Results for "creative improvised music"

Christopher Robin Cox

Born: July 28, 1971

Christopher Robin Cox is a veteran creative improvising trombonist, originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, who now lives in Budapest, Hungary.

After nearly 10 years away from playing music full time, earning three academic degrees, including a PhD in Geography,  he decided to return to his horn with a vengeance. He currently leads a trio and a double-bass quartet in Budapest and is beginning to tour around Central Europe as a soloist under the name AlOnE.

He brings a huge, dark tone, and a style that utilizes bluesy, gravely split-tones, plunger, and other prepared techniques. As an improviser, he is equally comfortable playing with lots of space and in more intense improvisation settings. He frequently utilizes effects pedals and loopers to create ambient soundscapes that are more akin to movie soundtracks that free jazz. However, during his time growing up the San Francisco Bay Area, he played with greats like Glenn spearman, Marco Eneidi, Donald Robinson, Garth Powell, and George Cremasci to name a few. He has also performed with George Cartwrite, Chris Bates, Nathan Hanson, and Jason Robinson.

Jacob William

Jacob William is a multifaceted musician, bassist, composer, improviser, and educator whose work spans free jazz, contemporary improvisation, and experimental music. For over a decade, he has led and performed in ensembles dedicated to exploring spontaneous creativity and pushing the boundaries of improvised music. In 2023, Jacob released two major recordings: Degrees of Simultaneity with Para Quintet, featuring Laurence Cook, Jim Hobbs, Forbes Graham, and Steve Lantner, and Through Osmosis and Other Means with TOaOM Trio, alongside Jim Hobbs and Luther Gray.

Renowned for his deep, intuitive approach to the bass, Jacob has been praised for the way he seamlessly anchors and propels an ensemble. Veteran jazz drummer Joe Hunt describes him as “a true breath of fresh air… a special spirit… one of my favorite musicians.” He highlights Jacob’s “formidable bass skills” and calls him “rare and wonderful… inspiring and motivational… one of the most exciting [musicians] I’d ever experienced.”

Born in Chennai and raised in Bangalore, India, Jacob’s upbringing was steeped in cultural diversity and artistic inspiration. Growing up in a family committed to the arts, athletics, and academics, his early musical experiences included choir singing and informal explorations of hybrid musical styles. In his teenage years, he began playing bass guitar and quickly gained recognition, performing at concerts and festivals throughout India with forward-thinking jazz musicians. He attended Christ College, where he studied Finance and Economics, before moving to the United States in 1991 on a music scholarship to further his studies and pursue new creative opportunities.

Jacob holds a Master of Arts in Music from Wesleyan University, where he studied under Anthony Braxton, Neely Bruce, and Alvin Lucier, while training in South Indian Carnatic music with T. Viswanathan and percussion with Ramanad Raghavan and David Nelson. He also studied in the Contemporary Improvisation program at the New England Conservatory under Ran Blake and received advanced training on the bass with Cecil McBee and John Lockwood. Jacob earned his Bachelor of Music from Berklee College of Music, specializing in Jazz Bass Performance under Bruce Gertz, Whit Browne, and Rich Appleman, and participated in masterclasses by Kenny Werner and Bob Brookmeyer.

Throughout his career, Jacob has collaborated with a wide and distinguished array of musicians, including Maynard Ferguson, Louiz Banks, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Ranjit Barot, Omar Sosa, Abraham K. Adzenyah, Len ‘Boogsie’ Sharpe, Badal Roy, Charlie Mariano, T.A.S. Mani, R. A. Ramamani, royal hartigan, and Gustavo Ovalles. His extensive work in the jazz and improvisational scenes has brought him together with Ken Vandermark, Joe Morris, Nate Wooley, Laurence Cook, Luther Gray, Jim Hobbs, Forbes Graham, Steve Lantner, Tony Malaby, Francisco Mela, Allan Chase, Neil Leonard, Dave Bryant, Curt Newton, George Garzone, Jorrit Dijkstra, Jeff Galindo, Pandelis Karayorgis, Chris Bowman, Tom Hall, Croix Galipault, Joe Hunt, Amit Heri, Jerry Sabatini, Andria Nicodemou, Eric Hofbauer, Eric Rosenthal, Jon Damian, Garrison Fewell, Jason Robinson, Bill Lowe, Charlie Kohlhase, Noah Kaplan, Bob Gullotti, Eric Zinman, Syd Smart, Glynis Lomon, Joe Moffett, and Junko Fujiwara.

Jacob’s performances span continents, with appearances in Asia, Europe, and the United States, including Indian National Television and Radio DRS in Zurich. He has contributed to over 20 recordings, with releases on labels such as Warner, Intuition, Magnasound, Not Two, and Ayler Records.

Steve Hirsh

Born: November 9, 1955

Steve Hirsh plays improvised music on the drumset. He's been leading improvising ensembles around Minnesota's Twin Cities for years, as well as being a regular participant on New York City's downtown scene, and performing in a variety of locales. He has had the great good fortune to perform and play with some extraordinary musicians, including William Parker, Joel Futterman, Matthew Shipp, Ivo Perelman, Anthony Cox, George Cartwright, Douglas Ewart, Luke Stewart, Eri Yamamoto, Zoh Amba, Steve Swell, Dave Sewelson, Mara Rosenbloom and Gabby Fluke-Mogul. He has appeared on a number of recordings on the Mahakala Music label. Hirsh endorses Canopus drums and Bosphorus cymbals.