Jim Black, drummer and percussionist, has been a prominent member of the New York City’s downtown scene since the 1990s. After growing up in Seattle he moved to Boston to study at Berklee. He began performing and recording with Human Feel which included Kurt Rosenwinkel, Andrew D’Angelo, and Chris Speed, the reedmen. Black, along with many other prominent N.Y.C. musicians, moved from Boston to New York City in 1991. Avant jazz world. He joined Pachora, Tim Berne’s Bloodcount and Dave Douglas’ Tiny Bell Trio. Black performed and recorded regularly in these groups. He also played with Ned Rothenberg and Stephane Furic and Cuong Vu. Black’s multi-tasking drumming style, which included various objects such as bells, bowls and hand drums, won him countless fans and introduced a new generation to jazz and improvised musical compositions. Black shocked jazz fans when he established his rock-oriented AlasNoAxis band. This included Speed on clarinet and tenor sax, Skuli Sverrisson and Hilmar Jensson as bass players, and Speed on clarinet. Black proved as innovative as ever as a bandleader, this time exploring post-rock/experimental directions while continuing to draw from his background in avant jazz. The AlasNoAxis quartet seems to balance influences from Seattle, Icelandic rock, and Brooklyn jazz. They blend harsh textures with a disarming melodycism while emphasizing Black’s assertive, often skewed rhythmic base. AlasNoAxis has released four albums (all on the Winter label) as of 2006.
