Bern Nix (September 21, 1947 – May 31, 2017) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

ist. He recorded and performed with

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Col ...

from 1975 to 1987, notably with guitarist Charlie Ellerbee in Coleman's

Prime Time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

group on their key recordings, including '' Dancing in Your Head'' and '' In All Languages'' in 1987. Nix was voted among the top ten jazz guitarists poll by ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Ch ...

'' magazine.

Career

A native of

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and accordin ...

, Nix taught guitar upon his arrival to New York City. He was a graduate of the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cou ...

. Nix led the Bern Nix trio from 1985 until his death in 2017 in New York City. In 1993, the band released the album ''Alarms and Excursions''. The album made many critics' top ten lists. Nix released the solo album ''Low Barometer'' ( Tompkins Square) 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 released ''Negative Capability''. Nix's song "The Fire Within" was on the soundtrack of the film ''

Tangerine The tangerine is a type of citrus fruit that is orange in color. Its scientific name varies. It has been treated as a separate species under the name ''Citrus tangerina'' or ''Citrus'' × ''tangerina'', or treated as a variety of ''Citrus retic ...

'' directed by Sean Baker. The film premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

in 2015. His quartet included Francois Grillot, Reggie Sylvester, and

Matt Lavelle Matt Lavelle (born 1970 in Paterson, New Jersey) is a jazz trumpet, flugelhorn, alto clarinet, and bass clarinet player. Career Lavelle began his music career with Hildred Humphries, a swing era veteran who played with Count Basie and Billie Holi ...

and performed over 50 concerts, mostly in New York City. Nix performed with James Chance and the Contortions and appeared on their album ''Live in New York'' (1981). He also worked with

Jayne Cortez Jayne Cortez (May 10, 1934 – December 28, 2012) was an African-American poet, activist, small press publisher and spoken-word performance artist whose voice is celebrated for its political, surrealistic and dynamic innovations in lyricism and ...

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jazz ...

Marc Ribot Marc Ribot (; born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer. His work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, rock, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Wai ...

Elliott Sharp Elliott Sharp (born March 1, 1951) is an American contemporary classical composer, multi-instrumentalist, and performer. A central figure in the avant-garde and experimental music scene in New York City since the late 1970s, Sharp has released ...

Jemeel Moondoc Jemeel Moondoc (August 5, 1946 – August 29, 2021) was a jazz saxophonist who played alto saxophone. He was a proponent of a highly improvisational style. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and studied clarinet and piano befo ...

Ronald Shannon Jackson Ronald Shannon Jackson (January 12, 1940 – October 19, 2013) was an American jazz drummer from Fort Worth, Texas. A pioneer of avant-garde jazz, free funk, and jazz fusion, he appeared on over 50 albums as a bandleader, sideman, arranger, and ...

, Kip Hanrahan, and

Lenore Von Stein Lenore Von Stein is a composer and soprano.McCormack, Allen E. and Barbara Kaplan, ''Stern's performing arts directory'', Vol.42, (DM, Inc., 1998), 12. Von Stein began her artistic career as an actor and playwright. She originated the role in Samu ...

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

* '' Dancing in Your Head'' (

Horizon The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This line divides all viewing directions based on whether ...

, 1977) * ''

Body Meta ''Body Meta'' is an album by Ornette Coleman and Prime Time. Reception In a review for AllMusic, Michael G. Nastos wrote that the musicians on ''Body Meta'' are "loud, boisterous, imaginative, unfettered by conventional devices, and wail beyond c ...

'' ( Artists House, 1978) * '' Of Human Feelings'' (

Antilles The Antilles (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy; es, Antillas; french: Antilles; nl, Antillen; ht, Antiy; pap, Antias; Jamaican Patois: ''Antiliiz'') is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mex ...

, 1982) * ''

Opening the Caravan of Dreams ''Opening the Caravan of Dreams'' is a 1985 live album by jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman and his Prime Time ensemble. It was recorded at a concert inaugurating the Caravan of Dreams, a then-newly opened performing arts center in Coleman's hometow ...

'' (

Caravan of Dreams Caravan of Dreams was a performing arts center in the central business district of Fort Worth, Texas during the 1980s and 1990s. The venue was best known locally as a live music nightclub, though this was only one part of a larger facility. The ...

, 1985) * '' In All Languages'' (Caravan of Dreams, 1987) * '' Virgin Beauty'' (

Portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this ...

, 1988) * '' Prime Time Live'' (

Repertoire A repertoire () is a list or set of dramas, operas, musical compositions or roles which a company or person is prepared to perform. Musicians often have a musical repertoire. The first known use of the word ''repertoire'' was in 1847. It is a ...

, 1990) With

* ''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) * ''Borders of Disorderly Time'' (Bola Press, 2003) With

* '' Nostalgia in Times Square'' (

Soul Note Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz. History Black S ...

, 1986) * ''

Spirit House A spirit house is a shrine to the protective spirit of a place that is found in the Southeast Asian countries of Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The spirit house is normally in the form of sma ...

'' (

Eremite A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...

, 2000) * '' Live at the Vision Festival'' (Ayler, 2003) With Others * James Chance and the Contortions, ''Live in New York'' (ROIR, 1981) *

, ''Eye on You'' (About Time, 1980) *

Frank Lowe Frank Lowe (June 24, 1943 – September 19, 2003) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and composer. Biography Born and brought up in Memphis, Tennessee, Lowe took up the tenor saxophone at the age of 12. As an adult he moved to San Fra ...

, ''Lowe-Down & Blue'' (CIMP, 2002) * Hotel X, "Uncommon Ground", featuring Bern Nix and Greg Ginn (SST Records 2003)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nix, Bern 1950 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians American jazz guitarists American male guitarists American male jazz musicians Avant-garde jazz musicians Berklee College of Music alumni Guitarists from New York City Guitarists from Ohio Jazz musicians from New York (state) Jazz musicians from Ohio Musicians from Toledo, Ohio Prime Time (band) members