Ches Smith is an American musician, whose primary instruments are drums, percussion, and

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

. He recorded and performed an album of his own solo percussion pieces entitled ''Congs for Brums'' (2006). In 2010 he released ''Noise to Men''.

Biography

Smith was born in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, California, and raised in

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

. After studying philosophy at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

, he moved to the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

in 1995. He studied composition, improvisation and percussion with

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as a founding member of the English avant-rock group Henry ...

, Pauline Oliveros, William Winant and Alvin Curran. In 1999, he toured with

Mr. Bungle Mr. Bungle is an American experimental rock band formed in Eureka, California, in 1985. The band is known for its eclecticism, cycling through several musical genres, often within the course of a single song, including heavy metal, avant-garde ...

Discography

As leader/co-leader

*2006 – ''Congs for Brums'' (Free Porcupine Society) *2010 – ''Noise to Men'' (Self Released) & Congs for Brums *2010 – ''Finally Out of My Hands'' (Skirl) & These Arches *2012 – ''Psycho Predictions'' (Figure Eight Records) & Congs for Brums *2013 – ''Hammered'' (Clean Feed) & These Arches *2014 – ''International Hoohah'' (ForTune) & These Arches *2016 – ''The Bell'' (ECM) Trio w Craig Taborn, Mat Maneri *2018 – ''A Complete and Tonal Disaster'' (Self Released) & Congs for Brums *2021 – ''Path of Seven Colors'' (Pyroclastic) & We All Break *2022 – ''Interpret It Well'' (Pyroclastic) *2024 – ''Laugh Ash'' (Pyroclastic)

As sideman

;with Tim Berne *2012 – '' Snakeoil'' (ECM) *2013 – '' Shadow Man'' (ECM) *2015 – '' You've Been Watching Me'' (ECM) *2015 – ''Spare'' (Screwgun) *2017 – '' Incidentals'' (ECM) *2020 – ''The Fantastic Mrs. 10'' (Intakt) *2020 – ''The Deceptive 4 (Live)'' (Intakt) *2022 - ''Decay'' (Screwgun) ;with Trevor Dunn's trio-convulsant *2004 – '' Sister Phantom Owl Fish'' (Ipecac) ;with Moe! Staiano *2001 – ''The Lateness of Yearly Presentations'' ;with Moe! Staiano's Moe!kestra! *2006 – ''An Inescapable Siren Within Earshot Distance Therein and Other Whereabouts'' *2007 – ''Two Rooms of Uranium Inside 83 Markers'' ;with Graham Connah *2001 – ''The Only Song We Know'' ;with Good For Cows *2001 – ''Good for Cows'' *2003 – ''Cows Less Than or Equal To'' *2004 – ''Bebop Fantasy'' *2008 – ''10th Concert Anniversary'' *2010 – ''Audumla'' ;with Theory Of Ruin *2002 – ''Counter–Culture Nosebleed'' *2003 – ''Frontline Posterchild'' ;with Mitch Marcus Quintet *2002 – ''Entropious'' ;with

Lou Harrison Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 – February 2, 2003) was an American composer, music critic, music theorist, painter, and creator of unique musical instruments. Harrison initially wrote in a dissonant, ultramodernist style similar to his for ...

*2003 – ''Drums Along the Pacific'' ;with

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 ...

*2003 – '' Voices in the Wilderness'' (Tzadik) *2016 – ''The Painted Bird'' (Tzadik) *2018 – ''The Urmuz Epigrams'' (Tzadik) *2018 – ''In a Convex Mirror'' (Tzadik) *2020 – ''Les Maudits'' (Tzadik) *2021 – ''Heaven and Earth Magick'' (Tzadik) *2022 – ''Incerto'' (Tzadik) *2022 – ''Suite For Piano'' (Tzadik) ;with Xiu Xiu *2002 – '' Knife Play'' with Greg Saunier *2003 – '' A Promise'' *2005 – '' La Foret'' *2007 – '' Remixed and Covered'' as Good for Cows *2008 – '' Women as Lovers'' *2010 – '' Dear God I Hate Myself'' *2012 – '' Always'' *2013 – '' Nina'' ;with

David Torn David M. Torn (born May 26, 1953) is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is known for combining electronic and acoustic instruments and for his use of looping. Background Torn has contributed to recordings by artists as diverse ...

*2019 – ''Sun Of Goldfinger'' (ECM) *2020 – ''Sun Of Goldfinger (Congratulations to You)'' (Screwgun) *2022 - ''Ozmir'' (Screwgun) ;with

Secret Chiefs 3 Secret Chiefs 3 (or SC3) is an American experimental rock group led by guitarist/composer Trey Spruance (of Mr. Bungle and formerly, Faith No More). Their studio recordings and tours have featured different lineups, as the group performs a wide ...

*2004 – '' Book of Horizons'' *2008 – '' Xaphan: Book of Angels Volume 9'' *2013 – '' Book of Souls: Folio A'' *2019 – '' The Book Beri'ah Vol 10—Malkhut'' ;with Aaron Novik *2004 – Gubbish: ''Notations in Tonations'' *2006 – Kipple: ''Flashes of Irrational Happiness'' ;with Redressers *2004 – ''To Each According...'' ;with Carla Bozulich/ Evangelista *2009 – ''Prince of Truth'' *2011 – ''In Animal Tongue'' *2014 – ''I'm Gonna Stop Killing'' ;with Will Bernard Trio *2005 – ''Directions to My House'' ;with Fever Pitch *2005 – ''Just Drums 2 Project'' ;with Sean Hayes *2006 – ''Big Black Hole and the Little Baby Star'' ;with Todd Sickafoose *2006 – ''Blood Orange'' ;with Ben Goldberg Quintet *2006 – ''The Door, the Hat, the Chair, the Fact'' ;with 7 Year Rabbit Cycle *2006 – ''Ache Horns'' ;with

, Darren Johnston, Devin Hoff and Larry Ochs *2007 – ''Reason to Move'' ;with

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 ...

's Ceramic Dog *2008 – '' Party Intellectuals'' *2013 – '' Your Turn'' *2018 – '' YRU Still Here?'' *2020 - What I Did On My Long 'Vacation' *2021 - Hope *2023 - Connection ;with Leonid Fedorov, Vladimir Volkov,

John Medeski Anthony John Medeski (born June 28, 1965) is an American jazz keyboard player and composer. Medeski is a veteran of New York's 1990s avant-garde jazz scene and is known popularly as a member of Medeski Martin & Wood. He plays the acoustic piano ...

*2010 – '' RazinRimILev'' ;with

Dave Holland Dave Holland or David Holland may refer to: *Dave Holland (bassist) David Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English double bassist, bass guitarist, cellist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has ...

*2018 – '' Uncharted Territories'' ;with Moonface *2018 – ''This One's for the Dancer & This One's for the Dancer's Bouquet''

References

External links

Ches Smith homepage
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Ches American rock drummers American jazz drummers American percussionists American vibraphonists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant members Good for Cows members Xiu Xiu members American male drummers Drummers from San Diego