Jim Jarmusch

Jim Jarmusch earned his reputation as one of the most prominent independent directors in the United States, yet he has long integrated music and performers into the fabric of his cinematic work. Born in Akron, Ohio, on January 22, 1953, he grew up while his father was employed by a tire manufacturer and his mother wrote film reviews for the local paper. From an early age he showed strong curiosity about music, movies, and books; after finishing high school in 1971 he spent a short time studying journalism at Northwestern University in Chicago, then moved to Columbia University in New York City. Although his coursework at Columbia centered on poetry, a semester spent in Paris introduced him to the diverse schedule of the Cinémathèque Française, where he developed a lasting enthusiasm for motion pictures. Returning to New York in 1976, he gained admission to New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and began formal training in film production.

While immersed in the city’s emerging underground music community, Jarmusch became a frequent visitor to CBGB and spent a brief period performing with Robin Crutchfield’s no-wave ensemble Dark Days. He also spent several years handling keyboards and electronics for the Del-Byzanteens, a group that issued multiple singles and the 1982 album Lies to Live By. During those same years he completed his debut feature, Permanent Vacation, in 1981, funding it with money drawn from a tuition grant; submitted as his thesis, the project was turned down by faculty and never received an official domestic release. Undeterred, he began a second feature with assistance from Wim Wenders, who supplied unused film stock. The resulting Stranger Than Paradise became his first major international success, attracting art-house audiences and a devoted cult following. The cast featured New York musicians John Lurie of the Lounge Lizards and Richard Edson, a former Sonic Youth drummer, while Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You” supplied the film’s dominant musical motif.

Over subsequent decades Jarmusch made a habit of placing musicians in prominent roles: Lurie and Tom Waits appeared in 1986’s Down by Law; Joe Strummer, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and Rufus Thomas performed in 1989’s Mystery Train, which also referenced the ghost of Elvis Presley; Iggy Pop acted in 1995’s Dead Man, whose original score came from Neil Young; and RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan both composed the music and portrayed a samurai for 1999’s Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai. Jarmusch also directed the 1997 concert documentary Year of the Horse about Neil Young & Crazy Horse and created music videos for Talking Heads and Tom Waits. Starting in 1986 he produced a sequence of short films built around conversations over coffee and cigarettes; these were later assembled into the 2003 feature Coffee and Cigarettes, which featured Iggy Pop and Tom Waits, Jack White and Meg White, and RZA and GZA alongside Bill Murray.

In 2009 Jarmusch formed the band Bad Rabbit, whose sound he characterized as “slow-motion psychedelic rock & roll.” Joined by Carter Logan and Shane Stoneback, the trio composed and recorded material for his film The Limits of Control, later issuing selected tracks as an EP. The following year Jarmusch revealed that the group had been renamed Sqürl and was preparing fresh recordings; at the same time he was asked to curate the All Tomorrow’s Parties New York weekender, whose lineup included Kurt Vile, Boris, Fucked Up, DJ Kool Herc, Wooden Shjips, Raekwon, the Black Angels, and Vivian Girls. In 2012 he issued two albums of improvised music with experimental lute player Jozef Van Wissem, The Mystery of Heaven and Concerning the Entry into Eternity. While pursuing these musical ventures and preparing a new feature starring Tilda Swinton, Jarmusch was also reported to be developing an opera on the life of Nikola Tesla with composer Phil Klein and assembling footage for a documentary on the Stooges.