Avant-Garde Jazz flautist and saxophonist, born 22 July 1937 in Plymouth, England, UK.
In the late 1960s and 1970s, he started his musical career playing for the likes of The John Barry Seven, Chris Andrews, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, Elkie Brooks, Alex Harvey, Julie Driscoll, amongst others. In 1968, he formed his own group Bob Downes Open Music, a trio with many different musicians involved who released a series of LPs on Downes’ own Openian record label.
Bod Downes recorded and played with a lot of jazz bands and artists like Ray Russell’s Rock Workshop, Barry Guy’s London Jazz Composer’s Orchestra and the Mike Westbrook and Keith Tippett bands. Otherwise, he has composed and performed for a great deal of contemporary dance, including The Royal Ballet, The London Contemporary Dance Theatre, Ballet Rambert, Dance Theatre of Harlem, The Royal Canadian Ballet etc. Then there’s his work for theatre, television, and at international poetry festivals.
He moved to Germany in 1980.