From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Musical artist
Joshua Abrams is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist who plays the
double bass and
guimbri.
[1]
[2]
Career
While 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
As leader or co-leader
- 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
With
Joan of Arc
- Orchard Vale (Record Label, 2007)
-
Boo! Human (Polyvinyl, 2008)
-
Flowers (Polyvinyl, 2009)
With
Nicole Mitchell
With
Mike Reed
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
- ^
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).
External links
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