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==Career==
==Career==
A native of [[Toledo, Ohio]], Nix was introduced to music in childhood and began playing the guitar at eleven years old. He listened intently to jazz guitarists, including [[Wes Montgomery]], [[Jimmy Raney]], [[Barney Kessel]], and [[Charlie Christian]]. He taught guitar upon his arrival to New York City.{{When?|date=July 2024}} In 1975 he graduated from the [[Berklee College of Music]].<ref name="Yanow">{{cite book |last1=Yanow |first1=Scott |title=The Great Jazz Guitarists |date=2013 |publisher=Backbeat |location=Milwaukee, WI |isbn=978-1-61713-023-6 |page=145}}</ref> For the next twelve years, he played guitar for Ornette Coleman's Prime Time band.<ref name="Yanow" />
A native of [[Toledo, Ohio]], Nix was introduced to music in childhood and began playing the guitar at eleven years old. He listened intently to jazz guitarists, including [[Wes Montgomery]], [[Jimmy Raney]], [[Barney Kessel]], and [[Charlie Christian]]. In 1975 he graduated from the [[Berklee College of Music]].<ref name="Yanow">{{cite book |last1=Yanow |first1=Scott |title=The Great Jazz Guitarists |date=2013 |publisher=Backbeat |location=Milwaukee, WI |isbn=978-1-61713-023-6 |page=145}}</ref> For the next twelve years, he played guitar for Ornette Coleman's Prime Time band.<ref name="Yanow" />


Nix led a trio with bassist William Parker and drummer David Cappello from 1985 until his death in 2017. In 1993, the trio released the album ''Alarms and Excursions''.<ref>{{Citation |title=Alarms & Excursions - Bern Nix Trio {{!}} Album {{!}} AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/alarms-excursions-mw0000102285 |access-date=2024-07-23 |language=en}}</ref> Nix released the solo album ''Low Barometer'' on [[Tompkins Square Records]] in September 2006. His composition "Les is More" appears on ''Art and Money'', an album released by 1687, Inc. in 2006. In 2013, the Bern Nix Quartet, featuring Francois Grillot, Reggie Sylvester, and [[Matt Lavelle]], released ''Negative Capability''.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=44889#.UebJbI03uSo|title=Bern Nix Quartet: Negative Capability|website=All About Jazz|date=July 14, 2013 |access-date=June 5, 2017}}</ref>
Nix led a trio with bassist William Parker and drummer David Cappello from 1985 until his death in 2017. In 1993, the trio released the album ''Alarms and Excursions''.<ref>{{Citation |title=Alarms & Excursions - Bern Nix Trio {{!}} Album {{!}} AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/alarms-excursions-mw0000102285 |access-date=2024-07-23 |language=en}}</ref> Nix released the solo album ''Low Barometer'' on [[Tompkins Square Records]] in September 2006. His composition "Les is More" appears on ''Art and Money'', an album released by 1687, Inc. in 2006. In 2013, the Bern Nix Quartet, featuring Francois Grillot, Reggie Sylvester, and [[Matt Lavelle]], released ''Negative Capability''.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=44889#.UebJbI03uSo|title=Bern Nix Quartet: Negative Capability|website=All About Jazz|date=July 14, 2013 |access-date=June 5, 2017}}</ref>

Revision as of 22:09, 23 October 2024

Bern Nix
Bern Nix, Les Gallery Clemente Soto Velez, February 2005
Bern Nix, Les Gallery Clemente Soto Velez, February 2005
Background information
BornSeptember 21, 1947
Toledo, Ohio, U.S.
DiedMay 31, 2017(2017-05-31) (aged 69)
New York City, U.S.
GenresAvant-garde jazz
OccupationMusician
Years active1975–2017
LabelsTompkins Square

Bern Nix (September 21, 1947 – May 31, 2017)[1] was an American jazz guitarist. He is best known for recording and performing with Ornette Coleman from 1975 to 1987, notably with guitarist Charlie Ellerbee in Coleman's Prime Time group on recordings including Dancing in Your Head and In All Languages. Nix was voted among the top ten jazz guitarists in a poll by Down Beat magazine.[2][when?]

Career

A native of Toledo, Ohio, Nix was introduced to music in childhood and began playing the guitar at eleven years old. He listened intently to jazz guitarists, including Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Raney, Barney Kessel, and Charlie Christian. In 1975 he graduated from the Berklee College of Music.[3] For the next twelve years, he played guitar for Ornette Coleman's Prime Time band.[3]

Nix led a trio with bassist William Parker and drummer David Cappello from 1985 until his death in 2017. In 1993, the trio released the album Alarms and Excursions.[4] Nix released the solo album Low Barometer on Tompkins Square Records in September 2006. His composition "Les is More" appears on Art and Money, an album released by 1687, Inc. in 2006. In 2013, the Bern Nix Quartet, featuring Francois Grillot, Reggie Sylvester, and Matt Lavelle, released Negative Capability.[5]

Nix's song "The Fire Within" was featured on the soundtrack of the 2015 film Tangerine.[citation needed]

He also worked with Jayne Cortez, Marc Ribot, Elliott Sharp, Jemeel Moondoc, Ronald Shannon Jackson, and John Zorn.[3]

Discography

As leader

  • Alarms and Excursions (New World/Counter Currents, 1993)
  • Low Barometer (Tompkins Square, 2006)
  • Negative Capability (56 Kitchen, 2013)
  • Tangerine (Milan, 2015)

As sideman

With Ornette Coleman

With Jayne Cortez

  • Unsubmissive Blues (Bola Press, 1980)
  • There It Is (Bola Press, 1982)
  • Maintain Control (Bola Press, 1986)
  • Everywhere Drums (Bola Press, 1990)
  • Poetry & Music (Tradition & Moderne, 1994)
  • Cheerful & Optimistic (Bola Press, 1994)
  • Taking the Blues Back Home (Harmolodic/Verve, 1996)[6]
  • Borders of Disorderly Time (Bola Press, 2003)

With Jemeel Moondoc

With others

References

  1. ^ Nate Chinen, "Bern Nix, Guitarist Steeped in Ornette Coleman's Harmolodic Language, Dies at 69", WBGO, June 1, 2017.
  2. ^ "Bern Nix @ All About Jazz". Musicians.allaboutjazz.com. July 14, 2013. Retrieved June 5, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ a b c Yanow, Scott (2013). The Great Jazz Guitarists. Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat. p. 145. ISBN 978-1-61713-023-6.
  4. ^ Alarms & Excursions - Bern Nix Trio | Album | AllMusic, retrieved July 23, 2024
  5. ^ "Bern Nix Quartet: Negative Capability". All About Jazz. July 14, 2013. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  6. ^ "Taking the Blues Back Home". AllMusic. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  • Media related to Bern Nix at Wikimedia Commons
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