Uncivilized

Uncivilized operates as a New York jazz collective under the leadership of guitarist Tom Csatari, assembling a rotating roster of supporting players. Its broad sonic palette pulls freely from post-bop, avant-garde jazz, folk, and indie rock. The ensemble first appeared in 2014 via a self-titled release and later drew broader notice through several distinctive undertakings: the 2018 Twin Peaks-inspired Uncivilized Plays Peaks, the 2020 album Garden recorded with trumpeter Jaimie Branch, and a 2022 collection interpreting songs by Chico Hamilton. After issuing three solo guitar albums, Csatari presented the 2023 set 5 by Monk by Csatari devoted to Thelonious Monk compositions.

Csatari entered the world in Dallas, Texas, spent his childhood in rural New Hampshire, and relocated to New York City in 2007. Around 2014 he assembled the stylistically fluid collective Uncivilized there, collaborating at different points with reedists Levon Henry, Kyle Wilson, Casey Berman, and L'Rain's Ben Chapoteau-Katz, bassists Nick Jost and Nick Jozwiak, drummer Rachel Housle, keyboardist Dominic Mekky, flutist Tristan Cooley, trumpeter Luther Wong, and additional musicians. The collective's first release, the self-titled Uncivilized, came out on the Tiny Montgomery label in 2014. The following year brought the double album Outro Waltz, which included drumming by RJ Miller and juxtaposed original material—among them the track "Uncivilized," the source of the group's name—with renditions of works by Chris Weisman, Thelonious Monk, Lee Morgan, and Elliott Smith.

Two years afterward the ensemble issued the Melted Candy EP, featuring a guest turn by Jib Kidder, then continued with multiple singles and shorter releases that preceded the full-length Uncivilized Plays Peaks in 2018. That project combined pieces from Angelo Badalamenti's Twin Peaks soundtrack with original compositions by Csatari. In 2020 the group delivered Garden, spotlighting trumpeter Jaimie Branch on a version of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock." The performance was captured live at Brooklyn's Pioneer Works and mixed by Stephen Cooper of Cloud Becomes Your Hand and Guerilla Toss. During the same stretch Csatari also put out three solo guitar albums: 2019's Placebo - Ish, 2021's Placebo - Niche, and 2021's Placebo - Transcendence.

He reconvened the full ensemble for 2022's Uncivilized Plays Chico (Lagniappe Session), an exploration of material by the innovative bebop and Latin jazz percussionist Chico Hamilton. In 2023 Csatari issued the solo guitar album 5 by Monk by Csatari on his own Ignore Heroes label, with a contribution from Uncivilized flutist Tristan Cooley.