Damon Smith (born October 17, 1972) is an American free improvising bassist. He has worked with

Cecil Taylor Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet. Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in complex ...

Peter Brötzmann Peter Brötzmann (born 6 March 1941) is a German saxophonist and clarinetist. Biography Early life Brötzmann was born in Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He studied painting in Wuppertal and was involved with the Fluxus movement ...

Marshall Allen Marshall Belford Allen (born May 25, 1924) is an American free jazz and avant-garde jazz alto saxophone player. He also performs on flute, oboe, piccolo, and EWI (an electronic valve instrument made by Steiner, Crumar company). Allen is best ...

John Tchicai John Martin Tchicai ( ; 28 April 1936 – 8 October 2012) was a Danish free jazz saxophonist and composer. Biography Tchicai was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, to a Danish mother and a Congolese father. The family moved to Aarhus, where he st ...

Elliott Sharp Elliott Sharp (born March 1, 1951) is an American contemporary classical composer, multi-instrumentalist, and performer. A central figure in the avant-garde and experimental music scene in New York City since the late 1970s, Sharp has released ...

Chris Cutler Chris Cutler (born 4 January 1947) is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of other bands, including Art Bears, Ne ...

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock ...

, Jim O'Rourke etc.

Biography

Smith spent his childhood in eastern Washington but moved to Oakland in the mid-1980s. He took up bass in his late teens, inspired by the

Minutemen Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Mi ...

Mike Watt Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. Watt co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ...

. His love of Minutemen got him to explore other bands on the

SST Records SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was formed in 1966 by Ginn at age 12 as Solid State Tuners, a small business through which he sold electronics equipm ...

label which led to his discovery of

Henry Kaiser Henry John Kaiser (May 9, 1882 – August 24, 1967) was an American industrialist who became known as the father of modern American shipbuilding. Prior to World War II, Kaiser was involved in the construction industry; his company was one of ...

, Elliott Sharp and

Saccharine Trust Saccharine Trust is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1980 by singer Jack Brewer and guitarist Joe Baiza. The band would frequently perform with SST labelmates Minutemen and Black Flag. However, Baiza descri ...

. Smith credited Saccharine Trust's improvised live album '' Worldbroken'' with altering his views on punk rock, jazz, and free-form jamming. Eventually Damon was fortunate enough to meet Kaiser and the two have collaborated for over twenty years including more than ten recordings together. Initially an

electric bass The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck The ...

player due to his love of Minutemen and Watt's followup band fIREHOSE, Smith switched to double bass and began focusing on improvisation inspired by

Peter Kowald Peter Kowald (21 April 1944 – 21 September 2002) was a German free jazz and free improvising double bassist and tubist. Career A member of the Globe Unity Orchestra, and a touring double-bass player, Kowald collaborated with many European ...

and his album ''Duos:Europa'' Smith studied with

Bill Douglas William Gerald Douglas (17 April 1934 – 18 June 1991) was a Scottish film director best known for the trilogy of films about his early life. Biography Born in Newcraighall on the outskirts of Edinburgh, he was brought up initially by his m ...

Lisle Ellis Lisle Ellis, (born November 17, 1951) is a Canadian jazz bassist and composer who is known for his improvisational style and use of electronics. Biography Ellis was born in Campbell River, British Columbia. Ellis began playing electric bass in ...

, Kristin Zerneg, Bertram Turetsky etc. In 2001, Smith launched his own record label called Balance Point Acoustics. More recently, Smith has played with

Weasel Walter Weasel Walter (born Christopher Todd Walter, May 18, 1972) is an American composer, improviser, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and founder of ugEXPLODE Records. Walter's work has been informed by techniques and traditions of music including Av ...

in his Weasel Walter Quartet and in Plane Crash which also includes Henry Kaiser. The latter expanded to become Astral Plane Crash with the inclusion of

Vinny Golia Vinny Golia (born March 1, 1946) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist specializing in woodwind instruments. He performs in the genres of contemporary music, jazz, free jazz, and free improvisation. Career As a composer, Golia fuse ...

and

Bob Moses Robert Moses (1888–1981) was an American city planner. Robert Moses may also refer to: * Bob Moses (activist) (1935–2021), American educator and civil rights activist * Bob Moses, American football player in the 1962 Cotton Bowl Classic * Bob M ...

. Smith has also collaborated with

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with un ...

on soundtracks to his documentary films ''

Grizzly Man ''Grizzly Man'' (2005) is an American documentary film by German director Werner Herzog. It chronicles the life and death of bear enthusiast Timothy Treadwell and the death of his girlfriend Amie Huguenard at Katmai National Park, Alaska. The fil ...

'' and ''

Encounters at the End of the World ''Encounters at the End of the World'' is a 2007 American documentary film by Werner Herzog about Antarctica and the people who choose to spend time there. It was released in North America on June 11, 2008, and distributed by ThinkFilm. At the 81 ...

''.

Discography

* ''Color Architecture'' (Limited Sedition, 1999) * ''A Tribute to John Stevens and the SME'' with Sextessense (Balance Point Acoustics, 2006) * ''Winter Solos'' (Balance Point Acoustics, 2019) * ''Contradictory Consequences 1999'' (Balance Point Acoustics, 2020) * ''Variations for Double Bass 1961 Benjamin Patterson'' (Balance Point Acoustics, 2020) * ''Whatever Is Not Stone Is Light'' (Balance Point Acoustics, 2020) With Emergency String Quartet * ''Hill Music'' (Spring Garden Music, 2001) * ''Motions Last'' (Visible Dog, 2002) * ''On the Corner'' (Public Eyesore, 2002) With

Alvin Fielder Alvin Leroy Fielder Jr (November 23, 1935 – January 5, 2019) was an American jazz drummer. He was a charter member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), Black Arts Music Society, Improvisational Arts band, and wa ...

* ''From-to-From'' (Balance Point Acoustics, 2013) * ''Song for Chico'' (Balance Point Acoustics, 2016) * ''The Shape Finds Its Own Space'' (FMR, 2016) With

* ''Healing Force'' (Cuneiform, 2007) * ''Grosses Messer'' (ugEXPLODE, 2009) * ''Astral Plane Crash'' (Balance Point Acoustics, 2018) With William Hooker * ''Earth's Orbit'' (NoBusiness, 2010) * ''Triangles of Force'' (Balance Point Acoustics 2014) * ''Remembering'' ( Astral Spirits, 2018) With

* ''Domo Arigato Derek-Sensei!'' (Balance Point Acoustics, 2006) * ''Plane Crash'' (ugEXPLODE, 2009) * ''Encounters at the End of the World'' (Fractal Music, 2013) * ''Plane Crash Two'' (New Atlantis, 2015) * ''Relations'' (Balance Point Acoustics, 2015) * ''The Celestial Squid'' (Cuneiform, 2015) * ''Indestrucible Fantasy'' (Fractal Music, 2016) * ''Nearly Extinct'' (Balance Point Acoustics, 2016) * ''More Requia'' (Metalanguage, 2019) With

* ''Revolt Music'' (ugEXPLODE, 2006) * ''Firestorm'' (ugEXPLODE, 2007) * ''Large Group Performances 2007–2009'' (ugEXPLODE, 2009) * ''Invasion'' (ugEXPLODE, 2010) With others *

Jaap Blonk Jaap Blonk (born 1953, Woerden) is a Dutch avant-garde composer and performance artist. Blonk is primarily self-taught both as a sound artist and as a visual/stage performer.Jaap Blonkat Allmusic He studied physics, mathematics, and musicology fo ...

, ''Hugo Ball: Sechs Laut-Und Klanggedichte, 1916'' (Balance Point Acoustics, 2014) * Jaap Blonk, ''North of Blanco'' (Balance Point Acoustics, 2014) * John Butcher, ''The Catastrophe of Minimalism'' (Balance Point Acoustics, 2017) * Carlo Actis Dato, ''USA Tour & April 2001 & Live'' (Splasc(h) 2001) *

Marco Eneidi Marco Eneidi (November 1, 1956 – May 24, 2016) was an American jazz alto saxophonist. He was primarily associated with free jazz. Career Eneidi was born in Portland, Oregon. His father worked for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and ...

, ''Ghetto Calypso'' (Not Two, 2006) * Marco Eneidi, ''Marco Eneidi & the American Jungle Orchestra'' (Botticelli, 1996) * Peter Evans, ''Oculus Ex Abyssus'' (ugEXPLODE, 2008) * Peter Evans, ''Untitled'' (ugEXPLODE, 2008) *

Burton Greene Burton Greene (June 14, 1937 – June 28, 2021) was an American free jazz pianist born in Chicago, Illinois, though most known for his work in New York City. He explored multiple genres, including avant-garde jazz and the Klezmer medium. Biogra ...

, ''Life's Intense Mystery'' (Astral Spirits, 2019) * Pandelis Karayorgis, ''Cliff'' (Driff, 2018) * Pandelis Karayorgis, ''CliffPools'' (Driff, 2020) *

, ''Mirrors Broken But No Dust'' (Balance Point Acoustics, 2001) *

Joe McPhee Joe McPhee (born November 3, 1939) is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist born in Miami, Florida, a player of tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, the trumpet, flugelhorn and valve trombone. McPhee grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, and is ...

, ''Six Situations'' (Not Two, 2017) * Kenny Millions, ''Fuck Music... Tell Jokes You'll Make More Money'' (Unhinged, 2018) *

Gino Robair Gino Robair is an American composer, improvisor, drummer, percussionist, and magazine editor. In his own music work (as a soloist and in improvisation ensembles), he plays prepared/modified percussion, analog synthesizer, ebow and prepared pi ...

, ''I, Norton: An Opera in Real Time'' (Rastascan, 2009) * Richard Thompson, '' Music from Grizzly Man'' (Proper, 2018) * Dave Tucker, ''Tenderloin'' (Pax, 2004) *

Bertram Turetzky Bertram Jay Turetzky (born February 14, 1933) is a contemporary American double bass (contrabass) soloist, composer, teacher, and author of ''The Contemporary Contrabass'' (1974, 1989), a book that looked at a number of new and interesting ways o ...

, ''Thoughtbeetle'' (Balance Point Acoustics) *

Fred Van Hove Fred Van Hove (19 February 1937 – 13 January 2022) was a Belgian jazz musician and a pioneer of European free jazz. He was a pianist, accordionist, church organist, and carillonist, an improviser and a composer. In the 1960s and 1970s he perf ...

, ''Burns Longer'' (Balance Point Acoustics, 2013)

References

External links

Balance Point Acoustics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Damon 1972 births Living people American jazz double-bassists American male jazz musicians Male double-bassists