Wayne Horvitz

Wayne Horvitz distinguishes himself through a broad yet singular approach as pianist and composer, gaining recognition for fusing jazz, post-rock, classical, and avant-garde elements. He first gained notice amid the downtown New York milieu of the 1970s and 1980s alongside such iconoclasts as John Zorn, Butch Morris, and Bill Frisell. An original participant in Zorn’s Naked City, Horvitz joined his wife, pianist Robin Holcomb, to establish the New York Composers Orchestra. Now Seattle-based, he has directed several ensembles of his own, among them the Gravitas Quartet, Zony Mash, and the Four Plus One Ensemble. Recordings under his leadership, including the 1987 release The President, 1997’s Cold Spell, and 2001’s From a Window, place him in settings that range from harmonically charged post-bop and electric funk to art-rock and grounded acoustic improvisation. A recipient of the 2016 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, Horvitz has supplied scores for cinema, stage, and dance companies while frequently incorporating extramusical sources, as heard on the 2015 project Some Places Are Forever Afternoon (11 Places for Richard Hugo), whose pieces drew from the work of the esteemed Pacific Northwest poet.

Born in New York City in 1955, Horvitz spent his childhood in California before returning to New York with his family near age twelve. Early exposure came from a father drawn to jazz and the clarinet alongside a mother devoted to classical repertoire. As a teenager he took up piano upon encountering blues pianist Otis Spann. Jazz improvisation and composition deepened during studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he absorbed a rich array of influences including Cecil Taylor, Béla Bartók, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, and Paul Bley. After graduation he settled in New York City, embedding himself by the late 1970s in the vibrant downtown creative-music community. There he encountered saxophonist and bandleader John Zorn, appearing on the 1980 album Pool and the 1981 set Archery, along with dates alongside Peter Kuhn, Elliott Sharp, Bill Frisell, and additional colleagues.

Horvitz entered the solo discography with 1979’s No Place Fast, an exploratory avant-garde date that included pianist Robin Holcomb—who later married Horvitz—percussionist Mark E. Miller, and saxophonists Carolyn Romberg and David Sewelson. Subsequent releases comprised 1981’s Some Order, Long Understood, 1986’s Dinner at Eight, and 1986’s Nine Below Zero, the last featuring his trio with cornetist Butch Morris and percussionist Bobby Previte. The following year he reassembled several Dinner at Eight colleagues for The President, an album reflecting his expanding interest in merging memorable funk and rock-derived pieces with unconventional improvisation. Retaining the President as the group name, he followed in 1989 with Bring Yr Camera. During the same span he co-founded the New York Composers Orchestra with Holcomb, assembling a diverse roster of players and commissioning pieces from figures such as Lenny Pickett, Marty Ehrlich, and Anthony Braxton.

By the close of the 1980s Horvitz had moved to Seattle, where he discovered an inviting and continually shifting circle of musicians. There he issued 1991’s Miracle Mile, 1995’s Miss Ann, and 1997’s Cold Spell, the first recording with his Zony Mash group. He also collaborated with Reggie Watts, Eyvind Kang, Julian Priester, and Tucker Martine on 1998’s 4+1 Ensemble while contributing to projects by Holcomb, Peter Apfelbaum, Briggan Krauss, and others. Despite the relocation he maintained close ties with Zorn, performing on Naked City’s 1989 self-titled debut alongside guitarist Frisell, bassist Fred Frith, drummer Joey Baron, and vocalist Yamatsuka Eye, as well as the band’s subsequent releases 1990’s Torture Garden, 1993’s Radio, and 1994’s Heretic, Jeux des Dames Cruelles.

Entering the new century, Horvitz remained active with Zony Mash on 2000’s Upper Egypt, then formed an acoustic iteration of the ensemble for 2000’s American Bandstand, 2001’s Sweeter Than the Day, and 2002’s Forever. Additional work included projects with Holcomb, Previte, Zorn, Marty Ehrlich, Tucker Martine, Vivian Linden, and Thomas Marriott. He also gathered film-related recordings on 2002’s Film Music 1998-2001 for Zorn’s Tzadik imprint. Beyond screen work, his own albums continued to reflect wider inspirations, notably 2008’s Joe Hill: 16 Actions for Orchestra, Voices and Soloist, whose music responded to the life of Swedish immigrant and labor activist Joe Hill, executed in Salt Lake City in 1914. Likewise, 2015’s Some Places Are Forever Afternoon (11 Places for Richard Hugo) offered compositions prompted by Pacific Northwest poet Richard Hugo.

Throughout his career Horvitz has created music for theater, dance, and film. He has partnered repeatedly with director Gus Van Sant, scored the 1998 documentary Chihuly Over Venice, and supplied fresh accompaniments for silent classics including Charlie Chaplin’s The Circus and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, the latter premiered in 2015 at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre. Grants received include two MAP awards and the NEA American Masterpiece honor. The 2016 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award supported three new pieces: the electro-acoustic installations 21 Pianos and Those Who Remain, Pt. 2, plus the chamber opera The Heartsong of Charging Elk, drawn from James Welch’s novel. In 2018 Horvitz issued The Snowghost Sessions, his first trio recording since the 1980s, with bassist Geoff Harper and drummer Eric Eagle.