Collection: Work Money Death

Tony Burkill spent nearly thirty years as a stalwart of the Leeds music scene before making his first record. He is a tenor saxophonist who favoured continued development on the instrument over recognition, and the 2017 debut that eventually appeared on ATA Records, originally credited to Tony Burkill and co-written with bassist Neil Innes, sounds like the product of exactly that patience. The band that backed Burkill on that record, drawn from members of the Sorcerers, the Lewis Express and Nat Birchall's own band, became Work Money Death, and the name stuck. Burkill is an instrumentalist and composer deeply inspired by the spiritual jazz tradition forged by Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Sun Ra. They expanded their lineup for 2021's "The Space in Which the Uncontrollable Unknown Resides, Can Be the Place From Which Creation Arises" and for 2022's "Thought, Action, Reaction, Interaction," adding French horn, trumpet, tuba, vocals and eventually harp to the core saxophone, bass and drums format. "A Portal to Here" (2026) marks their first recording since the passing of guitarist Chris "Earl" Dawkins and draws upon the emotional weight of that loss and a deep well of spiritual jazz reference points. They remain among the most serious and least-hyped bands in the Leeds scene.