Larry Ochs (born May 3, 1949 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

saxophonist, co-founder of the

Rova Saxophone Quartet Rova Saxophone Quartet is an American, San Francisco-based saxophone quartet, formed in October 1977. The name "Rova" is an acronym formed from the last initials of the founding members: Jon Raskin, Larry Ochs, Andrew Voigt, and Bruce Ackley. Wh ...

and Metalanguage Records. Ochs studied trumpet briefly but concentrated on tenor and

sopranino saxophone The sopranino saxophone is the second-smallest member of the saxophone family. It is tuned in the key of E, and sounds an octave higher than the alto saxophone. An F sopranino (an octave above the F alto (also called mezzo-soprano) saxophone) w ...

s. He worked as a

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

and founded his own label, Metalanguage Records in 1978, in addition to operating the Twelve Stars studio in California. He co-founded the

and worked in

Glenn Spearman Glenn Spearman (February 14, 1947 – October 8, 1998) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He was associated with free jazz and experimental music. Spearman was active in Oakland, California, in the late 1960s but moved to Paris in 1972 and ...

's Double Trio. A frequent recipient of commissions, he composed the music for the play ''Goya's L.A.'' by

Leslie Scalapino Leslie Scalapino (July 25, 1944 – May 28, 2010) was an American poet, experimental prose writer, playwright, essayist, and editor, sometimes grouped in with the Language poets, though she felt closely tied to the Beat poets. Writes Hejinian: ...

in 1994 and for the film '' Letters Not About Love'', which was named best documentary at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

in 1998. He has played in a new music trio called Room and the What We Live ensemble. He has recorded several albums as a leader. He formed the group Kihnoua in 2007 with vocalist Dohee Lee and

Scott Amendola Scott Amendola (born February 6, 1969) is an American drummer from the San Francisco Bay Area. His styles include jazz, blues, groove, and rock.Andrew Gilbert"Exploring New Degrees In Drumming" ''sfgate.com'', October 3, 2004. Amendola is origi ...

on drums and electronics,Kihnoua Introduction
. Larry Ochs website. which released ''Unauthorized Caprices'' in 2010.Horton, Lyn (October 17, 2010)
"Kihnoua - Unauthorized Caprices, Not Two"
''Jazz Times''. He is married to poet

Lyn Hejinian Lyn Hejinian (born May 17, 1941) is an American poet, essayist, translator and publisher. She is often associated with the Language poets and is known for her landmark work ''My Life'' (Sun & Moon, 1987, original version Burning Deck, 1980), a ...

Discography

* ''Hall of Mirrors'', Room (

Music & Arts Music & Arts is a classical and jazz record label founded in Berkeley, California by Frederick Maroth. It began in 1984 as a classical music label before adding jazz and world music. The catalog includes classical composers and musicians Milto ...

, 1992) * ''The Secret Magritte'' (

Black Saint Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz. History Black S ...

, 1995) * ''The Neon Truth'' (Black Saint, 2002) * ''Fly Fly Fly'' ( Intakt, 2004) with

Joan Jeanrenaud Joan Jeanrenaud ( Dutcher; born January 25, 1956) is an American cellist. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, she played with the LLP Kronos Quartet from 1978 until 1999, when, after a sabbatical, she left to pursue a solo career and collaborations ...

Miya Masaoka Miya Masaoka (born 1958, Washington, DC) is an American composer, musician, and sound artist active in the field of contemporary classical music and experimental music. Her work encompasses contemporary classical composition, improvisation, ele ...

* ''Out Trios Vol.5: Up from Under'' (

Atavistic In biology, an atavism is a modification of a biological structure whereby an ancestral genetic trait reappears after having been lost through evolutionary change in previous generations. Atavisms can occur in several ways; one of which is when ...

, 2007) * ''The Mirror World'' (

Metalanguage In logic and linguistics, a metalanguage is a language used to describe another language, often called the ''object language''. Expressions in a metalanguage are often distinguished from those in the object language by the use of italics, quot ...

, 2007) * ''Spiller Alley'' (

RogueArt RogueArt (also written Rogueart and Rogue Art) is a French independent record label based in Paris. It was founded by record producer Michel Dorbon in 2005 and specialises in jazz and improvised music. History RogueArt was founded by record p ...

, 2008) * ''Stone Shift'' (RogueArt, 2009) * ''We All Feel the Same Way'', Jones Jones (SoLyd, 2009) * ''Unauthorized Caprices'' (Not Two, 2010) * ''The Throne'' (Not Two, 2014) with Don Robinson * ''The Fictive Five'' (

Tzadik Tzadik ( he, צַדִּיק , "righteous ne, also ''zadik'', ''ṣaddîq'' or ''sadiq''; pl. ''tzadikim'' ''ṣadiqim'') is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The ...

, 2015) With

* 1978 ''The Bay'' * 1978 ''Cinema Rovaté'' * 1979 ''Daredevils'' * 1979 ''The Removal of Secrecy'' * 1979 ''This, This, This, This'' * 1981 ''As Was'' * 1984 '' Plays Lacy-Favorite Street'' * 1985 ''The Crowd-For Elias Canetti'' * 1987 ''

Beat Kennel ''Beat Kennel'' is an album by the Rova Saxophone Quartet recorded in Milan in 1987 for the Italian Black Saint label.Totally Spinning ''Totally Spinning'' is an album by the Rova Saxophone Quartet recorded in 1996 for the Italian Black Saint label but not released until 2006.

'' * 1998 ''Morphological Echo'' * 1998 ''

Bingo Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers ** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland ** Bi ...

'' * 1999 ''The Works Vol. 3'' * 2003 ''Resistance'' * 2005 ''

Electric Ascension ''Electric Ascension'' is a live album by Rova::Orchestrova, the American ensemble Rova Saxophone Quartet along with additional musicians, performing an interpretation of John Coltrane's 1966 album '' Ascension''. The album was recorded in Califor ...

'' * 2007 ''The Juke Box Suite'' * 2012 ''A Short History'' With

* 1992 ''

Mystery Project ''Mystery Project'' is the first album by American jazz saxophonist Glenn Spearman Double Trio, which was recorded in 1992 and released on the Italian Black Saint label. Background The concept of the Double Trio was born at Oakland Improvisers F ...

'' * 1993 ''

Smokehouse A smokehouse (North American) or smokery (British) is a building where meat or fish is cured with smoke Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with t ...

'' * 1996 '' The Fields'' * 1997 ''Blues for Falasha'' With

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 ...

and

Maybe Monday Maybe Monday is an American experimental music, experimental electroacoustic improvisation music ensemble comprising guitarist Fred Frith, koto (musical instrument), koto player Miya Masaoka and saxophone, saxophonist Larry Ochs (musician), Larr ...

* ''

Digital Wildlife ''Digital Wildlife'' is an album by composer and guitarist Fred Frith's group Maybe Monday which was released on the Winter & Winter label. Reception Allmusic gave the album 3½ stars. JazzTimes' Aaron Steinberg observed "''Digital Wildlife'' ca ...

'' (

Winter & Winter Winter & Winter is a record label in Munich, Germany that specializes in jazz, classical and improvised music. It was founded by Stefan Winter following the demise of his JMT Records label. Since 1997 Winter & Winter has released records by Da ...

, 2002) * ''

Unsquare ''Unsquare'' is a 2008 studio album by Maybe Monday, a San Francisco based experimental electroacoustic improvisation music ensemble featuring guitarist Fred Frith, koto player Miya Masaoka and saxophonist Larry Ochs. It is their third albu ...

'' ( Intakt, 2008) With Dave Rempis and Darren Johnston * ''

Spectral ''Spectral'' is a 2016 3D military science fiction, supernatural horror fantasy and action-adventure thriller war film directed by Nic Mathieu. Written by himself, Ian Fried, and George Nolfi from a story by Fried and Mathieu. The film stars ...

'' (Aerophonic, 2014)

References

External links

Interview by Luke Harley, 27 May 2008
at ''Paris Transatlantic'' American jazz composers American male jazz composers American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Musicians from New York (state) Living people 1949 births 21st-century American saxophonists 21st-century American male musicians Atavistic Records artists Black Saint/Soul Note artists Music & Arts artists Intakt Records artists RogueArt artists {{US-jazz-saxophonist-stub