard fan will find themselves at least a little lost amid the interminable list of obscure works, collaborations of every kind, often-unobtainable singles, radio broadcast recordings, soundtracks and old live sets.

A long list of at least a hundred releases of every kind, very often unknown even to Canterbury scene experts. The following list tries to bring some order (as much as possible) to this long series of collaborations, dividing them by category and year, in the hope that nothing has slipped through such a vast net. It's possible to split things into at least two broad periods, separated by the watershed year of his life, 1973. Before the tragic accident of June 1973, Wyatt played in his three historic bands and recorded a single solo album ("The End Of An Ear", 1971); in the meantime he was often called upon as a drummer or vocalist, both in American bands he met while touring with Jimi Hendrix, and on some albums by key figures of the Canterbury scene. His role was almost that of a session player, with little real chance to shape the records he played on. From 1974 onward, Wyatt's career changes register entirely, and his collaborations become ever more prestigious and frequent.

The early session work (1967-1973)

Jimi Hendrix – "BBC Session" (1967) – second voice on "Day Tripper"

Robert Wyatt's collaborations begin in 1967, and at first are limited to backing vocals, given the peculiar timbre of his voice. It's his voice accompanying Jimi Hendrix's on the cover of the Beatles' "Day Tripper", recorded in 1967 during the BBC Sessions, released only in 1998.

The Animals – “Love Is” (1968) – seconda voce in “River Deep – Mountain High”

In 1968 he sings on Eric Burdon and the Animals' cover of Ike & Tina Turner's "River Deep – Mountain High" (1966). The track appears on the album Love Is, with Wyatt contributing second voice.

Eire Apparent – “Sunrise” (1969) – seconda voce in “The Clown”

In 1969, the Irish band Eire Apparent, who had met Wyatt while touring with Jimi Hendrix (who was also their producer), asked him to lend his voice to the backing vocals on "The Clown" from their album Sunrise.  

The first collaborations in and around Canterbury

Kevin Ayers – "Joy Of A Toy" (1969) – drums on "Joy Of A Toy Continued", "Town Feeling", "The Clarietta Rag", "Song For Insane Times" and "Lady Rachel"

Six months after the release of Volume Two with Soft Machine, it's the Canterbury dandy Kevin Ayers who calls on him, after Wyatt had left the band following the exhausting American tour supporting Jimi Hendrix. Joy Of A Toy is the first solo LP by an ex-Soft Machine member, a cheerful and playful album, typical of Ayers' style, able to blend simple melodies with dazed, lysergic atmospheres like few others could. It's his first truly significant collaboration, the start of a partnership that would continue in the years to follow. Wyatt plays drums on five of Ayers' tracks ("Joy Of A Toy Continued", "Town Feeling", "The Clarietta Rag", "Song For Insane Times" and "Lady Rachel"). In 1976, the rarities collection "Odd Ditties" would rescue "Soon Soon Soon", a track left off the original vinyl on which Wyatt plays drums.

Syd Barrett – "The Madcap Laughs" (1970) – drums on "No Good Trying" and "Love You"

One of Wyatt's most prestigious contributions of those years is certainly the one with Syd Barrett on his debut solo album The Madcap Laughs (1970), where he takes part (alongside the other Soft Machine members) playing drums on two tracks, "No Good Trying" and "Love You", among the most lopsided and anomalous on the album, a cornerstone of British psychedelia.

Kevin Ayers – “Shooting At The Moon” (1970) – seconda voce in “Clarence In Wonderland” e “Rheinhardt And Geraldine”

It's not easy to notice, but he sings alongside Ayers on the tracks "Clarence In Wonderland" and "Rheinhardt And Geraldine" from the ex-Soft Machine man's second solo album, the milestone Shooting At The Moon (1970). It's an essential LP of the Canterbury scene, but Wyatt's contribution is truly minimal.

Daevid Allen – "Banana Moon" (1970) – vocals on "Memories"

The first track sung by Wyatt as a solo vocalist outside his own bands is “Memories” (a cover of a Wilde Flowers song) from Banana Moon, Daevid Allen's debut solo album, released before the start of the Gong mythology. Wyatt also plays guitar on it besides singing, and this is the first moment in which one can sense the vocal greatness of the Canterbury maestro outside his usual discography. 

Lol Coxhill – “Ear Of The Beholder” (1970) – percussion on “A Collective Improvisation”


Together with saxophonist Lol Coxhill, a jazz musician open to the widest range of influences, from blues to the avant-garde, from free-jazz to cabaret music, he takes part in Ear Of The Beholder (1970), on the deliriously free improvisation “A Collective Improvisation”, playing drums and percussion.

David Bedford – “The Garden Of Love Ep” (1970) – drums

It's a year of experimentation for Wyatt, who takes part in The Garden Of Love (1970), an EP by avant-garde composer David Bedford, the most extreme musician one could associate with the Canterbury scene. A single twenty-one-minute composition inspired by the writings of William Blake, not too far removed from Bedford's later work, a typical avant-garde piece with a chamber ensemble featuring Kevin Ayers, Mike Oldfield, Robert Wyatt (drums and percussion) and Lol Coxhill.

Keith Tippett – “Dedicated To You, But You Weren’t Listening” (1971) – drums

By now Wyatt is Canterbury's go-to drummer, and his guest appearances keep coming thick and fast. Two particularly original albums both date from 1971. The first is by Keith Tippett (King Crimson), Dedicated To You, But You Weren’t Listening (1971), which, ranging across jazz, free-jazz and rock, proves to be one of the emblems of the never-quite-attained utopia of total music.

Centipede – “Septober Energy” (1971) – drums

The second is instead the extraordinary example of maximalist jazz that is Septober Energy (1971) by Centipede, a band of roughly fifty musicians assembled by none other than Keith Tippett. The record is a monumental essay in orchestral jazz that anticipates the symphonies of avant-garde composer Glenn Branca by almost ten years. 1972 is the year of Matching Mole, Wyatt's third and final band, with whom he releases two essential albums in which he manages to realize ideas that had no place in Soft Machine, the band that had pushed him out the year before.

Meanwhile, his presence on Kevin Ayers' albums continues; on Whatevershebringswesing (1972) he sings on the title track alongside Ayers himself, and on Bananamour (1973) he does the same on the song “Hymn”.

New Violin Summit – “New Violin Summit” (1971) – drums

One of the most interesting experiences in the field of jazz is his involvement with the little-known band New Violin Summit, on their sole, self-titled 1971 album. Wyatt proves to be a top-tier drummer in the world of jazz-rock, technically gifted and original, perfectly at ease on the border between two genres that were increasingly merging into one another.

Don “Sugar Cane” Harris – “Got The Blues” (1972) – batteria

The band featured violinist Don “Sugar Cane” Harris, who brought Wyatt in for the live album Got The Blues (1972), recorded at the Berlin Jazz Festival on 7 November 1971. Four tracks, for a total of almost fifty minutes, packed with improvisation, whirling rhythms and technique. In some ways, this is where Wyatt reaches the peak of his career as a drummer.

Robert Wyatt – “Solarflares Burn For You” (soundtrack, 1973)

In 1973, the fateful year of his life, he records his first soundtrack, for the bizarre, ultra-psychedelic short film typical of the hippie era, Solarflares Burn For You, recorded in London at Nick Mason's studio. Both the music and the film are extremely experimental, and reveal a Wyatt who, however unusual and even unrecognizable, is clearly embedded in the counterculture scene of his time. The track, an acid trip of a piece, a delirious blend of horns, synthesizers and vocalizations, remained virtually unknown until 2003, when it was released as part of the compilation “Solar Flares Burn for You”. 

From Rock Bottom Onwards. The '70s

Hatfield And The North – “Hatfield And The North” (1974) – voce in “Calyx”

On the first of June of that same year, Wyatt, completely drunk, fell from a third-floor window and was left paralyzed. While this event put an abrupt end to his career as a drummer, it also opened up a new one as an all-round musician. Indeed, by the end of that same year he was already contributing to the debut album of the leading band of Canterbury's second generation, Hatfield And The North, self-titled, released in 1974. His is the voice on “Calyx”, a song that can be seen as a turning point in his singing style: his voice becomes ever more ethereal and melancholic, a trait that would mark his entire career.

Robert Wyatt – "I'm A Believer" (cover, 1974)

1974 is a pivotal year in his life. He releases his masterpiece Rock Bottom and his first single (a cover of the Monkees' "I'm A Believer"), which he even performs on Top Of The Pops. This brush with showbiz, marginal as it is, makes him realize just how much his disability can work against him.

"I went to Top of the Pops and there was this idiot (producer Robin Nash) who said to me: 'Would you mind sitting on a different chair? It doesn't look nice to show a wheelchair on a family entertainment programme.' I was furious! I felt like I was losing control of my own life. I was horrified by Top of the Pops, by the world of the 45, by that whole industry. I'd survived without the charts up to that point, and as long as I had enough money for a decent cup of tea and my cigarettes, I could carry on being happy." 

Lol Coxhill – "Story So Far…Oh Really" – vocals and percussion on "Soprano Derivativo/ Apricot"

He plays percussion on the famous live album by Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Brian Eno and Nico, June 1, 1974, exactly a year after his fall from the third floor. He then appears once again on a Lol Coxhill album, contributing bizarre vocal experiments on "Soprano Derivitavo/ Apricot" from the LP Story So Far…Oh Really.

Brian Eno – “Taking Tiger Mountain” (1974) – voce e percussioni in “Burning Airlines Give You So Much More”, “Put A Straw Under Baby”, “The True Wheel”

That same year also brings the highly prestigious collaboration with Brian Eno on Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy), where he sings on the tracks "Burning Airlines Give You So Much More", "Put A Straw Under Baby" and "The True Wheel".

Robert Wyatt & Friends – "In Concert, Theatre Royal Drury Lane" (1974)

The year closes with the historic concert of September 8th at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London (Robert Wyatt & Friends in Concert), alongside Fred Frith, Gary Windo, Mongezi Feza, Mike Oldfield, Nick Mason, Laurie Allan, Dave Stewart and Hugh Hopper. The promotional poster for the concert remains an indelible image: all the musicians posed for the photo in wheelchairs, in solidarity with Wyatt after the discrimination he suffered on Top Of The Pops. The record contains all the tracks from "Rock Bottom", a few collaborative pieces by Wyatt (from Keith Tippett to Daevid Allen and Hatfield And The North) and a handful of Matching Mole songs. What's striking is the total absence of any reference to Soft Machine, the band by whom Wyatt felt betrayed and abandoned, and which he now considers utterly removed from his own way of understanding music. The live album is an extraordinary document of a prolific and artistically unrepeatable season. The sprawling, river-like version of "Sea Song" is an absolute must of the Canterbury scene, the crowning achievement of years lived to the extreme, quite literally on the border between life and death. It's the last live album released under the name Robert Wyatt.

Phil Manzanera – "Diamond Head" (1975) – vocals on "Frontera"

The only outside work he features on in 1975 is Phil Manzanera's Diamond Head, the solo debut of the dazzling guitarist, on which Wyatt sings in Spanish on the track "Frontera".

A long decade begins in which Wyatt releases no more solo albums, yet the ten years spanning Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard (1975) to Old Rottenhat (1985) are anything but a period of absence from the music scene. Quite the opposite: in many respects, it's a decade of prestigious collaborations in which he manages to leave his mark on at least one of the most iconic and influential LPs of all time.

It's also the period in which Wyatt's political awakening begins, pushing him ever further toward the defence of minorities, partly as a result of the tragic death of South African saxophonist Mongezi Feza. Poor Feza died in hospital due to a lack of adequate care, almost certainly a consequence of the colour of his skin: he was admitted to a psychiatric ward for what was actually pneumonia and never treated for his real condition, which led to an entirely avoidable death. This, then, is a decade of deepening intellectual awareness and highly prestigious collaborations.

Michael Mantler – “The Hapless Child And Other Inscrutable Stories” (1975) – voce

Among Robert Wyatt's lesser-known collaborations is the one with Austrian trumpeter Michael Mantler, who in 1975 crafted an ideal soundtrack for the stories of the Freudian-minded writer Edward Gorey. The result is The Hapless Child And Other Inscrutable Stories, an album featuring extraordinary contributions: alongside Wyatt we find the formidable jazz musician Carla Bley, at the time Mantler's wife. Mantler had already attempted to set a series of stories to music back in 1973 with "No Answer", on which – together with Carla Bley, Don Cherry and Jack Bruce (Cream) – he had arranged texts by Samuel Beckett, but the idea is something entirely new for the Canterbury scene. Wyatt's voice suits Mantler's prog–Canterbury sound better than Bruce's did, and it's perfect for Gorey's gothic texts. "The Hapless Child" remains a one-off, an isolated and essentially unclassifiable case; it's neither prog, nor jazz, nor Canterbury, even though it holds together elements of all these genres and styles at once. Wyatt's singing dominates throughout, accompanying every track and keeping the instrumental parts to a minimum. Gorey's decadent tales find new life and expression here. 

Jan Steele e John Cage – “Voices And Instruments” (1976) – voce in “Experiences No. 2”, “The Wonderful Widow Of Eighteen Springs”

In 1976 we even find him working with John Cage, one of the composers who forged 20th-century music in fire and iron. The album by Jan Steele and John Cage is Voices And Instruments; Wyatt sings on two Cage classics, "Experiences No. 2" and "The Wonderful Widow Of Eighteen Springs", written respectively in 1948 and 1942. His vocal interpretations, particularly on "Experiences No. 2", give Cage's compositions a unique quality, showcasing Wyatt's versatility.

Henry Cow – “Concerts” (1976) – voce in “Bad Alchemy”, “Little Red Riding Hood Hits The Road”

Between 1975 and 1976 he takes part in some live shows by the champions of rock in opposition, Henry Cow. Traces of this survive on Concerts (1976), where he sings on "Bad Alchemy" and on the Rio version of his own song "Little Red Riding Hood Hits The Road". The collaboration feels so natural, and the ideological affinity between Wyatt and the band runs so deep, that one can't help wondering what they might have achieved together with a more sustained, structured partnership.

Michael Mantler – “Silence” (1976) – vocals

He appears for the second time on a Michael Mantler album, Silence (1976), once again drawn from a literary work, this time by Harold Pinter. Compared to the previous one, the rock element is more pronounced, but the record is virtually impossible to find.

Brian Eno – “Music For Airports” (1978) – piano on “1/1”

Collaborations with Brian Eno become more frequent. He plays percussion on two tracks from Before And After Science (1977), "Kurt's Rejoinder" and "Through Hollow Lands", but above all he handles piano duties on the milestone and cornerstone of ambient music, Music For Airports (1978), on the opening track ("1/1"). It's hardly necessary to stress the historical importance of this work, which paved the way for an enormous host of imitators – from Harold Budd onward – and ushered in entirely new sonic territory. 

The 80s 

The 80s were a period in which Wyatt devoted less time to music and became more interested in politics. These were Thatcher's hyper-liberal years, during which Wyatt felt almost like a political prisoner. During this period he also kept up an extensive written correspondence with Nelson Mandela.

In those years I was much more interested in reading, studying and watching those wonderful university lectures on TV by professors of history, literature or philosophy. I felt that doing so was far more useful than playing music
(Robert Wyatt)

Nick Mason – “Fictitious Sports” (1981) – vocals

The main collaboration of the 80s is certainly the one with Nick Mason, the legendary drummer of Pink Floyd, whose musical career repeatedly intersected with the Canterbury scene. Fictitious Sports (1981) is a quintessentially Canterbury jazz-rock album, with Carla Bley and Robert Wyatt as its two fundamental pillars. Carla Bley wrote all the tracks, Robert Wyatt sings, while Mason's role is limited to drums and production. The album is a semi-hidden gem even among Pink Floyd fans; standout tracks include "Siam", the Floyd-esque "Hot River" and above all the icy "I'm A Mineralist".

Robert Wyatt – “Radio Experiment Rome” (1981)

1981 was a year of various collaborations, and alongside the one with Mason, a distinctly Italian one stands out: his work with Radio Rai 3 on the program "Un certo discorso", captured on Radio Experiment Rome. Wyatt spent about ten days in Italy, invited to improvise and experiment as he pleased. The starting idea behind the program's creators – Pino Saulo and Pasquale Santoli – was to let listeners perceive the various stages of the musician's creative process. On one hand, this shows just how much greater freedom – and how much less conditioning by audience figures and profit logic – existed in Italian radio in the 80s; on the other, it gives us an extraordinary tool for genuinely understanding Wyatt's spirit. While the result can certainly seem amateurish, partly due to the limited time available and the very nature of the broadcast, it's worth focusing on the evolutionary process that leads from a simple idea to the development of a complete track. The album was only released in 2009, but listening to it today it stands as a unique example of authentic musical research, as well as the foundation for Wyatt's subsequent soundtrack work. 

Robert Wyatt – “Nothing Can Stop Us” (1982) 

1982 was a decidedly significant year for the English musician. He released Nothing Can Stop Us, a collection of historic songs from the global left, crowning his interest in politics. The only original track is "Born Again Cretin", a jab at the fashionable religious extremism in the United States and at the charlatans who con an ever-growing number of gullible people. The story behind "Stalin Wasn't Stallin" is interesting: an over-the-top tribute to Stalin written in the 1940s, probably by Willie Johnson (though authorship remains uncertain), in which Stalin is depicted as a great bear killing the Beast of Berlin, Hitler. Wyatt chose it for precisely this reason.

I was very amused to learn that there was this song whose author no one could figure out, because he himself didn't dare confess to it, not even to collect his own royalties

Various Artists – “Recommended Records Sampler” (1982)

As an appendix to the album, he releases his own version of the Internationale on the Recommended Records Sampler compilation, featuring all the champions of rock in opposition, even the Residents and Italy's own Picchio dal pozzo. 

Robert Wyatt – “The Animals Film” (soundtrack, 1982)

This is also the year of his second soundtrack, this time decidedly more mature and significant. If solidarity with the weak, the voiceless, the victims of racism and discrimination had always been an ethical obligation Wyatt never had the courage to shirk, it was only natural that he would eventually turn to those who truly have no voice at all: animals. Far from any organized animal rights movement, Wyatt returns after a full seven years to release an original solo work, managing in doing so to combine his two great passions: music and social protest, art and politics.
"We are not talking about them, but about us": this is the opening line of the harrowing documentary film by Victor Schonfeld and Myriam Alaux, The Animals Film. The images shown are so raw and true that they're almost unbearable to watch for anyone with even the slightest respect for animal life. It's probably also an unspoken sense of guilt that makes watching so difficult; after all, we already know what really goes on in the various industries that let us have our steak or our McDonald's burgers on the table, that let us treat ourselves with modern drugs or the latest cosmetics, that let our children be entertained at various traveling circuses. But all of this happens hidden from our eyes; knowing about it unconsciously is tolerable, seeing it with our own eyes is unbearable.
In 1981, directors Victor Schonfeld and Myriam Alaux finished filming and contacted Wyatt, who by then seemed to show more interest in politics than in music. The English musician gladly agreed, and so the defense of animal rights became part of his way of doing politics.

There are men and women who have pets at home that they adore and treat as if they were their children, but who at the same time use all kinds of creams or cosmetics, products of that industry which creates the worst suffering for the very animals they think they love. They do all this without realising it, without thinking about it too much. I find this extremely unjust, and watching the film could open many people's eyes
(Robert Wyatt)

Wyatt returns to composing with great enthusiasm, delivering an avant-garde album, innovative, experimental and rich in improvisation, unlike anything else in his previous body of work; there's no trace of Canterbury here, except in the vocalisations of the opening track; instead we find synthesizers, electronic music simulating the anguished cries of various animals, sudden percussion recalling the metallic tracks of a slaughterhouse, nightmarish piano parts tied to the film's harrowing scenes. Wyatt's music doesn't simply accompany the film's images, it pushes them to the extreme, making them even harder to digest. It's a journey into suffering that, as the incipit says, speaks of us, of our cruelty and above all of our silences. A prolific year, 1982, which continues with his contribution to songwriter Ben Watt's Ep “Summer Into Winter”, where he sings on “Walter And John” and plays piano on “A Girl In Winter”, and he even sings on Marsha Hunt's soul Ep, “Man To Woman”, on the track “All She Wanted (Was Marlon Brando)”.

Robert Wyatt/Elvis Costello – “Shipbuilding” (single, 1983)

In 1983 Wyatt released the collection Mid-Eighties and the single “Shipbuilding”, a song written by Elvis Costello with lyrics about the Falklands War as seen through the eyes of a British shipyard worker. After a year's break, in 1984 we find him again with Working Week on the single “Venceremos (We Will Win)”, and on The Last Nightingale, an LP of various pieces composed by musicians close to Henry Cow, where he sings on the tracks “Moments Of Delight” and “In The Dark Year”.

SWAPO Singer –  “The Wind Of Changes” (singolo, 1984) – voce

Enter now the single “The Wind Of Changes”, recorded out of ideological solidarity with the SWAPO Singers, a band aligned with Namibia's liberation movement. 1984 also saw two Eps, 4 Tracks Ep and Work In Progress Ep, brief collections attempting to gather up his harder-to-find tracks along with a few covers, including a version of Peter Gabriel's “Biko”.

News From Babel – “Letters Home” (1986) – voce

1985 marks his return as a solo artist after ten years, with the beautiful Old Rottenhat, before resuming collaborations the following year with one of his most significant outside projects, alongside bassoonist and oboist Lindsay Cooper (Henry Cow), a musician who throughout the Eighties managed to carry the Canterbury sound forward with originality and creativity, at a time when that whole school seemed like an old wreck everyone wanted rid of. A career that made its way between Canterbury and Rock in Opposition, eventually leading to a series of solo albums and, in 1984, to the formation—together with Chris Cutler, Zeena Parkins and Dagmar Krause (Slapp Happy)—of what can be considered the last Canterbury group, News From Babel.
Letters Home (1986), the band's second album, is enriched by the voice of a Wyatt in excellent form, singing lyrics taken from Chris Cutler's poems. The album finds a meeting point between jazz and popular song, between the bold experiments of Rock in Opposition and cabaret. The delicacy of the sound, the mournful voice and a sense of ethereal simplicity make “Letters Home” an outlier both within the classic Canterbury discography and within the Eighties in general. Wyatt's melancholic voice is set against Dagmar Krause's (Slapp Happy) more stony delivery, creating a perfectly realised dichotomy.

Michael Mantler – “Many Have No Speech” (1988) – voce

Michael Mantler got back in touch with him for his album Many Have No Speech (1988), alongside Marianne Faithfull and Jack Bruce, a heavily orchestral LP in which Wyatt's voice finds itself in a context quite different from his usual one. Enter now just three short tracks, “Tant De Temps”, “A L’abattoir” and “Prisonniers”, the latter probably the most memorable moment of the three.

Chris & Cosey – “Core” (1988) – vocals on “Unmasked”, “Core”)

Some collaborations are truly hard to find, among them the one with the industrial project Chris & Cosey (Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti), an offshoot of Throbbing Gristle; his voice appears on the album Core (1988) on two tracks (“Unmasked” and “Core”) that are particularly extreme and alien territory for Wyatt's voice.

The Nineties

Ryuichi Sakamoto – “Beauty” (1990) – vocals on “We Love You”

Another unusual project is the one with Ryuichi Sakamoto on the 1990 album Beauty, where he sings on the cover of the Rolling Stones' “We Love You”, a track later subjected to various remixes.

The Happy End – “Turn Things Upside Down” (1990) – vocals on the title track

He returns to more familiar, jazzier sounds with Turn Things Upside Down (1990) on the beautiful title track with the big band The Happy End. Jazz calls him back once again with Paul Haines on the album Darn It! (1993) on the track “Curtsy”.

Ultramarine – “United Kingdom’s” – vocals

But Wyatt's versatility didn't stop there. In 1993 he sang with Ultramarine, somewhere between folk, electronics and pop, on the album United Kingdom's.

François Bayle – "L'Expérience Acoustique" (1994)

His voice also made its way indirectly into the world of electroacoustic music. Avant-garde composer François Bayle deconstructs the Soft Machine track "We Did It Again", drawing clear inspiration from Steve Reich, and creating the piece "It" on the album L'Expérience Acoustique (1994).

Robert Wyatt – "Flotsam Jetsam" (compilation, 1994)

In 1994 a new compilation, Flotsam Jetsam, was released, containing some incredible gems, among them "Slow Walkin' Talk", recorded in 1968 in Hollywood with Jimi Hendrix on bass and Wyatt on vocals and drums.

When I recorded drums, vocals and organs, Jimi came into the studio: he saw I needed help – he thought there was no bass – and he gave me a lot. He was really very kind
(Robert Wyatt)

Hugh Hopper and Kramer – "A Remark Hugh Made" (1995) – vocals on "Free Will & Testament"

It's a constant stream of hidden gems. Again in 1995 we find the first version of "Free Will & Testament" on A Remark Hugh Made by Hugh Hopper and Kramer, a track that would later find its definitive version on Wyatt's next solo work, "Shleep" (1997).

John Greaves – "Songs" (1995) – vocals on "Song", "Kew. Rhone.", "Gegenstand"

Again in 1995 we find the English artist on three tracks from Songs, the album by Canterbury scene figure John Greaves (he sings on "Song", "Kew. Rhone." and "Gegenstand").

Fish Out Of Water – “Lucky Stars” (1995) – voce in “Cry From The City”

That same year he returned to electronics on an album by Fish Out Of Water (Lucky Stars), on the track "Cry From The City".

Robert Wyatt – "A Short Break Ep" (1996)

In 1996 Wyatt released a small solo work, A Short Break. It's an interesting EP that would later flow into the more fully realized "Shleep" the following year. There's a handmade quality that stands out across all the tracks, a minimal production that marks out this forgotten EP. The words give way almost entirely to vocalizations or nearly incomprehensible murmurs, as if lyrics were by then unfit to communicate one's thoughts in the world that would rise from the rubble of the '90s.

Various Artists – "The Different You, Robert Wyatt e noi" (tribute, 1998) – vocals and piano on "Del mondo"

One of the most moving tributes Wyatt received in his career came, oddly enough, from Italy. In 1998 The Different You, Robert Wyatt e noi was released, featuring a huge roster of Italian musicians. He sings in Italian and plays synth on the cover of "Del mondo" by Csi.

Cristina Donà – "Nido" (1999) – vocals on "Goccia"

The passion for Italy also surfaces on Maurizio Camardi's album La nostra patria è il mondo intero (1998), which features a cover of “Hasta Siempre Comandante” that would later resurface on Comicopera (2007). A year later, we're still in Italy with a collaboration with singer-songwriter Cristina Donà. They had met at the Salone della Musica a few months earlier, and Wyatt agreed to arrange and sing on “Goccia”, from the album Nido (1999).

Phil Manzanera – Vozer (1999) – vocals

1999 is also the year of his reunion with Phil Manzanera, who brings him on board for his Vozero. It's a work that doesn't quite match the heights of the Canterbury-scene records of the '70s, but it confirms the ex-Roxy Music guitarist as an impeccable professional.

From 2000 to the present

Various Artists – “Soupsongs Live: The Music Of Robert Wyatt” (2000)

The new millennium opens with a grand tribute, Soupsongs Live: The Music Of Robert Wyatt, courtesy of a long line of musicians and friends of Wyatt's (among them Julie Tippetts, Phil Manzanera, Annie Whitehead, Didier Malherbe and others).

Walter Prati – “Postcards From Italy” (2002)


He returns to Italy in 2002 for an avant-garde work by Walter Prati (Postcards From Italy), an EP of just three intensely experimental tracks straddling electronics and acoustics, with Wyatt's voice folded in as though it were just another instrument.

Bjork – “Medulla” (2004) – vocals on “Submarine”

A major international recognition comes courtesy of Bjork, with whom he collaborates in 2004 on the album Medulla, singing on “Submarine”.

Phil Manzanera – “50 Minutes Later” (2004)

He plays a significant role (keyboards, vocals, percussion, trumpet on five tracks) on Phil Manzanera's 50 Minutes Later; particularly striking are the two versions of “Bible Black” and “Enotonik Bible Black”. In 2004 a new compilation is released, ironically titled His Greatest Misses, notable chiefly for its cover art.

Bruno Coulais – “Stabat Mater” (2005) – vocals

He returns to vocal exploration thanks to soundtrack composer Bruno Coulais, venturing for the first time into territory straddling the avant-garde, classical and sacred music. The album Stabat Mater (2005) is enriched by his voice on no fewer than five tracks, revealing a side of Wyatt you've never heard before (“Dolente”, “Fac Ut Portem Christi Mortem”, “Pro Peccatis Suae Gentis”, “Eia Mater, Fons Amoris”, “Quando Corpus Morietur”).

David Gilmour – “On A Island” (2006) – trumpet and percussion on “Then I Close My Eyes”

He begins crossing paths with David Gilmour with some regularity, contributing to two solo LPs by the ex-Pink Floyd guitarist. On On A Island (2006) he plays trumpet and percussion on the instrumental “Then I Close My Eyes”, while on the follow-up Rattle That Lock (2015) he plays trumpet on “The Girl In The Yellow Dress”, the most wistful track on the record and also its absolute high point.

Max Richter – “Songs From Before” (2006) – lettura

It is once again the classical world that offers him the most innovative opportunities. In 2006, modern classical pioneer Max Richter chooses him as narrator on his LP Songs From Before (“Flowers For Yulia”, “Harmonium”, “Time Passing”, “Lullaby”, “Verses”). The album once again reconciles classicism and modernity with a style and an emotional depth that are the German composer's recognizable trademark; Wyatt's spoken words add further emotion and pathos.

Steve Nieve – “Welcome To The Voice” (2006) – voce

He even landed on Deutsche Grammophon thanks to composer Steve Nieve's album Welcome To The Voice, one of the boldest and most daring collaborations of his post-2000 career. Steve Nieve manages to fold Wyatt's voice ("Grand Grand Freedom", "Troublemaker", "Distanciation", "Happiness", "Despair", "The Unlikely Duet") into a classical music context as naturally as possible, all the way to opera. A collaboration that deserves serious reassessment. 

Orchestre National de Jazz – "Around Robert Wyatt" (tribute, 2009)

Just as Italy had done a few years earlier, France too pays homage to Wyatt's career. It does so through the Orchestre National de Jazz, which in 2009 released Around Robert Wyatt, a long list of classics reinterpreted by the orchestra: the Canterbury maestro takes part in six tracks.

Wyatt/Atzmon/Stephen – “…For The Ghosts Within’” (2010) – voce

In 2010 an LP was released under the name Wyatt/Atzmon/Stephen, alongside Israeli saxophonist, clarinettist, flautist and writer Gilad Atzmon and violinist Ros Stephen. Split between new material and covers, …For The Ghosts Within' gives us, among other things, a version of "What A Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong and "In A Sentimental Mood" by Duke Ellington sung by Wyatt. It's a return to the jazz-inflected song format to which Wyatt devoted an entire career.

Unthanks – “The Songs Of Robert Wyatt And Antony & The Johnsons” (2011)

A new tribute to his career comes courtesy of British folk band the Unthanks, who pair his songs with those of Antony Hegarty on The Songs Of Robert Wyatt And Antony & The Johnsons (2011).

Afterhours – "Hai paura del buio? Special Edition" (2014)

In 2014, the English composer was contacted by Manuel Agnelli of Afterhours for the band's special edition of Hai paura del buio?. Wyatt didn't take part directly, but he let Agnelli use samples of his voice and place them however he liked in the track "Televisione". 

We took improvisations from his live performances, vocal and instrumental, that weren't tied to any particular song. In one of these improvisations, recorded for French radio, he mimics a drum rhythm with his voice, and by some magic that rhythm turned out to be the same as the one in 'Televisione'. We laid his voice over the drums and it was perfect. Then we added some more of his musical parts and sent it to him. He gave us a few suggestions, but he was thrilled. For me it was fantastic
(Manuel Agnelli)

Robert Wyatt – "Different Every Time" (compilation, 2014)

That year also saw the release of Different Every Time, a collection that might well be the definitive gathering of many long-lost tracks. An essential record for fans, offering a picture — admittedly incomplete — of Wyatt's many hard-to-find releases.

Janek Schaefer – "What Light There Is Tells Us Nothing" (2018) – vocals


In 2018 avant-garde composer Janek Schaefer – commissioned by Canterbury's Sounds New Festival – released What Light There Is Tells Us Nothing, a work spanning drone, ambient and electroacoustic music that reworks Robert Wyatt recordings.

North Sea Radio Orchestra – "Folly Bololey" (tribute, 2019)

Released instead by Italian label Dark Companion, Folly Bololey (2019) is a splendid tribute to Wyatt from the North Sea Radio Orchestra, featuring Annie Barbazza and John Greaves.

Mary Halvorson's Code Girl – "Artlessy Falling" (2020) – vocals

One of the most significant recent collaborations is undoubtedly the album Artlessy Falling (2020) by Mary Halvorson's Code Girl, featuring three jazz tracks sung by Wyatt ("The Lemon Trees", "Walls And Roses", "Bigger Flames"), virtuosic and full of life.

Meanwhile, tributes to Wyatt keep coming, and will surely continue for years to come.

Other collaborations

Kevin Coyne – “Taking On The Bowers” (1981) – drums and piano on most tracks, lyrics on “Taking On The Bowers”

The Raincoats – “Odyshape” (1981) – batteria in “And Then It´s O.K”

Vivien Goldman – drums on the single “Launderette” (1981)

Epic Soundtracks – “Popular Classical” (1981) – vocals on “Jelly, Babies”

Shiny Men – “Again” (1981) – vocals on “Dream Oussy”

Scritti Politti – keyboards on the single “The Sweetest Girl” (1981)

Scritti Politti – “Songs To Remember” (1982) – keyboards

Akimbo – “So Long Trouble Ep” (1985) – voce in “The Machine” e “The Criminal”

Claustrofobia – vocals on “Tu Traición” (1987)

Jo Fletcher – Jo Fletcher (1994) – vocals on “Lucky Day”

Millennium – “A Civilised Word” (1995) – vocals on “Another Great Victory”, “Igor Mortis” and “Erup/Peru”.

Barbara Dickson – “Dark End Of The Street” (1995) – vocals on “Love Hurts” and on the title track.

Michael Mantler – “School Of Understanding” (1996) – vocals on “Understanding” in a style reminiscent of Scott Walker's singing.

Gary Windo – “His Master’s Bones” (1996) – voce in “Is This The Time?”

The Amazing Band – “Road” (1997) – voce, synth e percussioni

Jean-Michel Marchetti – “M2W” (1998) – vocals

Hugh Hopper – “Parabolic Versions” (2000) – vocals on “Was A Friend”

Pascal Comelade – “September Song” (2000) – vocals on “September Song”

Jean-Michel Marchetti/Robert Wyatt – “M3W” (2000) – tribute

Annie Whitehead – “The Gathering” (2000) – voce, batteria, tromba in “Before We Knew”

Michael Mantler – “Hide And Seek” (2001) – voce

Anja Garbarek – “Smiling And Waving” (2001) – vocals on “Diver”

Bruno Coulais – “Travelling Birds” (2001) – vocals

Hugh Hopper – “Jazzloops” (2002) – vocals and piano on “Digwot”

La Tordue – “Champ Libre” (2002) – vocals on “Le Pètrin”

Jean-Michel Marchetti/Robert Wyatt – “M4W” (2003) – vocals

Sigmatropic – “Sixteen Haiku & Other Stories” (2003) – vocals on “Introduction On Stage 2” 

John Greaves/Elise Caron – “Chansons” (2004) – vocals on “Melange”

Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble – “Musik” (2004) – vocals on “Re-Arranging The 20th Century”

Brian Hopper – “If Ever I Am” (2005) – vocals on “The Pieman Cometh” and “Hope For Happiness” (a jazz cover of the famous Soft Machine track)

Bertrand Burgalat – “Chéri B. B.” (2007) – vocals on “This Summer Night”

Clear Frame – “Clear Frame” (2007) – trumpet on all tracks

Daniel Darc – “Amours Suprêmes” (2008) – backing vocals on “Ça Ne Sert À Rien”

Billy Bragg – “Mr Love & Justice” (2008) – backing vocals on “I Keep Faith”

Mônica Vasconcelos – “Hih” (2008) – second vocal on “Out Of The Doldrums” and “Still In The Dark (You’re Not My Sunshine)”

Paul Weller – “22 Dreams” (2008) – trumpet and piano on “Song For Alice”

Runningstill – “Losing My Reality” (2008) – vocals and trumpet on “Come Away”

Barbara Morgenstern – “BM” (2008) – vocals on “Camouflage”

David Byrne & Brian Eno – “Everything That Happens Will Happen Today” (2008) – percussion on “Strange Overtones”

Hot Chip – “Hot Chip With Robert Wyatt And Geese” (2008) – vocals 

A Season In Hell – “A Season In Hell” (2009) – vocals on the title track

Jeanette Lindström – “Attitude & Orbit Control” (2009) – vocals, trumpet on “We Would”, “Morning”, “You Say”, “Blue Room Yellow Tree”, “River”

Phil Manzanera And Corroncho – “Corroncho” (2010) – trumpet on “Rosa”, “Para Ti Nengon”, “Noche De Putas”

Sophia Domancich – “Snakes And Ladders” (2010) – vocals on “Wilderness”

Genie Cosmas – “Cry From The City” (2010) – vocals, piano on “Cry From The City”, “Once In A Liftime”, “Her Old Man”

Dave Formula – “Satellite Sweetheart” (2010) – vocals, trumpet on “The World Behind Your Eyes”

Dave Sinclair – “Stream” (2011) – vocals on “Sad Eyes”

Get The Blessing – “OCDC” (2012) – vocals on “American Meccano”

Grasscut – “Unearth” (2012) – vocals, piano, trumpet on “Richardson Road”

Lo’Jo – “Cinéma El Mundo” (2012) – vocals on “At The Beginning”, “Cinéma ‘El Mundo’”

Steve Nieve – “Together” (2013) – vocals on “La Plus Jolie Langue”

Ian James Stewart – “Junk DNA” (2013) – vocals on “No Water”, “When U Love Somebody”

Mr. Swing – “One Doz” (2013) – vocals on “Lumpit”

Dworniak Bone Lapsa – “Fingers Pointing At The Moon” (2014) – trumpet on “Mortal Man”

Christof Kurzmann – “Then & Now” (2014) – trumpet on “Noah’s Song”

Boris Grebenshikov – “Stella Maris” (2015) – vocals and trumpet

Mojomakerz – “Tales For Sunrise” (2015) – vocals on “Ship Of Fools”, “Weirdiful You”

Ian James Stewart – “Arcticana” (2017) – vocals and piano on “So Wrong”

Paul Weller – “A Kind Revolution” (2017) – voce e tromba in “She Moves With The Fayre”

Frédéric Lo – “Hallelujah!” (2018) – vocals on “Eno Song”

The Great Divide – “River’s Tent” (2018) – voce e corno in “Ibrahim”

Future Pilot AKA – “Orkestra Digitalis” (2019) – vocals on “Tutti Shruti”

Caroline Kraabel – “Last1 And Last2” (2019) – voce

Lo’Jol – “Transe de Papier” (2020) – vocals on “Kiosco”