Rabble Without A Cause, May 7: New releases from Tim Berne
The 70-year old alto sax player is still going strong
Tim Berne is an American musician, born not far from the Canadian border in Syracuse, N.Y. On this week’s show I will be featuring some of his recent recordings, as well as a release of a performance from 2013.
Tim Berne last played in Ottawa at the 2024 Ottawa Jazz Festival - with Aurora Nealand and Hank Roberts. Here they are playing in November 2024.
On the show, we will hear a few tracks from Berne’s new release, “Yikes Too”.
On this album, Tim Berne is joined by Tom Rainey on drums and Gregg Belisle on guitar. This is a two-CD release, with one recorded in studio and the other live. We will hear music from both studio and live recordings.
Tim Berne was also the leader of Snakeoil - a band that had a few releases on ECM from 2012 through 2015. In 2013, the group was recorded live in Europe and this performance has just been released by Berne’s own label, Screwgun Records under the tile, “Snakeoil OK”. The group is:
Tim Berne: Alto sax
Oscar Noriega: Clarinets
Ches Smith: Percussion
Matt Mitchell: Piano
I'm thrilled to have discovered this recording from the 1st Snakeoil tour in Europe.
This was an amazing time for this band...serious focus going on here.
I've always loved the early years of any new band I've ever had.
Really a special time.
-Tim
On the show we will hear two tracks from this release.
Here is a short clip of Snakeoil from 2013.
The show will end with a tribute to Tim Berne by the Leeds, U.K. based trio The Exu (Irish bassist Dave Kane, British saxophonist James Mainwaring, and Norwegian drummer Emil Karlsen), from their debut album on Discus Music. On a future show, I hope to explore more of this interesting release - which includes a tribute to Kurt Cobain.
You can listen live on May 7 at 11 p.m. in the National Capital Region at 93.1 on the FM band or through live streaming at CKCUFM.com. The show is also available for on demand streaming.