David Breskin
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David Breskin (born 1958) is an American writer, poet, and record producer. He has written nine books, including collaborations with the visual artists
Gerhard Richter Gerhard Richter (; born 9 February 1932) is a German visual artist. Richter has produced Abstract art, abstract as well as photorealistic paintings, photographs and Glass art, glass pieces. He is widely regarded as one of the most important con ...
and
Ed Ruscha Edward Joseph Ruscha IV (, ''roo-SHAY''; born December 16, 1937) is an American artist associated with the anti- pop art movement. He has worked in the media of painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, and film. He is also noted for creating s ...
. Beginning in the early 1980s, he produced albums by musicians including
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 ...
,
Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist. He first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts, notably as a participant ...
,
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
Vernon Reid Vernon Alphonsus Reid (born 22 August 1958) is an American guitarist and songwriter best known as the founder of the rock band Living Colour. Reid was named No. 66 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's 2003 list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Ti ...
. In more recent years, he has worked with
Nels Cline Nels Courtney Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American guitarist and composer. He has been a guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004. In the 1980s he played jazz, often in collaboration with his twin brother Alex, a percussionist. He has wor ...
,
Mary Halvorson Mary Halvorson (born October 16, 1980) is an American avant-garde jazz composer and guitarist from Brookline, Massachusetts. Among her many collaborations, she has: led a trio with and Ches Smith, and a quintet with the addition of Jon Iraba ...
,
Kris Davis Kris Davis (born 1980) is a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. Early life Davis was born in Vancouver in 1980 and grew up in Calgary, Alberta. She studied classical piano from the age of six and discovered jazz while a high school student. She ...
,
Miles Okazaki Miles Okazaki (born 1974) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. Okazaki is a lecturer of jazz guitar at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Early life Okazaki grew up in Port Townsend, Washington. When he was six, he began lessons on ...
, Dan Weiss,
Ingrid Laubrock Ingrid Laubrock (born 24 September 1970) is a German jazz saxophonist, who primarily plays tenor saxophone but also performs and records on soprano, alto, and baritone saxophones. She studied with Jean Toussaint, Dave Liebman and at the Guildha ...
, and
Craig Taborn Craig Marvin Taborn (; born February 20, 1970) is an American pianist, organist, keyboardist and composer. He works solo and in bands, mostly playing various forms of jazz. He started playing piano and Moog synthesizer as an adolescent and was i ...
, among others. Breskin's poetry has appeared in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'', ''
The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published new works by Jack Kerouac, ...
'', ''
TriQuarterly ''TriQuarterly'' is a name shared by an American literary magazine and a series of books. The journal is published twice a year under the aegis of the Northwestern University Department of English and features fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama ...
'' and ''
New American Writing ''New American Writing'' is an annual American literary magazine emphasizing contemporary American poetry, including a range of innovative contemporary writing. ''New American Writing'' is published by OINK! Press, a nonprofit organization. T ...
'', among other journals.


Early life and education

Breskin was born and raised in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, Illinois. In college, as a student at
Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...
, he wrote for ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
''. He graduated from Brown with a B.A. in 1980, magna cum laude, with a double major in history and semiotics.


Career


New York: 1980–1990


Journalism, ''Rolling Stone'', ''We Are the World''

Breskin moved to New York City following his graduation. He wrote for publications including ''
Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...
'', ''The Village Voice'', '' GQ'', ''
Musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...
'', ''
Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...
'', and ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'', where he was a contributing editor. Over the course of the decade, he conducted interviews with
Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by the nickname Bono ( ), is an Irish singer-songwriter and activist. He is a founding member, the lead vocalist, and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Bono is known for his impassioned voca ...
,
Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...
,
Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...
, and
Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (August 25, 1933 – March 2, 2023) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader. Shorter came to mainstream prominence in 1959 upon joining Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, for whom he eventually became the primary comp ...
, among others, and wrote feature stories on people such as musician
Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...
, comedian
Martin Short Martin Hayter Short (born March 26, 1950) is a Canadian and American comedian, actor, and writer. Short is known as an energetic comedian who gained prominence for his roles in sketch comedy. He has also acted in numerous films and television ...
, basketball player
Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...
and architect
Helmut Jahn Helmut Jahn (January 4, 1940 – May 8, 2021) was a German-American architect, known for projects such as the Sony Center on Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, Germany; the Messeturm in Frankfurt, Germany; the Thompson Center in Chicago; One Libert ...
. In 1984, Breskin wrote "Kids in the Dark", a ''Rolling Stone'' article about the murder of Gary Lauwers by self-professed Satanist
Ricky Kasso Richard Allan Kasso Jr. (March 29, 1967 – July 7, 1984), also known as the Acid King, was an American murderer who killed his friend, 17-year-old Gary Lauwers, in Northport, New York, on June 19, 1984. Two other teenagers, Jimmy Troiano and Alb ...
, told almost completely in the words of the teens and young adults he interviewed in
Northport, New York Northport is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the Huntington, New York, Town of Huntington in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, New York (state), New ...
. Following its publication, he co-wrote a play with
Rick Cleveland Rick Cleveland is an American television writer, playwright, and monologist, best known for writing on the HBO original series '' Six Feet Under'' and NBC's ''The West Wing''. His 2011 play ''The Rail Splitter'' premiered at Carthage College as ...
, based on the story, also titled ''Kids In the Dark''. Described by the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' as a "frequently gripping and deeply moving drama", it premiered at Chicago's
Victory Gardens Theater Victory Gardens Theater is a theater company in Chicago, Illinois dedicated to the development and production of new plays and playwrights. The theater company was founded in 1974 when eight Chicago artists, Cecil O'Neal, Warren Casey, Stuart Go ...
in 1987. Breskin's original article was included in the 1993 anthology ''The Best of Rolling Stone: 25 Years of Journalism on the Edge'', and the play was nominated for a 1987
Joseph Jefferson Award The Joseph Jefferson Award, more commonly known informally as the Jeff Award, is given for theatre arts produced in the Chicago area. Founded in 1968, the awards are named in tribute to actor Joseph Jefferson, a 19th-century American theater st ...
for New Work. Breskin's time researching the Kasso story is chronicled in the 2018 book "The Acid King" by Jesse P. Pollack. Breskin also wrote "Leave It to Beaver", an investigation into a group of high school vigilantes in Fort Worth, Texas, who called themselves the Legion of Doom. The Legion of Doom became the subject of a 1986 television movie called ''
Brotherhood of Justice ''The Brotherhood of Justice'' is a 1986 Canadian-American television action movie featuring Keanu Reeves, Billy Zane, Kiefer Sutherland, and Lori Loughlin. Film critic & historian Leonard Maltin disliked the picture, describing it as "...' ...
''. His 1984 piece on teen suicide, "Dear Mom and Dad", was a
National Magazine Awards The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...
finalist. In 1985, after he profiled record producer
Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...
for ''LIFE'', Breskin was invited to be one of two journalists present for the recording of "
We Are the World "We Are the World" is a charity single recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones for the album '' We Are the World''. With sales in excess of 20 milli ...
", a song which benefited the charity
USA For Africa "We Are the World" is a charity record, charity single recorded by the charity supergroup, supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones for the album ''We Are the World (al ...
. He wrote a cover story on the subject for ''LIFE'' and later wrote the book ''We Are The World: The Photos, Music and Inside Story of One of the Most Historic Events in American Popular Music''. A detailed narrative of the sessions, it appeared on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. Breskin donated all royalties from the book's sales to USA for Africa.


''The Real Life Diary of a Boomtown Girl''

In 1989, Breskin's novel, ''The Real Life Diary of a Boomtown Girl'', was published by
Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheimer and then acqu ...
. A "candid cultural chronicle of the modern American West" based on his unpublished short story ''Boomers'', it was optioned by
Jane Fonda Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress and activist. Recognized as a film icon, Jane Fonda filmography, Fonda's work spans several genres and over six decades of film and television. She is the recipient of List of a ...
's film company, IPC Films.


Ronald Shannon Jackson, Bill Frisell, John Zorn

Active in New York's
avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...
music scene since the early 80s, Breskin produced Ronald Shannon Jackson's "milestone" albums '' Mandance'' and '' Barbeque Dog''. He continued to produce avant-garde music throughout the decade, and became known for extensive pre-production discussion and planning and the presentation of materials such as packaging, liner notes, and videos which "engaged the visual and tactile sense to provide the best delivery of the album/concept". Among other albums, Breskin produced ''Pulse'', on which Jackson played solo drums, '' Smash & Scatteration'', which paired Bill Frisell with pre-
Living Colour Living Colour is an American rock music, rock band from New York City, formed in 1984. The band consists of guitarist Vernon Reid, lead vocalist Corey Glover, drummer Will Calhoun and bassist Doug Wimbish who replaced Muzz Skillings in 1992. T ...
Vernon Reid Vernon Alphonsus Reid (born 22 August 1958) is an American guitarist and songwriter best known as the founder of the rock band Living Colour. Reid was named No. 66 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's 2003 list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Ti ...
; ''Strange Meeting'' (with Jackson, Frisell, and
Melvin Gibbs Melvin Gibbs is an American bass guitarist who has appeared on close to 200 albums in diverse genres of music. Among others, Gibbs is known for working in jazz with drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson and guitarist Sonny Sharrock, and in rock music ...
) and "Two-Lane Highway" featuring
Albert Collins Albert Gene Collins (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993)Skeely, Richard. "Albert Collins: Biography" Allmusic.com. was an American electric blues guitarist and singer with a distinctive guitar style. He was noted for his powerful playing ...
on John Zorn's '' Spillane''.


San Francisco: 1990–present


''Inner Views: Filmmakers in Conversation''

Breskin moved to San Francisco in 1990. In 1992, longer versions of seven of his ''Rolling Stone'' interviews conducted with film directors
Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer. He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, known for directing subversive and sat ...
,
Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola ( ; born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood and one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. List of awards and nominations received by Francis Ford Coppo ...
,
David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...
,
Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born ) is an American filmmaker. Stone is an acclaimed director, tackling subjects ranging from the Vietnam War and American politics to musical film, musical Biographical film, biopics and Crime film, crime dramas. He has ...
,
Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...
,
David Cronenberg David Paul Cronenberg (born March 15, 1943) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is a principal originator of the body horror genre, with his films exploring visceral bodily transformation, infectious diseases, and ...
and
Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and producer. Known for popularizing Goth subculture, Goth culture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his Gothic film, gothic horror and dark fantasy films. ...
were published by
Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...
as ''Inner Views: Filmmakers in Conversation''. An eighth Q&A with
Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...
was included in a later, expanded edition of the book under the same title, published by
Da Capo Press Da Capo Press is an American publishing company with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. It is now an imprint of Hachette Books. History Founded in 1964 as a publisher of music books, as a division of Plenum Publishers, it had additional offi ...
in 1997.


Poetry, ''DIRTY BABY'', ''Campaign''

A finalist for the
National Poetry Series The National Poetry Series is an American literary awards program. Every year since 1979, the National Poetry Series has sponsored the publication of five books of poetry. Manuscripts are solicited through an annual open competition, judged and c ...
, Breskin's first book of poetry, ''Fresh Kills'', was published in 1997; his second, ''Escape Velocity'', was released in 2004. It was followed in 2006 by ''SUPERMODEL'', a one sentence
epic poem In poetry, an epic is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. With regard to ...
told in two interwoven strands: one which follows the life of the unnamed supermodel of the title, the other which is composed of fragments of text found online. In 2010, Delmonico Books / Prestel published Breskin's multi-media book ''
DIRTY BABY ''Dirty Baby'' (stylized as ''DIRTY BABY'') is an album by American guitarist Nels Cline performing compositions inspired by Edward Ruscha, which was released in October 2010 on the Cryptogramophone label. ''Dirty Baby'' is also the name of a mu ...
''. It featured sixty-six paintings by American artist Ed Ruscha, original music by Nels Cline, and "beautiful, lush" poems by Breskin that employ the ancient Arabic poetic form, the
ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...
. The book consists of two parts or "sides": side A describes the rise of human civilization, and side B provides an account, in a variety of voices, of the second
Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
. The book includes four CDs, two of Cline's music and two of spoken-word poetry. Breskin's sixth book of poetry, ''Campaign'', was published in print and as an audiobook in late 2017. About the book, he wrote: "On February 1, 2016, the date of the Iowa Caucus, the traditional onside kick which begins every presidential scrum, I decided to write a single poem "about" the election, with the vague idea I might write another. To allow for the possibility that something serial, tight, and deliberate might actually happen, I knew I needed a form—an existing form or one of my own. Having toiled (happily) upon the sweltering rack of the ghazal for my last project (DIRTY BABY), I thought it would be more fun to just concoct something. I didn't want anything symmetrical or pleasant. I wanted something wrong-footed and corrugated, but self-contained. So: I created a deliberately awkward, rollickingly restrictive form—seven beats per line, eleven lines per poem, one stanza fits all. And given our country's preference for the convenience of sound-bite news and junk-food polls over more nutritious fare, I decided to call them '7-Elevens.' Slurpee Heaven, 7-Eleven. Seventy-seven beats per poem, no exceptions: it's got a beat and you can't dance to it."


''RICHTER 858''

For his multi-media book '' RICHTER 858'', published by
SFMOMA The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum and nonprofit organization located in San Francisco, California. SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art, and has b ...
/ D.A.P in 2002, Breskin commissioned twelve American poets--including
Robert Hass Robert L. Hass (born March 1, 1941) is an American poet. He served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995 to 1997. He won the 2007 National Book AwardMichael Palmer,
Jorie Graham Jorie Graham (; born May 9, 1950) is an American poet. The Poetry Foundation called Graham "one of the most celebrated poets of the American post-war generation." She replaced poet Seamus Heaney as Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at H ...
,
Ann Lauterbach Ann Lauterbach (born 1942) is an American poet, essayist, art critic, and professor. Early life Lauterbach was born and raised in New York City, and earned her B.A. from the University of Wisconsin. She lived in London for eight years, working ...
and Dean Young--to write poems inspired by the paintings of Gerhard Richter.
Dave Hickey David Hickey (December 5, 1938 – November 12, 2021) was an American art critic who wrote for many American publications including ''Rolling Stone'', '' ARTnews'', '' Art in America'', ''Artforum'', ''Harper's Magazine'', and '' Vanity Fair''. ...
and Klaus Kertess contributed essays. He also commissioned Bill Frisell to compose new music for the project. Frisell formed the 858 Quartet with
Jenny Scheinman Jenny Scheinman is a jazz violinist. She has produced several critically acclaimed solo albums, including ''12 Songs'', named one of the Top Ten Albums of 2005 by ''The New York Times''. She has played with Linda Perry, Norah Jones, Nels Cline, ...
on violin,
Eyvind Kang Eyvindur Y. Kang (born 23 June 1971) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. His primary instrument is viola, but has also performed on violin, tuba, keyboard instruments, keyboards and others. In addition to his solo work, Kang has w ...
on viola, and
Hank Roberts Hank Roberts (born March 24, 1954, Terre Haute, Indiana) is an American jazz cellist and vocalist. He plays the electric cello, and his style is a mixture of rock, jazz, avant-garde, folk, and classical influences. He emerged with the downtown Ne ...
on cello to perform the music for ''RICHTER 858''. About the music ''
Jazz Times ''JazzTimes'' was an American print magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade ...
'' wrote: "One might say that Richter sounds like Frisell; his broad lateral smears find their aural counterpart in Frisell's wobbly yet hard nosed minimalism." The 858 Quartet has toured and recorded extensively since then.


Music production, 1990s to 2019

In the 1990s and into the following decade, Breskin produced albums for Miniature (
Tim Berne Tim Berne (born October 16, 1954) is an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and record label owner. His primary instruments are the alto and baritone saxophones. Biography Berne was born in Syracuse, New York, United States. He has said tha ...
,
Joey Baron Bernard Joseph Baron (born June 26, 1955 in Richmond, Virginia) is an American drummer best-known for working in avant-garde jazz with Bill Frisell and John Zorn. Music career Baron, who is of Jewish heritage, was born on June 26, 1955, in Ric ...
,
Hank Roberts Hank Roberts (born March 24, 1954, Terre Haute, Indiana) is an American jazz cellist and vocalist. He plays the electric cello, and his style is a mixture of rock, jazz, avant-garde, folk, and classical influences. He emerged with the downtown Ne ...
),
Herb Robertson Clarence C. "Herb" Robertson (February 21, 1951 – December 10, 2024) was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhornist. He was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, on February 21, 1951, and attended the Berklee College of Music. He recorded solo alb ...
and
Bobby Previte Bobby Previte (born July 16, 1951 in Niagara Falls, New York) is a drummer, composer, and bandleader. He earned a degree in economics from the University at Buffalo, where he also studied percussion. He moved to New York City in 1979 and began ...
, in addition to three albums for
Joey Baron Bernard Joseph Baron (born June 26, 1955 in Richmond, Virginia) is an American drummer best-known for working in avant-garde jazz with Bill Frisell and John Zorn. Music career Baron, who is of Jewish heritage, was born on June 26, 1955, in Ric ...
+ Barondown. In 2005, the music piece of the ''RICHTER 858'' album was re-released as a stand-alone CD on the Songlines label. For his 2010 multi-media artist collaboration with
Ed Ruscha Edward Joseph Ruscha IV (, ''roo-SHAY''; born December 16, 1937) is an American artist associated with the anti- pop art movement. He has worked in the media of painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, and film. He is also noted for creating s ...
, ''DIRTY BABY'', Breskin commissioned and produced new music by Nels Cline. ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' wrote: "The two-disc ''Dirty Baby'', his collaboration with polymath poet-producer David Breskin, is Cline's most far-reaching work yet." That same year, he produced The Nels Cline Singers album, ''Initiate''. Between 2014 and 2016, Breskin produced The Nels Cline Singers' follow-up, ''Macroscope'', as well as albums by
Mark Dresser Mark Dresser (born September 26, 1952) is an American double bass player and composer. Career Dresser was born in Los Angeles, California, United States. In the 1970s, he was a member of Black Music Infinity led by Stanley Crouch and performed w ...
,
Ben Goldberg Ben Goldberg (born August 8, 1959) is an American clarinet player and composer. Career In the early 1990s, Ben Goldberg performed alongside electric bassist Dan Seamans and percussionist Kenny Wollesen as the New Klezmer Trio. They went on to p ...
,
Kris Davis Kris Davis (born 1980) is a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. Early life Davis was born in Vancouver in 1980 and grew up in Calgary, Alberta. She studied classical piano from the age of six and discovered jazz while a high school student. She ...
and
Mary Halvorson Mary Halvorson (born October 16, 1980) is an American avant-garde jazz composer and guitarist from Brookline, Massachusetts. Among her many collaborations, she has: led a trio with and Ches Smith, and a quintet with the addition of Jon Iraba ...
. Davis' ''Duopoly'', released in 2016, was a series of duets with eight musicians—guitarists
Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist. He first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts, notably as a participant ...
and
Julian Lage Julian Price Lage ( ; born December 25, 1987) is an American guitarist and composer. A child prodigy, Lage performed at the 2000 Grammy Awards at age 12, and at 15 became a faculty member of the Stanford Jazz Workshop. He released his debut a ...
, pianists
Craig Taborn Craig Marvin Taborn (; born February 20, 1970) is an American pianist, organist, keyboardist and composer. He works solo and in bands, mostly playing various forms of jazz. He started playing piano and Moog synthesizer as an adolescent and was i ...
and
Angelica Sanchez Angelica Sanchez may refer to: *Angelica Sanchez (musician) (born 1972), American jazz pianist *Angélica Sánchez Angélica Sánchez Cautelán (born December 11, 1975) is a female long-distance runner from Mexico. She represented her native co ...
, drummers
Billy Drummond Willis Robert "Billy" Drummond Jr. (born June 19, 1959) is an American jazz drummer. Early life Billy Drummond was born in Newport News, Virginia, where he grew up listening to the extensive jazz record collection of his father, an amateur drum ...
and
Marcus Gilmore Marcus Gilmore (born October 10, 1986) is an American jazz drummer. In 2009, ''New York Times'' critic Ben Ratliff included Gilmore in his list of drummers who are "finding new ways to look at the drum set, and at jazz itself", saying, "he create ...
, and reed players
Tim Berne Tim Berne (born October 16, 1954) is an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and record label owner. His primary instruments are the alto and baritone saxophones. Biography Berne was born in Syracuse, New York, United States. He has said tha ...
and
Don Byron Donald Byron (born November 8, 1958) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. He primarily plays clarinet but has also played bass clarinet and saxophone in a variety of genres that includes free jazz and klezmer. Biography His moth ...
—recorded live to two-track. Of Mary Halvorson's 2016 ''Away with You'', ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' called it "unflinching and full of grace ... a standout jazz release of the year". He worked again with Nels Cline, this time on his 23-person ensemble album, ''Lovers'', named by the 2016 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll as one of the Top 10 albums of that year. Breskin's subsequent production projects include albums by Kris Davis and Craig Taborn, Dan Weiss, Mary Halvorson, Chris Lightcap, Cory Smythe, Ingrid Laubrock and Mark Dresser. Davis and Taborn joined together to release the Breskin-produced ''Octopus'' in 2018. The recording was the distillation of a dozen concerts in a national tour that took place in fall of 2016. Of the album, ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' wrote, "Ms. Davis and Mr. Taborn...are elevating jazz beyond the limiting continuum of accessibility and abstraction." In 2018, he produced Weiss' ''Starebaby,'' an album from the drummer/composer's quintet that featured
Craig Taborn Craig Marvin Taborn (; born February 20, 1970) is an American pianist, organist, keyboardist and composer. He works solo and in bands, mostly playing various forms of jazz. He started playing piano and Moog synthesizer as an adolescent and was i ...
and Matt Mitchell on keyboards, piano, and electronics;
Trevor Dunn Trevor Roy Dunn (born January 30, 1968) is an American composer, bass guitarist, and double bassist. He came to prominence in the 1990s with the experimental band Mr. Bungle. While performing with Mr. Bungle, he would dress similar to the S ...
on bass; and
Ben Monder Ben Monder (born May 24, 1962) is an American modern jazz rock guitarist. Biography Monder started playing guitar when he was eleven, after two years on violin. From 1979–84, he attended the Westchester Conservatory of Music, the University of ...
on guitars. The eight songs on ''Starebaby'' were a blend of jazz and heavy metal influences. Halvorson's double album that year, ''Code Girl,'' featured her improvisational style set to lyrics. It was called "riveting" by Nate Chinen for
NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
's ''The Record'', and "the most startling move of her solo career." Laubrock's 2018 album, ''Contemporary Chaos Practices,'' was her first orchestral recording, featuring 47 musicians and two conductors. "Volgelfrei" from this album was named by ''The New York Times'' as one of "The 25 Best Classical Music Tracks of 2018". In May 2019, the
Mark Dresser Mark Dresser (born September 26, 1952) is an American double bass player and composer. Career Dresser was born in Los Angeles, California, United States. In the 1970s, he was a member of Black Music Infinity led by Stanley Crouch and performed w ...
Seven released ''Ain't Nothing But a Cyber Coup & You'', produced by Breskin and featuring Nicole Mitchell and
Jim Black Jim Black is an American jazz drummer who has performed with Tim Berne and Dave Douglas. He attended Berklee College of Music. Career His band AlasNoAxis includes Hilmar Jensson on electric guitar, Chris Speed on tenor saxophone and clari ...
. In August, the Breskin-conceived ''Good Day For Cloud Fishing'' was released. This was Ben Goldberg's trio recording with Nels Cline and trumpeter and cornetist Ron Miles. The project was inspired by the poems of Dean Young, who subsequently joined the musicians in the studio and wrote new poems in response to the music he heard. Three additional albums produced by Breskin came out in October 2019:
Jon Irabagon Jon Irabagon is a Filipino-American saxophonist, composer, and founder of Irabbagast Records. Winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition and one of '' Time Outs "25 essential New York City jazz icons", Irabagon is known for the breadth ...
's ''Invisible Horizon'',
Chris Lightcap Chris Lightcap is an American double bassist, bass guitarist and composer born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Career In addition to his work as a bassist he has led a variety of bands since 2000 and has produced six albums of original music. Lightcap' ...
's ''SuperBigmouth'', and
Kris Davis Kris Davis (born 1980) is a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. Early life Davis was born in Vancouver in 1980 and grew up in Calgary, Alberta. She studied classical piano from the age of six and discovered jazz while a high school student. She ...
' ''Diatom Ribbons'', featuring
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
-winning artists
Esperanza Spalding Esperanza Emily Spalding (born October 18, 1984), sometimes professionally known with the stylized name of esperanza spalding, is an American bassist, singer, songwriter, and composer. Her accolades include five Grammy Awards, a Boston Music Aw ...
and
Terri Lyne Carrington Terri Lyne Carrington (born August 4, 1965) is an American jazz drummer, composer, producer, and educator. She has played with Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Clark Terry, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Joe Sample, Al Jarreau, Yellowjackets (band), ...
as well as turntablist
Val Jeanty Val Jeanty, also known as Val-Inc, is a Haitian electronic music composer, turntablist, and professor at Berklee College of Music who evokes the musical esoteric realms of the creative subconscious self-defined as “ Afro-Electronica.” She inc ...
. The project, which grew out of Breskin's suggestion that she do a funk record, was No. 1 in ''The New York Times'' Best Jazz of 2019, and the top album in the 2019 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll. "Davis is a master quilter, able to turn a patchwork of colors, inspirations, textures, and voices into a single harmonious vision," wrote ''
JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' was an American print magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade ...
'' of ''Diatom Ribbons''.


Music production, 2020 to present

The decade began with the release of six new Breskin-produced projects. In June 2020, Pyroclastic Records released ''Accelerate Every Voice'' from Cory Smythe, an album that was honored by NPR Music's 8th Annual Jazz Critic's Poll as a top five in the vocals category. In September, Breskin produced the
Sylvie Courvoisier Sylvie Courvoisier (born 30 November 1968) is a composer, pianist, improviser and bandleader. She was born and raised in Lausanne, Switzerland, and has been a resident of New York City since 1998. She won Germany’s International Jazz Piano Pri ...
Trio album, ''Free Hoops'',. Also that month, he produced the album ''Natural Selection'', the second album from Dan Weiss's jazz-metal hybrid Starebaby. ''Seven Storey Mountain VI'', the next part of
Nate Wooley Nate or NATE may refer to: People and fictional characters *Nate (given name) *A nickname for Nathanael *A nickname for Nathaniel Organizations *National Association for the Teaching of English, the UK subject teacher association for all aspects ...
's album series inspired by priest, monk and philosopher
Thomas Merton Thomas Merton (January 31, 1915December 10, 1968), religious name M. Louis, was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, Christian mysticism, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion. He was a monk in the Trapp ...
's autobiography, was produced by Breskin and released October 2020. The same month saw the release of NPR's No. 4 of Top 50 New Albums, ''Artlessly Falling'', from
Mary Halvorson Mary Halvorson (born October 16, 1980) is an American avant-garde jazz composer and guitarist from Brookline, Massachusetts. Among her many collaborations, she has: led a trio with and Ches Smith, and a quintet with the addition of Jon Iraba ...
's Code Girl, produced by Breskin and featuring vocals by English musician
Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is an English retired musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...
. The Minneapolis ''
Star Tribune ''The Minnesota Star Tribune'', formerly the ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'', is an American daily newspaper based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As of 2023, it is Minnesota's largest newspaper and the List of newspapers in the United States, seventh- ...
'' wrote: "The producer of Code Girl's records, David Breskin, is also a published poet. He challenged Halvorson to organize her lyrics into different poetic forms, including a
sestina A sestina (, from ''sesto'', sixth; Old Occitan: ''cledisat'' ; also known as ''sestine'', ''sextine'', ''sextain'') is a fixed verse, fixed verse form consisting of six stanzas of six lines each, normally followed by a three-line envoi. The wor ...
, a
ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...
, a pantoum, a
tanka is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature. Etymology Originally, in the time of the influential poetry anthology (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to disti ...
and a
haibun is a prosimetric literary form originating in Japan, combining prose and haiku. The range of ''haibun'' is broad and frequently includes autobiography, diary, essay, prose poem, short story and travel journal. History The term "''haibun''" was ...
(which combines haiku with prose)." In November 2020, the Breskin-produced ''Dreamt Twice, Twice Dreamt'' by
Ingrid Laubrock Ingrid Laubrock (born 24 September 1970) is a German jazz saxophonist, who primarily plays tenor saxophone but also performs and records on soprano, alto, and baritone saxophones. She studied with Jean Toussaint, Dave Liebman and at the Guildha ...
was released by Intakt Records. Inspired by the dreams Laubrock documented for the past decade in her dream journal, disc one of the double album contained five compositions recorded by a large ensemble consisting of the EOS Chamber Orchestra and a group of five soloists. Disc two was a near mirror repeat of the five compositions, this time reimagined by Laubrock's small ensemble with Cory Smythe on piano, Sam Pluta on electronics, and three other guest musicians.


Discography

– Source:


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Breskin, David Record producers from New York (state) American male poets 21st-century American poets American investigative journalists Brown University alumni 1958 births Living people Journalists from Chicago Rolling Stone people The Village Voice people 20th-century American journalists American male journalists 21st-century American journalists 20th-century American poets 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers Record producers from Illinois