Joshua Abrams is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist who plays the

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 ...

and

guimbri The sintir (), also known as the guembri (), gimbri, hejhouj in Hausa language, is a three stringed skin-covered bass guitar, bass plucked lute used by the Gnawa people of Morocco. It is approximately the size of a guitar, with a body carved fro ...

Career

While living in Philadelphia in the late 1980s, Abrams was a member of Square Roots, a street music group that developed into

The Roots The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...

. He moved to

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

in 1991, and played 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 ...

house bands for several years before forming Town & Country in 1998 with Ben Vida, Liz Payne, and Jim Dorling. Abrams was the house bass player at Fred Anderson's

Velvet Lounge The Velvet Lounge was a nightclub in the South Loop of Chicago. It started as a jazz club and was called the "dusty epicenter of the Midwest's free form jazz scene." It was located at 2128 1/2 S. Indiana Avenue before moving to 67 E. Cermak when t ...

and for several years he played a weekly club date with Tortoise's

John Herndon John Herndon (born April 9, 1966) is an American musician and artist. Based in Chicago, he was a founding member of the post-rock band Tortoise, where he plays drums and percussion. Herndon also works as a producer for instrumental hip hop unde ...

and Jeff Parker. He was a member of Mike Reed's Loose Assembly and Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble. In 2003, he played bass on

Godspeed You! Black Emperor Godspeed You! Black Emperor (sometimes abbreviated to GY!BE or Godspeed) is a Canadian post-rock collective that originated in Montreal, Quebec in 1994. The group releases recordings through Constellation Records (Canada), Constellation, an in ...

's album '' Yanqui U.X.O.''. He has worked as a

studio musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a record ...

on recordings made in Chicago, such as

Jandek Jandek is the musical project of Sterling Smith (born October 26, 1945), a Houston, Texas-based American Lo-fi music, lo-fi Folk music, folk singer. Since 1978, Jandek has independently released over 120 albums while granting an interview extreme ...

's ''Chicago Wednesday;''

Bonnie "Prince" Billy Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Brothers, Palace Son ...

's '' Beware'' and albums from Chicago musicians such as

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

David Grubbs David Grubbs (born September 21, 1967) is an American composer, guitarist, pianist, and vocalist. He was a founding member of Squirrel Bait, Bastro, and Gastr del Sol. He has also played in Codeine (band), Codeine, The Red Krayola, Bitch Magnet a ...

, and Sam Prekop. In the early 00's, Delmark released his acoustic quartet album ''

Cipher In cryptography, a cipher (or cypher) is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption—a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is ''encipherment''. To encipher or encode i ...

'' and Lucky Kitchen released his solo soundscape albums. He recorded albums under the name "Reminder" for Prefuse 73's Eastern Developments label and Easel. In 2010, Abrams started the band Natural Information Society releasing albums by

Eremite Records Eremite Records is an independent American jazz record label founded in 1995 by Michael Ehlers, with early involvement from music writer Byron Coley. Ehlers was a student of Archie Shepp's at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. After college, ...

. In 2018 he received a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists award. As a film composer, Abrams has written music for director Steve James and for '' Life Itself'', '' The Interrupters'', ''

The Trials of Muhammad Ali ''The Trials of Muhammad Ali'' is a 2013 American documentary film about the heyday of boxer Muhammad Ali's career, with special focus on his conversion to Islam and his refusal to fight in the Vietnam War. It won an award for Best Use of News F ...

'', '' Abacus: Small Enough to Jail'', and the documentary series '' America to Me''. He performed and composed music for the play ''At Twilight'' by

Simon Starling Simon Starling (born 1967) is an English Neo-conceptual art, conceptual artist and won the Turner Prize in 2005. Early life Simon Starling was born in 1967 in Epsom, Surrey. He studied photography and art at Maidstone College of Art from 1986 to ...

, with

Theaster Gates Theaster Gates (born August 28, 1973) is an American social practice installation artist and a professor in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Chicago. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, where he still lives and works. Gates' work ...

at '' Documenta 13,'' and in exhibitions by Lisa Alvarado.

Discography

As leader or co-leader

* ''Terminal 4'' with Terminal 4 (Truckstop/Atavistic, 2001) * ''Busride Interview'' (Lucky Kitchen, 2002) * ''Sticks and Stones'' with Sticks and Stones (482 Music, 2002) * ''

'' (Delmark, 2003) * ''After'' (Lucky Kitchen, 2003) * '' Shed Grace'' with Sticks and Stones (Thrill Jockey, 2004) * ''Continuum'' (Eastern Developments, 2006) as Reminder * ''Bright Blue Galilee'' with DRMWPN (Captcha, 2008) * ''Bird Show Band'' with Bird Show Band (Amish, 2010) * ''Twyxt Wyrd'' with the Cairo Gang (Blackest Rainbow, 2010) * ''Stars Have Shapes'' with Exploding Star Orchestra (Delmark, 2010) * ''Natural Information'' (Eremite, 2010) * '' Represencing'' (Eremite, 2012) * '' New Myth/Old Science'' with Living by Lanterns (Cuneiform, 2012) * ''

Unknown Known "There are unknown unknowns" is a phrase from a response United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld gave to a question at a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) news briefing on February 12, 2002, about the lack of evidence linking the gove ...

'' (

RogueArt RogueArt (also written Rogueart and Rogue Art) is a French independent record label based in Paris. It was founded by record producer Michel Dorbon in 2005 and specialises in jazz and improvised music. History RogueArt was founded by record pr ...

, 2013) * ''Goes Missing'' with the Cairo Gang (God? 2015) * ''

Magnetoception Magnetoreception is a sense which allows an organism to detect the Earth's magnetic field. Animals with this sense include some arthropods, molluscs, and vertebrates (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals). The sense is mainly used ...

'' with Natural Information Society (Eremite, 2015) * '' Automaginary'' with Natural Information Society (Drag City, 2015) * '' Simultonality'' with Natural Information Society (Eremite, 2017) * ''We Have Always Been Here'' with Galactic Unity Ensemble (JMY, 2017) * ''Excavations 1'' (Feeding Tube, 2018) * '' Ithra'' (Aerophonic, 2018) with

Dave Rempis Dave Rempis (born March 24, 1975) is an American free jazz saxophonist. He plays the soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones. Life and career Dave was born in Wellesley, Massachusetts in 1975. He began his musical studies at the age of 8. I ...

and Tomeka Reid * '' Mandatory Reality'' with Natural Information Society (Eremite, 2019) * '' Cloud Script'' (Rogueart, 2020) * ''Sometimes There Were Four'' (self-released, 2020) with Forbes Graham, Ava Mendoza, and Tyler Damon * ''Music for Life Itself & The Interrupters'' (Eremite, 2020) * '' descension (Out of Our Constrictions)'' with Natural Information Society and

Evan Parker Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944) is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation. Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free ja ...

(Eremite, 2021) * '' Mind Maintenance'' (Drag City, 2021) with Chad Taylor * '' Since Time Is Gravity'' with Natural Information Society and Ari Brown (Eremite, 2023) With Town & Country * ''Town and Country'' (BOXmedia, 1998) * ''Decoration Day'' (Thrill Jockey, 2000) * ''It All Has to Do With It'' (Thrill Jockey, 2000) * ''Up Above'' (Thrill Jockey, 2006)

As sideman

With

* ''Orchard Vale'' (Record Label, 2007) * '' Boo! Human'' (Polyvinyl, 2008) * ''

Flowers Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

'' (Polyvinyl, 2009) With Nicole Mitchell * '' Afrika Rising'' (Dreamtime, 2002) * '' Hope, Future and Destiny'' (Dreamtime, 2004) * '' Black Unstoppable'' (Delmark, 2007) * '' Renegades'' (Delmark, 2008) * '' Xenogenesis Suite'' (Firehouse 12, 2008) * '' Aquarius'' (Delmark, 2013) * '' Intergalactic Beings'' (FPE, 2014) With Mike Reed * '' Last Year's Ghost'' (482 Music, 2007) * '' The Speed of Change'' (482 Music, 2008) * '' Empathetic Parts'' (482 Music, 2010) With

* ''

Aphelion An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...

'' (Aerophonic, 2014) * ''Perihelion'' (Aerophonic, 2016) * ''Apsis'' (Aerophonic, 2019) With others * Fred Anderson, '' From the River to the Ocean'' (Thrill Jockey, 2007) *

Bonnie Prince Billy Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Brothers, Palace Son ...

, '' Beware'' (Drag City, 2009) *

Jeb Bishop Jeb Bishop (born 1962) is an American jazz trombone player. Biography Bishop grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, and attended Jesse O. Sanderson High School. He has studied music (classical trombone performance) at Northwestern Universit ...

, ''98 Duets'' (Wobbly Rail, 1998) * Brokeback, ''Field Recordings from the Cook County Water Table'' (Thrill Jockey, 1999) *

Rhys Chatham Rhys Chatham (born September 19, 1952) is an American composer, guitarist, trumpet player, multi-instrumentalist (flutes in C, alto and bass, keyboard), primarily active in avant-garde and minimalist music. He is best known for his "guitar orche ...

, ''Guitar Trio Is My Life!'' (Radium, 2007) *

Bobby Conn Jeffrey Stafford (born June 13, 1967), known professionally as Bobby Conn, is an American musician based in Chicago, Illinois. He often collaborates with other artists and film-maker Usama Alshaibi. Career Conn was born as Jeffrey Stafford in ...

, '' The Golden Age'' (Thrill Jockey, 2001) * Chris Connelly, ''The Episodes Durtro'' (Jnana, 2007) * Chris Connelly, ''Forgiveness & Exile'' (Jnana, 2008) * Ernest Dawkins, ''Un-till Emmett Till'' (DAWK Music 2009) *

Hamid Drake Hamid Drake (born August 3, 1955) is an American jazz drummer and percussionist. By the close of the 1990s, Hamid Drake was widely regarded as one of the best percussionists in jazz and improvised music. Incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian, and Af ...

, '' Blissful'' (Rogueart, 2008) * Hamid Drake, '' Reggaeology'' (Rogueart, 2010) * Edith Frost, '' It's a Game'' (Drag City, 2005) *

, '' The Thicket'' (Drag City, 1998) *

, '' Yanqui U.X.O.'' (Constellation, 2002) * Marc Hellner, ''Marriages'' (Peacefrog, 2005) * Icy Demons, '' Miami Ice'' (Leaf BAY 2009) * Rob Mazurek, ''Sound Is'' (Delmark, 2009) * Rob Mazurek, ''Calma Gente'' (Submarine/Catune 2010) *

Loren Mazzacane Connors Loren Mazzacane Connors (born October 22, 1949) is an American guitarist who has recorded and performed under several different names: Guitar Roberts, Loren Mazzacane, Loren Mattei, and currently Loren Connors. His music has touched on many genre ...

, ''Hoffman Estates'' (Drag City, 1998) * Makaya McCraven, ''In the Moment'' ( International Anthem, 2015) * Joe McPhee, ''A Pride of Lions'' (Bridge Sessions, 2018) *

Roscoe Mitchell Roscoe Mitchell (born August 3, 1940) is an American composer, jazz instrumentalist, and educator, known for being "a technically superb – if idiosyncratic – saxophonist". ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' described him as "one of the key figure ...

, '' Three Compositions'' (Rogueart, 2012) * Kjetil Moster, ''Ran Do'' (Clean Feed, 2017) * Sam Prekop, '' Sam Prekop'' (Thrill Jockey, 1999) * Sam Prekop, '' Who's Your New Professor'' (Thrill Jockey, 2005) * Matana Roberts, '' The Chicago Project'' (Central Control, 2008) *

, '' Organix'' (Remedy, 1993) * Savath & Savalas, ''Apropa't'' (Warp, 2004) * Savath & Savalas, ''Golden Pollen'' (Anti-, 2007) *

The Spinanes The Spinanes were an American indie rock band, primarily active during the 1990s. The band was founded by and initially consisted only of singer-songwriter/guitarist Rebecca Gates and drummer Scott Plouf. They released three albums on the Sub ...

, '' Arches and Aisles'' (Sub Pop, 1998) *

Mia Doi Todd Mia Doi Todd (born June 30, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter. She was described by ''Dusted Magazine'' as "one of those artists that seem to function not just as creators in their own right, but as connecting links between other musicians." ...

, ''GEA City'' (Zen, 2008) *

Jenny Toomey Jennifer Gillen Toomey (born 1968) is an American indie rock musician and arts activist. Career Toomey was a member of the bands Geek, Tsunami (Virginia band), Tsunami, Liquorice, Grenadine (band), Grenadine, So Low and Choke, among others, a ...

, ''Antidote'' (Misra, 2001) *

Tortoise Tortoises ( ) are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin for "tortoise"). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like o ...

, ''Gamera/Cliff Dweller Society'' (Duophonic Super 45s, 1995) * Ben Vida, ''Mpls.'' (BOXmedia, 2000)

References

External links

Official website

Review of ''Cipher'' at ''JazzTimes''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abrams, Joshua Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American double-bassists American jazz composers American jazz double-bassists American male double-bassists American male jazz composers The Roots members RogueArt artists Natural Information Society members