Nicky Skopelitis (born January 19, 1960) is an American

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

ist and composer of Greek descent. He also has performed on

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

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lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

and other instruments. Although Skopelitis has recorded few albums as a bandleader, he has appeared on many more recordings, often collaborating with prolific

bass guitar 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 and ...

ist and producer

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, w ...

. Until 1987 or so, he used the spelling "Scopelitis" for his last name.

Discography

As leader

* '' Next to Nothing'' (Venture, 1989) * '' Ekstasis''(Axiom, 1993) * ''EKSTASIS "wake up and dream" (CyberOctave, 1998) * ''Revelator'' (Douglas Music, 1998)

As sideman

With

Ginger Baker Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (19 August 1939 – 6 October 2019) was an English drummer. His work in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the reputation of "rock's first superstar drummer", for a style that melded jazz and Music of Africa, Africa ...

* ''Horses & Trees'' (Celluloid, 1986) * ''No Material'' (ITM, 1989) * ''Middle Passage'' (Axiom, 1990) * ''Live in Munich Germany 1987'' (Voiceprint, 2010) With

Afrika Bambaataa Lance Taylor (born on April 17, 1957), also known as Afrika Bambaataa (), is an American DJ, rapper, and producer from the South Bronx, New York. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenc ...

* ''Frantic Situation'' (Tommy Boy, 1984) * ''Beware'' (DBK, 1986) * ''The Light'' (EMI, 1988) With Manu Dibango * ''Electric Africa'' (Celluloid, 1985) * ''Pata Piya'' (Celluloid, 1985) * ''Afrijazzy'' (Enemy, 1986) With

The Golden Palominos The Golden Palominos were an American musical group headed by drummer, producer, arranger and composer Anton Fier, first formed in 1981. Aside from Fier, the Palominos membership has been wildly elastic, with only bassist Bill Laswell and guita ...

* ''The Golden Palominos'' (Celluloid, 1983) * ''Visions of Excess'' (Celluloid, 1985) * ''Blast of Silence'' (Celluloid, 1986) * ''A Dead Horse'' (Celluloid, 1989) * ''Drunk with Passion'' (Venture, 1991) * ''This Is How It Feels'' (Restless, 1993) * ''Pure'' (Restless, 1994) * ''Dead Inside'' (Restless, 1996) With

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

* ''Hardrock'' (CBS, 1984) * ''Sound-System'' (Columbia, 1984) * ''Perfect Machine'' (Columbia, 1988) With

* ''Hear No Evil'' (Virgin, 1988) * ''Sacred System: Chapter Two'' (ROIR, 1997) * ''Jazzonia'' (Douglas Music, 1998) * ''Permutation'' (Ion, 1998) * ''Broken Vessels'' (Koch, 1999) * ''Dub Chamber 3'' (ROIR, 2000) * ''Filmtracks 2000'' (Tzadik, 2001) * ''Bill Laswell & Material'' (Golden Stars, 2005) With

Material Material is a substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical and chemical properties, or on their geologi ...

* ''I'm the One'' (Elektra/Celluloid, 1982) * ''One Down'' (Elektra/Celluloid, 1982) * ''Seven Souls'' (Virgin, 1989) * ''The Third Power'' (Axiom, 1991) * ''Live in Japan'' (Jimco, 1993) * ''Hallucination Engine'' (Axiom, 1994) * ''The Road to the Western Lands'' (Mercury, 1998) With

Swans Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Someti ...

* ''The Burning World'' (UNI, 1989) * ''White Light from the Mouth of Infinity'' (Young God, 1991) * ''The Great Annihilator'' (Young God, 1994) * ''Forever Burned'' (Young God, 2003) With others * Arcana, '' Arc of the Testimony'' (Axiom, 1997) *

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 ...

, ''The März Combo Live in Wuppertal'' (FMP, 1993) * Peter Brötzmann, ''Organized Chaos'' (Konnex, 2002) *

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading n ...

, ''What's Bootsy Doin'?'' (CBS, 1988) *

Curlew The curlews () are a group of nine species of birds in the genus ''Numenius'', characterised by their long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. The English name is imitative of the Eurasian curlew's call, but may have been in ...

, ''Curlew'' (Landslide, 1984) * Curlew, ''North America'' (Cuneiform, 2002) *

Deadline Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to: * Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain * ''Deadline'' (magazine), a British ...

, ''Dissident'' (Day Eight Music, 1991) * Aiyb Dieng, ''Rhythmagick'' (P-Vine 1995) *

Dub Syndicate Dub Syndicate is a dub band, formed by Adrian Sherwood, which became a showcase for Adrian Sherwood's collaboration with Lincoln "Style" Scott, former drummer with the Roots Radics, Suns of Arqa and Creation Rebel. Dub Syndicate initially ...

, ''Mellow & Colly'' (Lion and Roots, 1998) * Dub Syndicate, ''The Rasta Far I Collision: Cause of Chapter 3'' (2006) *

Anton Fier Anton Fier (June 20, 1956 – September 14, 2022) was an American drummer, producer, composer, and bandleader. Family Fier, known as Tony, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Ruthe Marie Fier and Anton J. Fier Jr., a former Marine and electrician. ...

, ''Dreamspeed & Blind Light 1992-1994'' (Tzadik, 2003) *

Grand Mixer DXT Derek Showard, better known by the stage name GrandMixer DXT, is an American musician, one of the earliest to use turntables as a musical instrument in the 1980s. Early in his career, he was known as Grand Mixer D.ST, a reference to Delancey S ...

, ''Crazy Cuts'' (Celluloid, 1983) *

Masabumi Kikuchi was a Japanese jazz pianist and composer known for his unique playing style. He worked with many diverse musicians, including Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Gary Peacock and Paul Motian, and collaborated with Gil Evans a ...

, ''Dreamachine'' (Glass House, 1992) *

Buddy Miles George Allen "Buddy" Miles Jr. (September 5, 1947February 26, 2008) was an American composer, drummer, guitarist, vocalist and producer. He was a founding member of the Electric Flag (1967), a member of Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys (1969–197 ...

, ''Hell and Back'' (Rykodisc, 1994) *

Public Image Ltd Public Image Ltd (abbreviated and stylized as PiL) are an English post-punk band (and incorporated limited company) formed by singer John Lydon (previously known as the singer of Sex Pistols), guitarist Keith Levene, bassist Jah Wobble, and dr ...

, ''Album'' (Columbia, 1986) *

Akira Sakata Akira Sakata (born 21 February 1945) is a Japanese free jazz saxophonist. Early life Sakata was born in Hiroshima on 21 February 1945. He first heard jazz on short-wave radio and Voice of America, then became more interested in it from listening ...

, ''Silent Plankton'' (Japan, 1991) *

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...

, '' With a Heartbeat'' (Evolver, 2003) *

Julian Schnabel Julian Schnabel (born October 26, 1951) is an American painter and filmmaker. In the 1980s, he received international attention for his "plate paintings" — with broken ceramic plates set onto large-scale paintings. Since the 1990s, he has been ...

, ''Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud'' (Island, 1995) *

Sonny Sharrock Warren Harding "Sonny" Sharrock (August 27, 1940 – May 25, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist. He was married to singer Linda Sharrock, with whom he recorded and performed. One of only a few prominent guitarists who participated in the firs ...

, ''Faith Moves'' (CMP, 1991) *

Sly and Robbie Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separa ...

, ''Rhythm Killers'' (Island, 1987) *

James Blood Ulmer James "Blood" Ulmer (born February 8, 1940) is an American jazz, free funk and blues guitarist and singer. Ulmer plays a Gibson Byrdland guitar. His guitar sound has been described as "jagged" and "stinging". His singing has been called "ragge ...

, ''America Do You Remember the Love?'' (Blue Note, 1987) *

Jah Wobble John Joseph Wardle (born 11 August 1958), known by the stage name Jah Wobble, is an English bass guitarist and singer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd (PiL) in the late 1970s and early 1980s; ...

, ''Heaven & Earth'' (Island, 1995) * Jah Wobble & Bill Laswell, ''Radioaxiom A Dub Transmission'' (Palm, 2001) * Yosuke Yamashita, ''Asian Games'' (Verve Forecast, 1993) *

Yothu Yindi Yothu Yindi (Yolŋu Matha, Yolngu for "child and mother", pronounced ) are an Australian musical group with Australian Aboriginal, Aboriginal and ''List of English words of Malay origin#B, balanda'' (non-Aboriginal) members, formed in 1986 as ...

, ''Freedom'' (Mushroom, 1993)

External links

*
Excerpts from an interview with Sonny Sharrock and Nicky Skopelitis, "New Sounds" #711, WNYC-FM, 9/9/91Downtown Composer Collective profileReview on ''Next To Nothing''
in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''
Review on ''Faith Moves''
in ''

'' 1960 births Living people American rock guitarists American multi-instrumentalists American people of Greek descent Curlew (band) members The Golden Palominos members Place of birth missing (living people) {{US-guitarist-stub