Marc Ribot (; born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer. His work has touched on many styles, including no wave,

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...

, rock, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

, Vinicio Capossela and

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jaz ...

Biography

Marc Ribot, who is of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

heritage, was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.South Orange, New Jersey South Orange, officially the Township of South Orange Village, is a suburban township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the village's population was 16,198, reflecting a decline of 766 (4.5%) fro ...

. He has worked extensively as a session guitarist. He has performed and recorded with

, Caetano Veloso,

, David Sylvian,

Jack McDuff Eugene McDuff (September 17, 1926 – January 23, 2001), known professionally as "Brother" Jack McDuff or "Captain" Jack McDuff, was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era ...

Wilson Pickett Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the ''Bill ...

, Arto Lindsay,

T-Bone Burnett Joseph Henry "T Bone" Burnett III (born January 14, 1948) is an American record producer, guitarist and songwriter. He rose to fame as a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band during the 1970s. He has received multiple Grammy awards for his work in film ...

Medeski, Martin and Wood Medeski Martin & Wood (or MMW) is an American jazz fusion band formed in 1991, consisting of John Medeski on keyboards, Billy Martin on drums, and Chris Wood on bass. The band is influenced by musical traditions including funk and hip hop and ...

, Cibo Matto, Sam Phillips,

Tift Merritt Tift may refer to: Places * Tift County, Georgia, a county in south-central Georgia, United States People with the given name * Tift Merritt (born 1975), American singer-songwriter People with the surname * Andrew Tift (born 1968), British portr ...

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

, Foetus,

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...

and

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with ...

, Susana Baca, The Black Keys, Vinicio Capossela, Alain Bashung, McCoy Tyner,

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

Madeleine Peyroux Madeleine Peyroux (born April 18, 1974) is an American jazz singer and songwriter who began her career as a teenager on the streets of Paris. She sang vintage jazz and blues songs before finding mainstream success in 2004 when her album ''Carele ...

, Marianne Faithfull, Diana Krall,

Mike Patton Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, producer, film composer and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band Faith No More. Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techni ...

, Stormin’ Norman and Suzy Williams, Neko Case, Joe Henry,

Allen Toussaint Allen Richard Toussaint (; January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) was an American musician, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the end of the century, descri ...

Robert Quine Robert Wolfe Quine (December 30, 1942 – May 31, 2004) was an American guitarist. A native of Akron, Ohio, Quine worked with a wide range of musicians, though he himself remained relatively unknown. Critic Mark Deming wrote that "Quine's eclect ...

Ikue Mori (born 17 December 1953), also known as Ikue Ile, is a drummer, electronic musician, composer, and graphic designer. Mori was awarded a "Genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation in 2022. Biography Ikue Mori was born and raised in Japan. She sa ...

, and others. Ribot was a member of The Lounge Lizards for several years in the late 1980s. Band leader John Lurie later wrote: "Marc is a musical genius. So many ideas are coming out of that guy that it is actually often a problem." Ribot's earliest work as a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

was featured on Tom Waits's ''

Rain Dogs ''Rain Dogs'' is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits, released in September 1985 on Island Records. A loose concept album about "the urban dispossessed" of New York City, ''Rain Dogs'' is generally considered the middle ...

'' (1985) and helped define Waits's new musical direction. Ribot worked with Waits on many of his following albums including '' Franks Wild Years'' (1987), '' Big Time'' (1988), ''

Mule Variations ''Mule Variations'' is the thirteenth studio album by American musician Tom Waits, released on April 16, 1999, on the ANTI- record label, label. It was Waits' first studio album in six years, following ''The Black Rider (album), The Black Rider'' ...

'' (1999), '' Real Gone'' (2004), '' Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards'' (2006) and ''

Bad as Me ''Bad as Me'' is the seventeenth and most recent studio album by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits, released on October 21, 2011 by Anti- Records. The album is known to have been recorded as early as February 2011 and was officially announced ...

'' (2011). He has appeared on Elvis Costello's ''

Spike Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...

'' (1989), '' Mighty Like a Rose'' (1991), and '' Kojak Variety'' (1995). Ribot has appeared on numerous recordings by

, including many of Zorn's ''Filmworks'' recordings, solo performances on Zorn's '' Masada Guitars'' (also featuring Bill Frisell and

Tim Sparks Tim Sparks (born October 31, 1954) is an American acoustic guitar player, singer, arranger and composer. Life Raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he was given his first guitar when a bout of encephalitis kept him out of school for a year. T ...

), and is a member of Zorn's

Bar Kokhba Sextet Bar Kokhba Sextet brings together six core members of Masada under the leadership of John Zorn. The music act is an improvisational group from New York's best downtown artists, including Cyro Baptista on percussion, Marc Ribot on guitar, Greg Coh ...

and

Electric Masada Masada is a musical group with rotating personnel led by American saxophonist and composer John Zorn since the early 1990s. Masada was the first ensemble to perform Zorn's compositions inspired by Radical Jewish Culture and written to be performe ...

. Ribot's first two albums featured the Rootless Cosmopolitans, followed by an album of works by

Frantz Casseus Frantz Casseus (14 December 1915 – 3 June 1993) was a Haitian-American guitarist and composer. Born and raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, he spent most of his adult life in the United States where he immigrated in 1946 hoping to meet pia ...

for solo guitar. Further releases found him working in a variety of band and solo contexts including two albums with his self-described "dance band", Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos (Prosthetic Cubans), featuring compositions by

Arsenio Rodríguez Arsenio Rodríguez (born Ignacio Arsenio Travieso Scull; 31 August 1911 – 30 December 1970)Giro, Radamés 2007. ''Diccionario enciclopédico de la música en Cuba''. La Habana, v. 4 p. 45 et seq. was a Cuban musician, composer and bandleader ...

. Ribot admitted to '' Guitar Player'' a relatively limited technical facility due to learning to play right-handed despite being left-handed: "That's a real limit, one that caused me a lot of grief when I was working with Jack McDuff and realising I wasn't following in George Benson's footsteps. I couldn't be a straight-ahead jazz contender if you held a gun to my head." He currently performs and records with his groups Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog with bassist Shahzad Ismaily and drummer Ches Smith of the

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

band

Secret Chiefs 3 Secret Chiefs 3 (or SC3) is an American avant-garde group led by guitarist/composer Trey Spruance (of Mr. Bungle and formerly, Faith No More). Their studio recordings and tours have featured different lineups, as the group performs a wide range ...

, Marc Ribot Trio with bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Chad Taylor of Chicago Underground, Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos with Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez on drums and original members pianist

Anthony Coleman Anthony Coleman (born August 30, 1955) is an avant-garde jazz pianist. During the 1980s and 1990s he worked with John Zorn on '' Cobra'', ''Kristallnacht'', ''The Big Gundown'', ''Archery'', and ''Spillane'' and helped push modern Jewish music in ...

, bassist Brad Jones and percussionist EJ Rodriquez, and The Young Philadelphians, covering 1970s Philadelphia soul music with Philadelphia-based musicians bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma and drummer G. Calvin Weston with guitarist

Mary Halvorson Mary Halvorson (born October 16, 1980) is an American avant-garde jazz composer and guitarist from Brookline, Massachusetts. Among her many collaborations, she has: led a trio with and Ches Smith, and a quintet with the addition of Jon Irabago ...

plus a three-piece string section. A biographical documentary film about Ribot was made, called '' The Lost String''. Ribot was also a judge for the sixth annual Independent Music Awards.Independent Music Awards – 6th Annual Judges

Discography

* ''

Rootless Cosmopolitans Rootless cosmopolitan () was a pejorative Soviet epithet which referred mostly to Jewish intellectuals as an accusation of their lack of allegiance to the Soviet Union, especially during the antisemitic campaign of 1948–1953. This campaign ...

'' (

Antilles The Antilles (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy; es, Antillas; french: Antilles; nl, Antillen; ht, Antiy; pap, Antias; Jamaican Patois: ''Antiliiz'') is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mex ...

, 1990) * ''

Requiem for What's His Name ''Requiem for What's His Name'' is the second album by Marc Ribot & The Rootless Cosmopolitans which was released by the Belgian label Les Disques du Crepuscule in 1992. Recording The album was recorded in New York City at Sound on Sound Recordin ...

'' (

Les Disques du Crépuscule Les Disques du Crépuscule is an independent record label founded in Belgium. The label was founded in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré. It also had a prominent associated sublabel, Factory Benelux. Both are now run by former employee Ja ...

, 1992) * ''

Marc Ribot Plays Solo Guitar Works of Frantz Casseus ''Marc Ribot Plays Solo Guitar Works of Frantz Casseus'' is a 1993 album of solo guitar works by Haitian-American composer Frantz Casseus recorded by Marc Ribot and released on the Belgian label, Les Disques du Crepuscule. Ribot studied classical ...

'' (Les Disques du Crépuscule, 1993) * '' Shrek'' ( Avant, 1994) * ''Subsonic 1: Sounds of a Distant Episode'' with Shrek ( Sub Rosa/Subsonic 1994, split album 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 ...

) * ''

The Book of Heads The Book of Heads (1978), composed by John Zorn, is a set of 35 etudes for solo guitar. It was recorded and released in 1995, and featured Marc Ribot. The pieces use multiple extended techniques. Condensed from roughly 80 other compositions, the ...

'' (

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 ...

, 1995) composed by

* '' Don't Blame Me'' ( DIW, 1995) *'' Surrender to the Air (1996)'' * ''

Shoe String Symphonettes ''Shoe String Symphonettes'' is a 1997 album of film music by Marc Ribot released on Tzadik Records. Recording The album contains soundtracks for five short films; the earliest being ''Landlord Blues'' directed by Jacob Burkardt (1987), followed ...

'' (Tzadik, 1997) * ''

The Prosthetic Cubans ''The Prosthetic Cubans'' is a studio album recorded in New York City by Marc Ribot with Los Cubanos Postizos and features compositions by Arsenio Rodríguez. It was the first album by The Prosthetic Cubans and was followed by '' ¡Muy Divertido!' ...

'' (

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, 1998) with Los Cubanos Postizos * ''

Yo! I Killed Your God ''Yo! I Killed Your God'' is a concept album by Marc Ribot, recorded live between 1992 and 1994. It was released May 18, 1999 on Tzadik Records. Reception The Allmusic review by David Freedlander awarded the album 4 stars, stating, "All in all, ...

'' (Tzadik, 1999) * ''

¡Muy Divertido! ''¡Muy Divertido! (Very Entertaining!)'' is a studio album recorded in New York City by American guitarist and composer Marc Ribot with Los Cubanos Postizos. It was released on April 25, 2000 on Atlantic Records. Reception AllMusic awarded the ...

'' (Atlantic, 2000) with Los Cubanos Postizos * ''

Saints In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual res ...

'' (Atlantic, 2001) * ''Inasmuch as Life is Borrowed'' (Ultima Vez, 2001) limited edition * '' Scelsi Morning'' (Tzadik, 2003) * ''

Soundtracks Volume 2 ''Soundtracks Volume 2'' is a 2003 album of film music by Marc Ribot released on Tzadik Records. Reception The Allmusic review by Sean Westergaard states, "The already eclectic Marc Ribot may have released his widest-reaching album to date with ' ...

'' (Tzadik, 2003) * '' Spiritual Unity'' ( Pi, 2005) * '' Exercises in Futility'' (Tzadik, 2008) * ''

Party Intellectuals ''Party Intellectuals'' is the debut album by jazz fusion trio Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog. It was produced by Joel Hamilton and released June 24, 2008 on Pi Recordings. Reception Response was generally positive, with Metacritic assigning the al ...

'' (Pi, 2008) with Ceramic Dog * '' Silent Movies'' (Pi, 2010) * ''

Your Turn ''Your Turn'' is a studio album by American guitarist Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog which was released in April 2013 on Northern Spy Records. Reception Metacritic assigned album an aggregate score of 88 out of 100 based on 5 critical reviews. The All ...

'' ( Northern Spy, 2013) with Ceramic Dog * '' Live at the Village Vanguard'' (Pi, 2014) with Henry Grimes and Chad Taylor * '' The Young Philadelphians: Live in Tokyo'' (Yellowbird, 2016) with the Young Philadelphians * '' YRU Still Here?'' (Northern Spy, 2018) with Ceramic Dog * '' Songs of Resistance: 1942–2018'' (Anti-, 2018) * '' What I Did On My Long Vacation'' (Northern Spy (exclusively on Bandcamp), 2020) with Ceramic Dog * ''Hope'' (Northern Spy / Yellowbird / P-Vine, 2021) with Ceramic Dog * ''Connection'' (Knockwurst, 2023) with Ceramic Dog

Filmography

* ''

The Tune ''The Tune'' is a 1992 independent animated musical-comedy film directed by Bill Plympton. Plot summary Del, a hard-working songwriter, is trying to write the perfect song for his slimeball boss, Mr. Mega, so he can keep his job and his girlfr ...

'' (1992) * '' Sabbath in Paradise'' (1998) * ''

The Soul of a Man ''The Soul of a Man'' is a 2003 documentary film, directed by Wim Wenders, as the second instalment of the documentary film series ''The Blues'', produced by Martin Scorsese. The film explores the musical careers of blues musicians Skip James, ...

'' (directed by

Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker, playwright, author, and photographer. He is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among many honors, he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Docum ...

) (2003) * '' A Bookshelf on Top of the Sky: 12 Stories About John Zorn'' (2004) * '' The Lost String'' (directed by Anais Prosaic)'' (2007) * ''

Gare du Nord The Gare du Nord (; English: ''station of the North'' or ''Northern Station''), officially Paris-Nord, is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. The station accommodates the trains that run between the capital ...

'' (2013)

References

External links

Marc Ribot
official website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ribot, Marc Northern Spy Records artists 1954 births Living people Musicians from Newark, New Jersey 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists American experimental guitarists American male guitarists American jazz guitarists American rock guitarists Pi Recordings artists Tzadik Records artists Avant-garde guitarists Guitarists from New Jersey 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians The Lounge Lizards members The Jazz Passengers members Surrender to the Air members DIW Records artists Antilles Records artists Atlantic Records artists Intakt Records artists Anti- (record label) artists Jewish American musicians 21st-century American Jews