Introduction by Gary Chapin

I first heard Tim Berne round 1986. His first album was 1979. I’ve waxed
lyrical about that point, after I was hanging across the Knitting Manufacturing unit,
spectating probably the most superb music I’d ever heard—up til then. It suited my
temperament completely.

I not too long ago noticed Tim Berne with Hank Roberts and Aurora Nealand on the
Portland Conservatory of Music, in Maine, and had that very same feeling. The
most superb music I’d ever heard. An hour that improved life on Earth.
Perhaps this factors to the absurdity of any kind of quantitative accounting of
“biggest music” (what’s your unit of measurement?) however I additionally suppose some
“sense of greatness” accrues from the physique of labor.

I’ve seen this taking place with lots of musicians that used to really feel like
“the brand new guys.” By 2024, their oeuvres—yeah, I mentioned it—are of a high quality that
might drag you down with fascination like a gravity effectively. For those who by no means
emerged, you’d nonetheless be content material. That is “lifes’ work” within the Bach sense,
the place you may map out eras, capabilities, ideas, collaborators, strategies,
devices, and so forth.

From the reply to the primary query beneath you’ll see that Tim doesn’t
suppose like this (or he doesn’t let me see him considering like this), however I do.
The truth is, on the Free Jazz Weblog, it’s precisely what I do. Prefer it’s my job, or
one thing.

Tim Berne was gracious in his answering these questions. Get pleasure from, after which
learn the critiques linked beneath.

1. 
   What’s your biggest pleasure in improvised music?

   A pleasant gig

2. What high quality do you most admire within the musicians you carry out with?

   Humility

3. Which historic musician/composer do you admire probably the most?

   Julius Hemphill

4. For those who might resurrect a musician to carry out with, who wouldn’t it be?

   Clyde Stubblefield

5. What would you continue to like to realize musically in your life?

   Get higher

6. Are you curious about widespread music and – if sure – what music/artist
   do you notably like?

   Karen Dalton

7. For those who might change one factor about your self, what wouldn’t it be?

   My belt

8. Which of your albums are you most happy with?
   
   I attempt to not evaluate
9. As soon as an album of yours is launched, do you continue to take heed to it? And the way a lot?

   Not a lot / Not often

10. Which album (from any musician) have you ever listened to probably the most in
    your life?

    Dogon AD (Julius Hemphill)

11. What are you listening to for the time being?

    My kitchen

12. What artist outdoors music evokes you?

    Charles Burnett

Recordings with Tim Berne reviewed on Free Jazz Weblog:

• 
  Tim Berne/Hank Roberts/Aurora Nealand – Oceans And (Intakt 2023)
• Marc Ducret, Palm Sweat – Marc Ducret Performs the Music of Tim
  Berne (Out of Your Head Information 2023)
• Ivo Perelman – Reed Rapture in Brooklyn (Mahakala Music 2022)
• Tim Berne & Matt Mitchell, One Extra, Please (Intakt 2022)
• Tim Berne, Decay (Screwgun 2022)
• Tim Berne and Gregg Belisle-Chi, Mars (Intakt 2022)
• Two Tim Berne Duets (with Matt Mitchell and Mark Helias,
  respectively)
• Tim Berne, Sacred Vowels (Screwgun 2020)
• Three 2020 Tim Berne Information
• Tim Berne & Nasheed Waits, The Coandă Impact (Relative Pitch
  2020)
• Michael Formanek, Sensible Trio (Intakt 2019)
• David Torn, Tim Berne, and Ches Smith, Solar of Goldfinger (ECM
  2019)
• Trapper Keaper – Meets Tim Berne and Aurora Nealand
  (ears&eyes 2019)
• Tim Berne and Matt Mitchell, Angel Nightfall (Screwgun 2018)