Composer/Performer Ned Rothenberg has been internationally acclaimed for both his solo and ensemble music, presented for the past 30 years in North and South America, Europe and Asia. He performs primarily on the alto saxophone, clarinet , bass clarinet, and the shakuhachi - an endblown Japanese bamboo flute. He leads the trio Sync, with Jerome Harris, guitars and Samir Chatterjee, tabla. Recent recordings include Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, Ryu Nashi (new music for shakuhachi), Inner Diaspora, The Lumina Recordings and Ghost Stories, all on Tzadik, as well as Live at Roulette with Evan Parker, Are You Be and The Fell Clutch, on Rothenberg’s Animul label.
Ned Rothenberg composes and performs on saxophones, clarinets, flute and shakuhachi (an end blown Japanese bamboo flute). He has been internationally acclaimed for his solo music which he has presented for over 30 years in hundreds of concerts throughout North and South America, Europe and Japan. He has lead the ensembles Double Band, Power Lines and Sync (his current assemblage with Jerome Harris, acoustic guitar & acoustic bass guitar and Samir Chaterjee, tabla). Current and past cooperative partners include Evan Parker, Tony Buck, Sainkho Namtchylak, Masahiko Sato, Samm Bennett, Kazu Uchihashi and Paul Dresher. His playing has been featured in works by John Zorn, Marc Ribot, Steve Nieve (his opera ‘Welcome to the Voice’ alongside Sting and Elvis Costello), Marty Ehrlich and Bobby Previte. He's lived and worked in New York City since 1978.
Rothenberg's musical interests are numerous and his work varies widely in its sonic, emotive and stylistic profiles. A strong underlying element of his instrumental voice is the extension of the woodwind language to incorporate polyphony and accurate microtonal organization through the manipulation of multiphonics, circular breathing, and overtone control, using his horns not only in a normal melodic role but also as rhythmic and harmonic engines in both solo and ensemble contexts. As a composer he can move from "Jazz-funk in cubist perspective, dizzying, yet visceral" (Jon Pareles, NY Times re Double Band) to solo music that is "intense, slightly melancholic, rhapsodic without being sentimental” (Edward Rothstein, NY Times), while avoiding mere effect- "crafting distinct, evocative compositions that boast shape as well as texture" Neil Tesser, (Chicago Reader) .
Rothenberg's frequent international travels have included a 6-month residency in Japan during which he performed his music and studied shakuhachi with two of the foremost masters of the instrument, Goro Yamaguchi and Katsuya Yokoyama. In the summer of '89 he toured the (then) Soviet Union with Tom Cora (cello), Peter Hollinger (drums) and Elliott Sharp (guitars). In October '92 he returned to Russia and the Baltics in duo with the Tuvan vocalist Sainkho Namchylak. In January 2002 he travelled to South Korea for the first time to work with saxophonist Kang Tae Hwan and percussionist Park Ji-Chun. In September, 2011 he will be in residence at Les Subsistances in Lyon France creating music for a performance piece about Rimbaud realized by director Lukas Hemleb. These are just a few examples: international touring continues each year playing festivals, theatres and clubs as a leader or collaborator.
Rothenberg records extensively. The initial release of his own label, ANIMUL, was INTERVALS, a 2 cd set of solo music for alto saxophone, bass clarinet, clarinet and shakuhachi. This was followed by R.U.B. with Percussionist/DJ/ Samm Bennett and guitarist Kazuhisa Uchihashi. Its entitled, strangely enough, Are You Be. Next came Sync's 2nd cd, Harbinger. Following was The Fell Clutch, a jam band for big-eared listeners with Tony Buck, drums, and Stomu Takeishi, fretless bass, Rothenberg and sometime special guest, Dave Tronzo, on electric slide guitar. Most recent is a live duo recording with Rothenberg and Evan Parker. Rothenberg has 5 releases on John Zorn's Tzadik label. Inner Diaspora features Sync along with 2 pre-eminent improvising string virtuosi, Mark Feldman and Erik Friedlander. Through the music and in his liner notes Rothenberg responds to the complexities of his Jewish heritage. The Lumina Recordings, is a retrospective reissue of Rothenberg's solo recordings from 1981-85 with vastly improved sound and detailed documentation. Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, Ghost Stories and Ryu Nashi are all chamber music recordings on Tzadik’s Composer Series. In addition, selected recordings include:, Sync's Port of Entry (Intuition), a solo CD, The Crux (Leo), Double Band's Parting, Overlays and Real & Imagined Time (Moers Music), Power Lines' self-titled recording (New World), Amulet, a duo with Sainkho Namchylak (Leo), and a studio collaboration co-composed with Paul Dresher, Opposites Attract (New World). More releases can be found on the recordings page. In addition, Rothenberg’s work as a sideperson can be heard on labels such as Tzadik, Deutsche Grammophon, Zomba, Nonesuch, A&M, ECM, BMG, Axiom , and Virgin with leaders including John Zorn, Heiner Goebbels, Steve Nieve, Marc Ribot, Sainkho, Marisa Monte, So La Liu and Fusanosuke Kondo.
Born in 1956 in Boston, Rothenberg graduated from Oberlin College and studied at Oberlin Conservatory, Berklee School of Music, privately with Les Scott (saxophone & clarinet), and George Coleman (jazz improvisation). However, his trademark solo technique is self-taught. He has received grants and commissions from the New York Foundation for the Arts, New York State Arts Council, Mary Flagler Cary Trust, Lila Wallace Foundation, Chamber Music America, Asian Cultural Council, Roulette, Jerome Foundation, Meet the Composer, Japan Society and ASCAP.
