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 was a fan of rhythm and blues, and it seemed to him that Hemphill was playing jazz with the soulfulness of R&B. In 1974, he went to New York to find Hemphill, who gave him saxophone lessons and advice on how to manage his career.

For Empire, he recorded four albums with avant-garde jazz musicians such as John Carter, Alex Cline, Nels Cline, Olu Dara, Vinny Golia, Paul Motian, and Ed Schuller. After two albums with Columbia, he signed with JMT, a label known for avant-garde jazz.

In the 1990s, he recorded in the trio, Miniature, with Roberts and Joey Baron, He led a trio with Michael Formanek and Jim Black, then added Chris Speed to form the quartet Bloodcount (which was occasionally a quintet with the addition of Ducret). PolyGram bought JMT and closed it. This motivated Berne to start Screwgun Records as the outlet for his albums. During the late 1990s he continued to perform with Bloodcount, formed Paraphrase, a trio with Drew Gress and Tom Rainey, and Big Satan, a trio with Ducret and Rainey.

In the early 2000s, Berne formed several groups, including the trio Hard Cell with Rainey and Craig Taborn and the quartet Science Friction (Berne, Ducret, Rainey, and Taborn). He also collaborated with members of The Bad Plus for the project Buffalo Collision, with Nels Cline of Wilco for the critically acclaimed album The Veil in 2011, and with David Torn on several projects and recordings.

Berne formed the band Snakeoil with Matt Mitchell, Oscar Noriega, and Ches Smith, which released a self-titled album in 2012, and six more recordings, with slight personnel changes, over the next decade. During this time, he has also recorded with members of The Bad Plus as Broken Shadows, and in duos with several musicians. In 2023 he released Oceans And with Hank Roberts and Aurora Nealand.

In the late 2010s albums by other musicians interpreting Berne's music have begun to appear. These include Førage by Matt Mitchell, Koi by Gregg Belisle-Chi, Palm Sweat by Marc Ducret, and Oddly Enough by Gordon Grdina.

Groups In approximate order of initial activity Miniature (Joey Baron, Hank Roberts) Caos Totale (Django Bates, Mark Dresser, Marc Ducret, Bobby Previte, Herb Robertson, Steve Swell) Bloodcount (Jim Black, Michael Formanek, Chris Speed, and sometimes Marc Ducret) Paraphrase (Drew Gress, Tom Rainey) Big Satan (Marc Ducret, Tom Rainey) Hard Cell (Tom Rainey, Craig Taborn) Science Friction (Marc Ducret, Tom Rainey, Craig Taborn) Buffalo Collision (Ethan Iverson, David King, Hank Roberts) Snakeoil (Marc Ducret, Matt Mitchell, Oscar Noriega, Ches Smith, formerly Ryan Ferreira) Broken Shadows (Reid Anderson, David King, Chris Speed) Capotosta (Gregg Belisle-Chi, Tom Rainey)

Discography

As leader/co-leader

Compilations

Albums featuring music by Tim Berne Matt Mitchell - Førage (Screwgun, 2017) Gregg Belisle-Chi - Koi (Relative Pitch, 2021) Gordon Grdina - Oddly Enough (Attaboygirl, 2022) Marc Ducret - Palm Sweat (Out Of Your Head/Screwgun, 2023) Gregg Belisle-Chi - Slow Crawl (Intakt, 2025)

As sideman With Ray Anderson Big Band Record (Gramavision, 1994)

With Nels Cline Angelica (Enja, 1988)

With Marc Ducret Tower Vol. 2 (Ayler, 2011) Tower Bridge (Ayler, 2014)

With Enten Eller Melquiades (Splasc(H), 1999) Auto da Fe (Splasc(H), 2001)

With Umberto Petrin Ellessi (Splasc(H), 1999)

With Jazzophone Compagnie Mosaiques (Yolk, 2000)

With Simon Fell Positions & Descriptions (Clean Feed, 2011)

With Figure 8 Pipe Dreams (Black Saint, 1994)

With Michael Formanek Extended Animation (Enja, 1992) Low Profile (Enja, 1994) Nature of the Beast (Enja, 1997) The Rub and Spare Change (ECM, 2010) Small Places (ECM, 2012) The Distance (ECM, 2016) Even Better (Intakt, 2019) Pre-Apocalyptic (Out Of Your Head, 2020)

With Vinny Golia Compositions for Large Ensemble (Nine Winds, 1984) Facts of Their Own Lives (Nine Winds, 1986)

With Drew Gress Spin & Drift (Premonition, 2001) 7 Black Butterflies (Premonition, 2005) The Irrational Numbers (Premonition, 2007) The Sky Inside (Pirouet, 2013)

With Mark Helias Split Image (Enja, 1985) The Current Set (Enja, 1986)

With Julius Hemphill Five Chord Stud (Black Saint, 1994) One Atmosphere (Tzadik, 2003)

With Ingrid Laubrock Ubatuba (2015)

With Mr. Rencore Intollerant (Auand, 2011)

With Hank Roberts Black Pastels (JMT, 1988)

With Herb Robertson Transparency (JMT, 1985) X-Cerpts: Live at Willisau (JMT, 1987) Elaboration (Clean Feed, 2005) Real Aberration (Clean Feed, 2007)

With Samo Salamon & Tom Rainey Duality (Samo, 2012)

With George Schuller Hellbent (Playscape, 2002)

With Ches Smith Hammered (Clean Feed, 2013) International Hoohah (For Tune, 2014)

With Spring Heel Jack Masses (Thirsty Ear, 2001)

With David Torn Prezens (ECM, 2005) Slipped on a Bar (Screwgun, 2009) Sun of Goldfinger (ECM, 2019) Congratulations To You (Screwgun, 2020) xFORM (Screwgun, 2020) Ozmir (Screwgun, 2022) Mystic (Screwgun, 2023) Ravens Low & Ready 2 (Screwgun, 2024) Candid (Intakt, 2025)

With Stefan Winter The Little Trumpet (JMT, 1986)

With Yōsuke Yamashita Ways of Time (Verve, 1995)

With John Zorn The Big Gundown (Nonesuch/Icon, 1986) Spy vs Spy (Elektra/Musician, 1989) With GingerBlackGinger Smalltalk Code (Challenge, 2026)