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Jazz Articles about David Torn
David Torn: Making Records, Film Composition, and Working With David Bowie
by Mark Sullivan
Experimental guitarist, looper, songwriter, improviser, session guitarist, film composer, record producer, mixer...David Torn is all of those things. He is constantly on the move, looking forward to the next thing. He was last interviewed for All About Jazz in 2007 ("David Torn: A Lifetime Of Improvisation In Non-Improvisational Settings“). Our conversation mostly ranged over his many activities in the ten years since then. Asked about researching his playing history, and the Wikipedia article in particular: The ...
Continue ReadingECM @ Winter Jazzfest 2016
by Tyran Grillo
ECM @ Winter Jazzfest ECM Records Stage The New School, Tishman Auditorium New Yor, NY January 15 & 16, 2016 New York City's 2016 Winter Jazzfest Marathon capped off a string of first-week performances. The running theme of the festival was transition, as musicians of all walks emphasized the collaborative spirit of their chosen profession and the metamorphic possibilities without which jazz would wither. At the heart of this year's Marathon ...
Continue ReadingDavid Torn: Only Sky
by Mario Calvitti
Nonostante gli oltre trent'anni di carriera -l'esordio discografico risale al 1982 con la pubblicazione di Everyman Band, primo di due album per ECM del gruppo omonimo -il chitarrista David Torn rimane un personaggio difficile da inquadrare. Un po' per il suo continuo e incessante girovagare tra label discografiche e progetti musicali, (compreso anche il dedicarsi a composizioni di colonne sonore per film e videogames, e la creazione di loop e samples per software musicali), senza mai fermarsi più di tanto ...
Continue ReadingDavid Torn at Streamside Concerts
by Mark Sullivan
David Torn Streamside Concerts Arden, NC June 6, 2015 Experimental electric guitarist David Torn was touring to support his album only sky (ECM, 2015), a collection of solo performances done in real time using looping and other electronic processing. But there was no attempt to play selections from the recording: as Torn explained during the Q&A after the concert, all of the performances on the tour were completely improvised. Anyone who has followed Torn's career ...
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by John Kelman
Despite a career that now goes back over three decades, the relative infrequency of releases from guitarist and sound sculptor David Torn renders any new one, at the very least, a cause for speculation...if not enthusiastic anticipation. Beyond the soundtracks that have become one piece of the puzzle that defines who Torn is--and acting as engineer and/or producer for fellow unfettered explorers like saxophonist Tim Berne on albums including Shadow Man (ECM, 2013) as another--Torn was last heard on a ...
Continue ReadingDavid Torn's Prezens at Joe's Pub, NYC
by Budd Kopman
David Torn and Prezens at Joe's Pub, NYCJoe's PubNew York City, NYMarch 13, 2008 The quartet that took the stage is a live version of the group that is on prezens (ECM, 2007), which is the result of guitarist/electronics magician David Torn's post-processing of many hours of improvising by him, Tim Berne (alto saxophone), Craig Taborn (keyboards) and Tom Rainey (drums). When the chance to hear this band live presented itself, I jumped at ...
Continue ReadingDavid Torn: A Lifetime of Improvisation in Non-Improvisational Settings
by Paul Olson
David Torn has done work in so many capacities in such a variety of musical projects that it's somewhat daunting to try to state just what exactly he is. Certainly Torn's a guitarist of humbling technique--but he's always been more interested in texture and sound than the kind of electric shredding beloved in guitar-hero-worshiping circles. Torn studied composition with Leonard Bernstein and guitar with John Abercrombie and Pat Martino. It was during his tenure as guitarist with the ...
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