Big Satan is a musical project headed by composer and

alto saxophonist The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

Tim Berne 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. Biography Berne was born in Syracuse, New York, United States. He has said that ...

, featuring drummer

Tom Rainey Tom Rainey (born 1957) is an American jazz drummer. Career After attending Berklee College of Music he moved to New York in 1979. He has played with Tim Berne, Nels Cline, Drew Gress, Mark Helias, Fred Hersch, Tony Malaby, Simon Nabatov, T ...

and electric guitarist

Marc Ducret Marc Ducret (born 19 August 1957) is a contemporary avant-garde jazz guitarist who frequently collaborates with saxophonist Tim Berne. Ducret's guitar style is idiosyncratic, having been called "highly original and very expressive," but also ...

. Rainey and Ducret are regular Berne collaborators, and both contribute compositions as well.

History

The group released its live

self-titled An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

debut (also called ''I Think They Liked It Honey'') in 1997, described by ''

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'' as "a truly mesmerizing set that rings with ominous overtones and intricately constructed fabrics of sound".Astarita, Glenn " ''I Think They Liked It, Honey'' Review, ''

'', Macrovision Corporation It would be 2004 before the group's second album, ''Souls Saved Hear'', was finally released. Described as "dazzling" by ''Allmusic'', it was also praised by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

.Westergaard, Sean " ''Souls Saved Hear'' Review, ''

'', Macrovision CorporationMarsh, Peter (2004)
Big Satan - ''Souls Saved Hear''
,

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' described it as "an adventurous listen for the most discriminating, open-minded listener".Lundy, Zeth (2004)
Big Satan - ''Souls Saved Hear''
, ''

'' An interview with Berne along with a live set from The Vortex Jazz Club in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

was broadcast by

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

.Jazz on 3
,

Their style of music can be described as

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 De ...

jazz. Adopting elements from the styles of many previous “out-jazz” originators (like

Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific out ...

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Colle ...

, etc.), Big Satan's sound is aggressive but not without a sense of humor.

Discography

* '' Big Satan'' (

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 ...

, 1997) * '' Souls Saved Hear'' (

Thirsty Ear Thirsty Ear Recordings is an American independent record label. It was founded in the late 1970s as a marketing company for the then-unnamed alternative music field, and expanded to issue its own records in 1990. Thirsty Ear came to prominence ...

, 2004) * ''

Livein Cognito ''Livein Cognito'' is a double live album by saxophonist Tim Berne's Big Satan. It was released in 2006 on Berne's Screwgun label. Reception An All About Jazz review by John Kelman said "Dark and spacious in places, visceral, dense and penetra ...

'' (

Screwgun Screwgun Records is a jazz record label founded by saxophonist Tim Berne in 1996. Most releases on the label have been by Berne, though some have been by Berne's associates and bandmates. Steve Byram has designed and illustrated the artwork for ma ...

, 2006)

References

{{Jazz-band-stub American jazz ensembles Musical groups established in 1997 Thirsty Ear Recordings artists Winter & Winter Records artists