Joshua Abrams is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist who plays the double bass and guimbri.[1][2]
Joshua Abrams | |
|---|---|
 Joshua Abrams in Aarhus, Denmark, 2018 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Genres | Avant-garde jazz, minimalism |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Double bass, Guimbri |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Member of | Natural Information Society |
| Formerly of | The Roots, Town & Country |
Career
editWhile living in Philadelphia in the late 1980s, Abrams was a member of Square Roots, a street music group that developed into The Roots. He moved to Evanston, Illinois in 1991, and played in Chicago house bands for several years before forming Town & Country in 1998 with Ben Vida, Liz Payne, and Jim Dorling. Abrams was the house bass player at Fred Anderson's Velvet Lounge and for several years he played a weekly club date with Tortoise's John Herndon and Jeff Parker.[3] He was a member of Mike Reed's Loose Assembly and Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble.[4][5] In 2003, he played bass on Godspeed You! Black Emperor's album Yanqui U.X.O..[6] He has worked as a studio musician on recordings made in Chicago, such as Jandek's Chicago Wednesday; Bonnie "Prince" Billy's Beware and albums from Chicago musicians such as Joan of Arc, David Grubbs, and Sam Prekop.[7][8][9]
In the early 00's, Delmark released his acoustic quartet album Cipher and Lucky Kitchen released his solo soundscape albums.[3] He recorded albums under the name "Reminder" for Prefuse 73's Eastern Developments label and Easel.[3][10] In 2010, Abrams started the band Natural Information Society releasing albums by Eremite Records.[11][3] In 2018 he received a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists award.[7]
As a film composer, Abrams has written music for director Steve James and for Life Itself, The Interrupters, The Trials of Muhammad Ali, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, and the documentary series America to Me.[1][12][13] He performed and composed music for the play At Twilight by Simon Starling, with Theaster Gates at Documenta 13, and in exhibitions by Lisa Alvarado.[7][14][11]
Discography
editAs leader or co-leader
edit- Terminal 4 with Terminal 4 (Truckstop/Atavistic, 2001)
- Busride Interview (Lucky Kitchen, 2002)
- Sticks and Stones with Sticks and Stones (482 Music, 2002)
- Cipher (Delmark, 2003)
- After (Lucky Kitchen, 2003)
- Shed Grace with Sticks and Stones (Thrill Jockey, 2004)
- Continuum (Eastern Developments, 2006) as Reminder
- Bright Blue Galilee with DRMWPN (Captcha, 2008)
- Bird Show Band with Bird Show Band (Amish, 2010)
- Twyxt Wyrd with the Cairo Gang (Blackest Rainbow, 2010)
- Stars Have Shapes with Exploding Star Orchestra (Delmark, 2010)
- Natural Information (Eremite, 2010)
- Represencing (Eremite, 2012)
- New Myth/Old Science with Living by Lanterns (Cuneiform, 2012)
- Unknown Known (RogueArt, 2013)
- Goes Missing with the Cairo Gang (God? 2015)
- Magnetoception with Natural Information Society (Eremite, 2015)
- Automaginary with Natural Information Society (Drag City, 2015)
- Simultonality with Natural Information Society (Eremite, 2017)
- We Have Always Been Here with Galactic Unity Ensemble (JMY, 2017)
- Excavations 1 (Feeding Tube, 2018)
- Ithra (Aerophonic, 2018) with Dave Rempis and Tomeka Reid
- Mandatory Reality with Natural Information Society (Eremite, 2019)
- Cloud Script (Rogueart, 2020)
- Sometimes There Were Four (self-released, 2020) with Forbes Graham, Ava Mendoza, and Tyler Damon
- Music for Life Itself & The Interrupters (Eremite, 2020)
- descension (Out of Our Constrictions) with Natural Information Society and Evan Parker (Eremite, 2021)
- Mind Maintenance (Drag City, 2021) with Chad Taylor
- Since Time Is Gravity with Natural Information Society and Ari Brown (Eremite, 2023)
With Town & Country
- Town and Country (BOXmedia, 1998)
- Decoration Day (Thrill Jockey, 2000)
- It All Has to Do With It (Thrill Jockey, 2000)
- Up Above (Thrill Jockey, 2006)
As sideman
editWith Joan of Arc
- Orchard Vale (Record Label, 2007)
- Boo! Human (Polyvinyl, 2008)
- Flowers (Polyvinyl, 2009)
With Nicole Mitchell
- Afrika Rising (Dreamtime, 2002)
- Hope, Future and Destiny (Dreamtime, 2004)
- Black Unstoppable (Delmark, 2007)
- Renegades (Delmark, 2008)
- Xenogenesis Suite (Firehouse 12, 2008)
- Aquarius (Delmark, 2013)
- Intergalactic Beings (FPE, 2014)
With Mike Reed
- Last Year's Ghost (482 Music, 2007)
- The Speed of Change (482 Music, 2008)
- Empathetic Parts (482 Music, 2010)
With Dave Rempis
- Aphelion (Aerophonic, 2014)
- Perihelion (Aerophonic, 2016)
- Apsis (Aerophonic, 2019)
With others
- Fred Anderson, From the River to the Ocean (Thrill Jockey, 2007)
- Bonnie Prince Billy, Beware (Drag City, 2009)
- Jeb Bishop, 98 Duets (Wobbly Rail, 1998)
- Brokeback, Field Recordings from the Cook County Water Table (Thrill Jockey, 1999)
- Rhys Chatham, Guitar Trio Is My Life! (Radium, 2007)
- Bobby Conn, The Golden Age (Thrill Jockey, 2001)
- Chris Connelly, The Episodes Durtro (Jnana, 2007)
- Chris Connelly, Forgiveness & Exile (Jnana, 2008)
- Ernest Dawkins, Un-till Emmett Till (DAWK Music 2009)
- Hamid Drake, Blissful (Rogueart, 2008)
- Hamid Drake, Reggaeology (Rogueart, 2010)
- Edith Frost, It's a Game (Drag City, 2005)
- David Grubbs, The Thicket (Drag City, 1998)
- Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Yanqui U.X.O. (Constellation, 2002)
- Marc Hellner, Marriages (Peacefrog, 2005)
- Icy Demons, Miami Ice (Leaf BAY 2009)
- Rob Mazurek, Sound Is (Delmark, 2009)
- Rob Mazurek, Calma Gente (Submarine/Catune 2010)
- Loren Mazzacane Connors, Hoffman Estates (Drag City, 1998)
- Makaya McCraven, In the Moment (International Anthem, 2015)
- Joe McPhee, A Pride of Lions (Bridge Sessions, 2018)
- Roscoe Mitchell, Three Compositions (Rogueart, 2012)
- Kjetil Moster, Ran Do (Clean Feed, 2017)
- Sam Prekop, Sam Prekop (Thrill Jockey, 1999)
- Sam Prekop, Who's Your New Professor (Thrill Jockey, 2005)
- Matana Roberts, The Chicago Project (Central Control, 2008)
- The Roots, Organix (Remedy, 1993)
- Savath & Savalas, Apropa't (Warp, 2004)
- Savath & Savalas, Golden Pollen (Anti-, 2007)
- The Spinanes, Arches and Aisles (Sub Pop, 1998)
- Mia Doi Todd, GEA City (Zen, 2008)
- Jenny Toomey, Antidote (Misra, 2001)
- Tortoise, Gamera/Cliff Dweller Society (Duophonic Super 45s, 1995)
- Ben Vida, Mpls. (BOXmedia, 2000)
References
edit- ^ a b Schube, Will (16 May 2017). "Joshua Abrams is a Focused Force in Jazz and Film Scoring". Band Camp.
- ^ Masters, Marc. "Joshua Abrams: Natural Information Society Simultonality". Pitchfork.
- ^ a b c d Broomer, Stuart (Fall 2015). "Joshua Abrams' Natural Information Society: By Way of the Guimbri". Music Works Magazine. No. 123.
- ^ Russonello, Giovanni (10 January 2018). "Nicole Mitchell, an Innovative Flutist With an Afrofuturist Vision". New York Times.
- ^ Adler, David R. (25 April 2019). "Mike Reed: Doubled Up". Jazz Times Magazine.
- ^ Khanna, Vish. "Godspeed You! Black Emperor: There's Only Hope". Exclaim.
- ^ a b c "Foundation for Contemporary Arts 2018: Joshua Abrams". Foundation for Contemporary Arts 2018 Booklet.
- ^ Hughes, Josiah. "Joan of Arc Celebrate Their Collaborators with Don't Mind Control". Exclaim.
- ^ Downing, Andy (21 October 2005). "For Sam Prekop, going solo means enlisting old friends". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ Preski, Kenneth (19 February 2014). "Lunch with Joshua: Abrams on New Releases from Natural Information Society in 2014". New City Chicago.
- ^ a b Russonello, Giovanni (April 20, 2017). "Joshua Abrams and Natural Information Society". The New York Times.
- ^ Leitko, Aaron. "Joshua Abrams: Music for Life Itself & The Interrupters". Pitchfork.
- ^ Tobias, Scott (23 January 2018). "Oscars 2018: Where to Stream the Nominated Movies". New York Times.
- ^ Sharratt, Chris (14 September 2016). "Live: Simon Starling". Frieze (183).