Hank Roberts (born March 24, 1954,

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in Vigo County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and Terre Haute metropolitan area, its metropolitan area had a populati ...

) is 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 ...

cellist and vocalist. He plays the

electric cello The electric cello is a type of cello that relies on electronic amplification (rather than acoustic resonance) to produce sound. An acoustic cello can be fitted with a bridge or body mounted contact pickup providing an electric signal, or a built- ...

, and his style is a mixture of rock, jazz, avant-garde, folk, and classical influences. He emerged with the downtown New York City jazz scene of the 1980s and is associated with its

post-modern Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experi ...

tendencies.

Background

In the early 1980s, Roberts made a number of recordings for the defunct JMT label, was a featured member of the

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 ...

Quartet, and was an important voice in many groups of saxophonist

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 ...

. Roberts also recorded three discs with the Arcado String Trio, an improvisational chamber group featuring

Mark Feldman Mark Feldman (born 1955 in Chicago) is an American jazz violinist. Biography Feldman worked in Chicago from 1973–1980, in Nashville, Tennessee from 1980–1986, in New York City and Western Europe from 1986. He has performed with John Zorn, ...

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

, and

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 ...

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

. In the early 1990s, Roberts left Frisell's group and stopped touring widely. He continued to release recordings, if sporadically, including with the progressive folk group Ti Ti Chickapea. In 2008, he was again touring and performing regularly, releasing ''Green'' (with

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 ...

and

Marc Ducret Marc Ducret (born 19 August 1957) is a contemporary avant-garde jazz guitarist who frequently collaborates with saxophonist Tim Berne. Ducret's guitar style is idiosyncratic, having been called "highly original and very expressive," but also ...

) on

Winter & Winter Winter & Winter is a record label in Munich, Germany that specializes in jazz, classical and improvised music. It was founded by Stefan Winter following the demise of his JMT Records label. Since 1997 Winter & Winter has released records by Da ...

, Stefan F. Winters subsequent label to JMT. In December 2011, Winter & Winter released Roberts' ''Everything Is Alive'', as well as re-releasing his entire JMT catalogue.

Selected discography

As leader

* ''

Black Pastels ''Black Pastels'' is the debut album by cellist Hank Roberts which was recorded in 1987 and released on the JMT Records, JMT label.Shimada, T.JMT label discography accessed October 7, 2014 Reception The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow said it was ...

'' ( JMT, 1987) * ''

Birds of Prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed ...

'' (JMT, 1990) * '' Little Motor People'' (JMT, 1993) * ''22 Years from Now'' (Level Green, 1997) * ''I'll Always Remember'' (Level Green, 1998) * '' Cause and Reflect'' (Level Green, 1998) with Tim Berne * ''The Truth and Reconciliation Show'' (I Town, 2002) * ''

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

'' (

, 2008) with

and

* '' Everything Is Alive'' (Winter & Winter, 2011) with Bill Frisell,

Jerome Harris Jerome Harris (born April 5, 1953) is an American jazz musician specializing in electric and acoustic bass guitar, electric guitar, voice, and occasionally lap steel and small percussion. He came to prominence in 1978 playing bass guitar and g ...

and

Kenny Wollesen Kenny Wollesen (born 1966) is an American drummer and percussionist. Wollesen has recorded and toured with Tom Waits, Sean Lennon, Ron Sexsmith, Bill Frisell, Norah Jones, John Lurie, Myra Melford, Steven Bernstein, and John Zorn. He is a fou ...

* ''Congeries of Ethereal Phenomena'' (Newvelle, 2019) * ''Science of Love'' (Sunnyside, 2021) with Hank Roberts Sextet With Arcado String Trio * '' Arcado'' (JMT, 1989) * '' Behind the Myth'' (JMT, 1990) * '' For Three Strings and Orchestra'' (JMT, 1992) With Miniature (

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 ...

, Roberts) * '' Miniature'' (JMT, 1989) * '' I Can't Put My Finger on It'' (JMT, 1992) With Buffalo Collision * ''Duck'' (

Screwgun Screwgun Records is a jazz record label founded by saxophonist Tim Berne in 1996. Most releases on the label have been by Berne, though some have been by Berne's associates and bandmates. Steve Byram has designed and illustrated the artwork for ma ...

, 2008) With

and Aurora Nealand * ''Oceans And'' ( Intakt, 2023)

As sideman

With

* ''

Fulton Street Maul ''Fulton Street Maul'' is an album by the American saxophonist Tim Berne, released in 1987. It was his first album for a major label; he was working at Tower Records when Columbia Records decided to sign him. He supported the album with a North Am ...

'' (CBS, 1986) * '' Sanctified Dreams'' (Columbia, 1988) * '' Tim Berne's Fractured Fairy Tales'' (JMT, 1989) * '' Diminutive Mysteries (Mostly Hemphill)'' (JMT, 1993) With

* '' Lookout for Hope'' (

ECM ECM may refer to the following: Economics and commerce * Engineering change management * Equity capital markets * Error correction model, an econometric model * European Common Market Mathematics * Lenstra's Elliptic curve method for factor ...

, 1987) * '' Before We Were Born'' ( Nonesuch, 1989) * '' Where in the World'' (Nonesuch, 1991) * '' Unspeakable'' (Nonesuch, 2004) * '' Richter 858'' (Songlines, 2005) * '' History, Mystery'' (Nonesuch, 2008) * '' Disfarmer'' (Nonesuch, 2009) * '' Sign of Life: Music for 858 Quartet'' (

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

, 2011) * ''

Big Sur Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of the U.S. state of California, between Carmel Highlands and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Range, Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from th ...

'' (

Okeh OKeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name originally was spelled "OkeH" from the init ...

, 2013) * ''

Harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

'' (

Blue Note records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by History of the Jews in Germany, German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it deriv ...

, 2019) With Alex Cline * '' The Lamp and the Star'' (ECM, 1987) With

Marilyn Crispell Marilyn Crispell (born March 30, 1947) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Scott Yanow described her as "a powerful player... who has her own way of using space... She is near the top of her field." Jon Pareles of ''The New York Times'' ...

* '' Santuerio'' (1993) With Ti Ti Chickapea * ''Change of Worlds'' (2000) * ''Firestick'' (2002) With

Edmar Castañeda Edmar Castañeda (born 1978) is a Colombian harpist. He performs his own compositions as well as tapping into native music of Colombia and Venezuela. He leads a trio with David Silliman on drums and Marshall Gilkes on trombone. He has also been ...

* ''Cuarto de Colores'' (2006) With

Donald Rubinstein Donald Rubinstein is a film composer, singer-songwriter, and multi-media artist who is best known for his collaborations with George A. Romero and Avant-garde jazz/rock collaborations with such musicians as Bill Frisell, Emil Richards and Wayne Ho ...

* ''

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

'' (Motion Picture Soundtrack) (

Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and cast recording, original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as ...

, 1978) * ''When She Kisses the Ship on His Arm'' (Bare Bones, 2009)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Hank 1954 births Living people American jazz cellists American male jazz musicians Musicians from Indiana Arcado String Trio members JMT Records artists People from Terre Haute, Indiana