Tim Berne (US jazz saxophonist)

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. Berne was born in Syracuse, New York, United States. He has said that he had no interest in playing an instrument until he attended Lewis & Clark College in Oregon. Hearing the album Dogon A.D. (1972) by Julius Hemphill turned his attention toward jazz. 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. Berne started the record label Empire Productions in 1979. 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. His next two albums appeared on Soul Note in the early 1980s. In these sessions he worked with Motian, Schuller, Ray Anderson, Herb Robertson and others. He then got a contract with Columbia and recorded with Robertson, Hank Roberts, Bill Frisell and others. During this time he also recorded a duo album with Frisell and two albums with John Zorn. 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, and in the band Caos Totale with Django Bates, Mark Dresser, Marc Ducret, Steve Swell, and Bobby Previte. 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. Screwgun's first release was a 3-disc set by Bloodcount called Unwound, the music of which exemplified Berne's characteristic style of "explod[ing] the walls of traditional compositional form: instead of adhering to anything remotely resembling theme and variations, he intersperses thematic material–sometimes repeated, elongated, or truncated–with the careening pleasures of free improvisation." 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. 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) 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) 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) Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 45. ISBN 0-85112-580-8. "Interview with Tim Berne (Part 1)". DO THE M@TH. 2016-03-30. Retrieved 2026-03-14. "Interview with Tim Berne (Part 2)". DO THE M@TH. 2016-03-31. Retrieved 2026-03-14. "Tim Berne Discography - Download Albums in Hi-Res". Qobuz. Retrieved 2026-03-14. Lynch, Dave. "Tim Berne". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 December 2018. John Zorn Plays The Music Of Ennio Morricone - The Big Gundown, 1986, retrieved 2026-03-14 John Zorn - Spillane, 1987, retrieved 2026-03-14 "Tim Berne". JazzTimes. 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2026-03-14. Tim Berne's Caos Totale - Nice View, 1994, retrieved 2026-03-14 Astarita, Glenn (1997-07-01). "Tim Berne: Bloodcount Unwound". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2026-03-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) Tesser, Neil (March 6, 1997). "Tim Berne's Bloodcount". Chicago Reader. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2023. "Please Advise, by Paraphrase & Tim Berne". Paraphrase & Tim Berne. Retrieved 2026-03-14. "BIG SATAN". JazzMusicArchives.com. Archived from the original on 2025-02-06. Retrieved 2026-03-14. Fordham, John (2005-10-07). "Tim Berne, Hardcell". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-03-14. Tim Berne, Marc Ducret, Tom Rainey, Craig Taborn - The Sublime And. Science Friction Live, 2003-10-07, retrieved 2026-03-14 Fordham, John (2009-02-03). "Buffalo Collision". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-03-14. Fordham, John (28 July 2011). "Berne/Black/Cline/BB & C: The Veil". The