Contributed by Nate Wooley*
The term “downtown music” or “downtown jazz” refers to a style of music originating in the Lower East Side of Manhattan starting in the late 1970s. “Downtown” was used to separate this brash new music from its “uptown”, more sedate counterpart and to underscore the cross pollination between the composers and improvisors of "downtown" jazz with the underground punk scene simultaneously flowering in the same neighborhood.
The first generation of musicians included saxophonist/composer John Zorn, vocalist Shelley Hirsch, drummer/electronicist Ikue Mori, singer Arto Lindsay, and composers Lee Hyla, Glenn Branca, and Rhys Chatham. The Knitting Factory and CBGBs were early performance spaces followed later by Tonic, all located on the same dirty, crime ridden blocks of Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
The music is a mix of multiple genres with a heavy emphasis on rock, contemporary classical, and world music influences (especially African and Eastern European). Taking their inspiration from the ecstatic free jazz of the “loft scene” and gritty punk and no wave of CBGBs bands like the Ramones and Bad Brains, the early “downtown” musicians professed a DIY “experimentalism at all costs” aesthetic, culminating most notably in John Zorn’s solo recordings of duck calls and Christian Marclay’s turntable experiments.
Most of the musicians on this playlist come from the second generation of “downtown” musicians, having cut their teeth in the bands of Zorn, Mori and Lindsay. Most notably, John Zorn’s quartet of Jewish inspired music, Masada (and its offshoots the Masada String Trio, Bar Kokhba, and Electric Masada) were fertile ground for the next generation, which included Dave Douglas, Joey Baron, Chris Speed, Trevor Dunn, Cyro Baptista, and Jamie Saft. It is this second generation that has received the most attention (with the exception of Zorn himself) from the mainstream jazz media, and is, in turn, mentoring a third and even fourth generation of New York based experimental musicians.
1) Dave Douglas “In Our Lifetime” from In Our Lifetime (NWR80471)
Dave Douglas composer and trumpet, Chris Speed tenor sax and clarinet, Marty Ehrlich bass clarinet, Josh Roseman trombone, Uri Caine piano, James Genus bass, Joey Baron drums
Dave Douglas has become the poster boy for the new generation of “Downtown Jazz”. Following his work with John Zorn’s Masada, Douglas struck out on his own with a dizzying array of different projects including The Tiny Bell Trio and his group Five which combined contemporary string quartet writing with modern jazz. Exemplifying the modern “downtown” aesthetic, Douglas mixes disparate influences, ranging from Klezmer and Balkan music to rock to contemporary classical music.
“In Our Lifetime” is one of Dave’s tribute projects (including tributes to Wayne Shorter and Joni Mitchell) and is dedicated to the late trumpeter, Booker Little. The recording contains some of Dave’s most intricate and engaging composing to date and features an all star cast from the “downtown” scene.
2) Human Feel “Sich Reped” from “Welcome to Malpesta” (NWR80450)
Andrew D’Angelo composer, alto sax and bass clarinet, Chris Speed tenor sax and clarinet, Kurt Rosenwinkel guitar, Jim Black drums
Human Feel is the consummate example of the “downtown” style, combining abstract and noisy improvisations with simple, catchy melodies, atonal counterpoint and dirty rock beats.
Especially notable on “Sich Reped” is Jim Black’s drum tunings and manic, schizophrenic style. This playing is a direct descendant of the drumming of Joey Baron (heard on track 1), and has become synonymous with the sound of “downtown” improvisation.
3) Robert Dick “Tycho” from “ Third Rock from the Sun” (NWR80435)
Robert Dick composer and flutes, Jerome Harris guitar and bass, Soldier String Quartet, Jim Black drums
Another fine example of Black’s drumming style and the mixture of influences from the flautist’s tribute to Jimi Hendrix. Robert Dick is a longstanding member of the “downtown” community as well as one of the leading flute experimentalists.
A testament to Dick’s incredible command of flute extended techniques, there is absolutely no electronic processing on his flutes for this recording. All the hints of feedback and distortion, so commonly associated with Hendrix’s guitar style are produced acoustically by Dick.
4) New York Composer’s Orchestra “After All” from “The New York Composer’s Orchestra”
(NWR80397)
Composition by Marty Ehrlich; New York Composers Orchestra featuring solos by Marty Ehrlich tenor sax, Herb Robertson trumpet, Ray Anderson trombone
The New York Composer’s Orchestra, founded by pianist/composer Wayne Horvitz, was a major outlet for the varied composing styles of “downtown” musicians in the 1990s. Besides commissioning compositions from Horvitz, singer/songwriter Robin Holcomb, and AACM legend Anthony Braxton, the orchestra contained the brightest soloists of the era, including Ray Anderson and Herb Robertson, visionary figures on their respective instruments.
Marty Ehrlich, the composer and saxophone soloist on this track, continues to be a major “behind the scenes” forces in the “downtown” scene, contributing his experience as a multi-woodwind player, brilliant soloist, and producer to a score of recordings.
5) Marty Ehrlich’s Dark Woods Ensemble “Thickets” from “Just Before the Dawn” (NWR80474)
Marty Ehrlich composer and clarinets, Vincent Chancey French horn, Erik Friedlander cello, Mark Helias bass, Don Alias percussion
Another side of Ehrlich and another major piece to the “downtown” aesthetic puzzle, contemporary chamber music. The serial, atonal, and neoclassical chamber traditions of the mid 20th century weigh heavily in the composing styles of “downtown” musicians.
In “Thickets”, one can hear the influence of Bartok in the cello and bass melody and Phillip Glass in the intense rhythmic repetition of the percussion/clarinet line, joined shortly thereafter by the rest of the ensemble to create a dense four part contrapuntal “thicket” leading into a lyrical cello solo.
6) Tim Berne “Reversion” from “The Sevens” (NWR80586)
Tim Berne composer, The ARTE Quartett, David Torn, guitar, electronics and live processing
Tim Berne led the seminal “downtown” quartet Bloodcount in the 1990s (featuring Chris Speed and Jim Black). The group was a freewheeling free jazz quartet using the languages of Albert Ayler and Julius Hemphill but with an angry punk edge. It was the “gateway” group for a new generation of listeners and musicians to gain access to the “downtown” scene.
Though he still plays alto and baritone saxophones constantly throughout the world and with a recent Bloodcount reunion, Berne has turned to composition in recent years. “Reversion” shows that the Bloodcount spirit is still alive in his writing for the ARTE Quartett with electronics and electric guitar squalls by collaborator David Torn.
7) Joey Baron’s Barondown “I’ve Been Holding it All My Life” from “Raised Pleasure Dot”
(NWR80449)
Joey Baron composer and drums, Steve Swell trombone, Ellery Eskelin tenor saxophone
Ultimately, “downtown” jazz is JAZZ. Amongst all the epic, multi-sectioned, heavily contrapuntal, atonal compositions there is plenty of music that is just fun, jazz “blowing”.
Joey Baron’s drumming, heavy on groove, defined the rhythmic impetus for Jim Black and Dave Douglas’ generation of “downtown” musicians. There is no finer example of the simplicity and joyous nature of his music than “I’ve Been Holding It All My Life” with Ellery Eskelin (a great trio leader in his own right) and Steve Swell (a fixture of the Lower East Side free jazz scene).
8) John Hollenbeck “Eskelin/Hollenbeck Vignettes” from “No Images” (CR2002)
John Hollenbeck percussion, Ellery Eskelin tenor sax
An even more freewheeling track of freely improvised music with Ellery Eskelin and grammy nominated John Hollenbeck. Hollenbeck, a towering member of the previously mentioned “third generation” of downtown musicians is known primarily for his intricate compositions, especially in the Claudia Quintet featuring Chris Speed and Matt Moran.
In this set of six improvisations, Hollenbeck and Eskelin show off the range of techniques common to the virtuosity of “downtown” musicians: the ability to quickly, almost telepathically change gears as an improvising unit and a mastery of expressive extended techniques.
9) Matt Moran’s Sideshow “The Circus Band” from “Sideshow: Songs of Charles Ives” (CR2000)
Charles Ives composer, Matt Moran arranger and vibraphone, Oscar Noriega alto saxophone, Adam Good guitar, John Hollenbeck drums
Closing with an example of the new generation of “downtown” musicians, now, with the closing of Tonic and the shift of the Knitting Factory to pop music, almost completely based at the Brooklyn club, Barbes. “The Circus Band” is almost an anthem to this next generation who, with all the influences of Dave Douglas, Chris Speed, Robert Dick and the rest of the musicians on this list have added a healthy dose of Eastern European circus and brass band music to their repertoire.
*Nate Wooley is a recent addition to the DRAM staff, and an experimental trumpet player, whose numerous recordings and busy performance schedule has firmly placed him in the center of the “fourth generation” of “downtown” music.
