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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

guitarist. He recorded and performed with

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

from 1975 to 1987 in Coleman's

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

band.

Career

A native of

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

, 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 John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for his unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and for his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a ...

Jimmy Raney James Elbert Raney (August 20, 1927 – May 10, 1995) was an American jazz guitarist, born in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, known for his work from 1951 to 1952 and then from 1953 to 1954 with the Red Norvo trio (replacing Tal Farlow) a ...

Barney Kessel Barney Kessel (October 17, 1923 – May 6, 2004) was an American jazz guitarist. Known in particular for his knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies, he was a member of many prominent jazz groups as well as a "first call" gu ...

, and

Charlie Christian Charles Henry Christian (July 29, 1916 – March 2, 1942) was an American swing and jazz guitarist. He was among the first electric guitarists and was a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as ...

. In 1975 he graduated from the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

. For the next twelve years, he played guitar in Prime Time, Ornette Coleman's electric band. Nix led a trio with bassist William Parker and drummer David Cappello from 1985. In 1993, the trio of Newman Baker and Fred Hopkins released the album ''Alarms and Excursions''. Nix then led a trio with bassist Bill Zola and drummer Adrian Valosin from October 1994 — December 2005. Nix released the solo album ''Low Barometer'' on

Tompkins Square Records Tompkins Square Records is an independent record label producing new and archival releases of gospel, blues, jazz, and country music. History In 2005, Josh Rosenthal launched Tompkins Square Records in New York City after working 15 years in a v ...

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''. 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. Her writing is part of the canon of the Black Arts Movement. She was married to jazz saxophonist ...

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 music, rock, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notab ...

Elliott Sharp Elliott Sharp (born March 1, 1951) is an American contemporary classical music, contemporary classical composer, multi-instrumentalist, performer, author, and visual artist. A central figure in the Avant-garde music, avant-garde and experimenta ...

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 before set ...

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 ...

, and

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conducting, conductor, saxophonist, arrangement, arranger and record producer, producer who "deliberately resists category". His Avant-garde music, avant-garde and experimental music, ex ...

Discography

As leader

* ''Alarms and Excursions'' (

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

/Counter Currents, 1993) * ''Low Barometer'' (

Tompkins Square Tompkins Square Park is a public park in the Alphabet City portion of East Village, Manhattan, New York City. The square-shaped park, bounded on the north by East 10th Street, on the east by Avenue B, on the south by East 7th Street, and on ...

, 2006) * ''Negative Capability'' (56 Kitchen, 2013) * ''Tangerine'' (Milan, 2015)

As sideman

With

* '' Dancing in Your Head'' (

Horizon The horizon is the apparent curve 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 curve divides all viewing directions based on whethe ...

, 1977) * '' Body Meta'' (

Artists House Artists House was a jazz and blues record company and label established in 1977 by John Snyder. History The label released music by artists that label founder John Snyder had worked with while running the Horizon subsidiary of A&M Records, includ ...

, 1978) * ''

Of Human Feelings ''Of Human Feelings'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Ornette Coleman. It was recorded on April 25, 1979, at CBS Studio Building, CBS Studios in New York City with his band Prime Time (band), Prime Time, which ...

'' (

Antilles The Antilles is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east. The Antillean islands are divided into two smaller groupings: the Greater An ...

, 1982) * '' Opening the Caravan of Dreams'' (

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 ''Virgin Beauty'' is an album by Ornette Coleman and his Prime Time ensemble. It was released by Portrait Records in 1988. Three of the album's tracks feature guitarist Jerry Garcia, whose involvement in the recording dates back to September 1987 ...

'' (

Portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

, 1988) * ''

Prime Time Live ''Primetime'' was an American news magazine television program that debuted on ABC in 1989 with co-hosts Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer and originally had the title ''Primetime Live''. The program's final episode aired May 18, 2012. History ...

'' (

Repertoire Repertory or repertoire () is the list or set of works a person or company is accustomed to performing. Whether the English or French spelling is used has no bearing, but it was the French word, with an accent on the first e, , that first took ho ...

, 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 Verve may refer to: Music * The Verve, an English rock band * '' The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve * ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album) * Verve Records, an American jazz record label Businesses * Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee h ...

, 1996) * ''Borders of Disorderly Time'' (Bola Press, 2003) With

* ''

Nostalgia in Times Square Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word ''nostalgia'' is a neoclassical compound derived from Greek, consisting of (''nóstos''), a Homeric word meaning "homecomin ...

'' (

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. They are normally in the form of small roofed ...

'' (

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 Ch ...

, 2000) * '' Live at the Vision Festival'' (Ayler, 2003) With others *

James Chance and the Contortions James Chance and the Contortions (initially known simply as Contortions, a spin-off group is called James White and the Blacks) was a musical group led by saxophonist and vocalist James Chance, formed in 1977. They were a central act of New York ...

, ''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 in Memphis, Tennessee, Lowe took up the tenor saxophone at the age of 12. As an adult he moved to San Francisco, where h ...

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

Greg Ginn Gregory Regis Ginn ( , born June 8, 1954) is an American musician and songwriter, best known for being the leader, primary songwriter, and the only continuous member of the hardcore punk band Black Flag, which he founded and led from 1976 to ...

( SST, 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 Jazz musicians from New York City Guitarists from Ohio Jazz musicians from Ohio Musicians from Toledo, Ohio Prime Time (band) members