Joe McPhee


Joe McPhee is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who plays the tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, the trumpet, the flugelhorn and the valve trombone. Although born in Miami, Florida, McPhee grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York. He is most notable for his free jazz work done from the late 1960s to the present day.

Life and career

McPhee was born in Miami, Florida, on November 3, 1939. He began playing trumpet when he was eight, before learning other instruments. He played in various high school and then military bands before starting his recording career. His first recording came in 1967, when he appeared on the Clifford Thornton album entitled Freedom and Unity. McPhee taught himself saxophone at the age of 32 after experiencing the music of John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, and Ornette Coleman. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, McPhee lectured on jazz music at Vassar College.
In 1975, Werner Uehlinger started the Swiss label Hathut Records with the specific intent of showcasing McPhee's music. In the 1980s, McPhee met Pauline Oliveros, began studying her musical theories, and worked with her Deep Listening Band. He has not yet signed with any major label in his native United States, and was possibly better known throughout Europe than his native country until the 1990s. His 1996 album As Serious As Your Life, which takes its title from the jazz book by Val Wilmer, is "arguably the finest of his solo recordings", according to the AllMusic review.
Jazz musicians with whom McPhee has recorded or performed include Ken Vandermark, Peter Brötzmann, Evan Parker, Mats Gustafsson, Jeb Bishop, The Thing, Clifton Hyde, Jérôme Bourdellon, Raymond Boni, and Joe Giardullo. Since 1998, McPhee, Dominic Duval, and Jay Rosen have performed and recorded as Trio X. In the 1990s Dominique Eade and McPhee had a jazz ensemble called Naima.
McPhee has written reviews and commentary for Cadence.
In 2005, McPhee was awarded the Resounding Vision Award by Nameless Sound.
In 2015, McPhee played a series of 50th anniversary concerts with Canadian noise pioneers Nihilist Spasm Band in three Canadian cities.

Discography

Underground Railroad Nation Time Black Magic Man At WBAI's Free Music Store, 1971 Trinity with Harold E. Smith and Mike Kull Pieces of Light with John SnyderThe Willisau Concert featuring John Snyder and Makaya NtshokoTenor – rereleased as Tenor & Fallen Angels in 2000Rotation Graphics Variations on a Blue Line Glasses MFG in Minnesota with Milo Fine and Steve GnitkaOld Eyes – rereleased as Old Eyes and Mysteries in 1992 Tales and Prophecies with André JaumeTopology Oleo – rereleased as Oleo & A Future Retrospective in 1993Visitation with the Bill Smith EnsembleSongs and Dances with André Jaume and Raymond Boni Linear B Élan • Impulse with Daunik Lazro Impressions of Jimmy Giuffre The October Revolution with Rashied Ali, Borah Bergman, and Wilber MorrisSweet Freedom - Now What? with Lisle Ellis and Paul PlimleyMcPhee/Parker/Lazro with Evan Parker and Daunik LazroCommon Threads A Meeting in Chicago with Ken Vandermark and Kent Kessler As Serious As Your Life Legend Street One Legend Street Two Inside Out with David Prentice Finger Wrigglers with Michael BisioSpecific Gravity with Joe GiardulloThe Brass City with Jeb BishopChicago Tenor Duets with Evan ParkerZebulon with Michael BisioThe Dream Book with Dominic DuvalSoprano In the Spirit No Greater Love Emancipation Proclamation: A Real Statement of Freedom with Hamid Drake Grand Marquis with Johnny McLellanManhattan Tango with Jérôme BourdellonPort of Saints with Michael Bisio, Raymond Boni and Dominic DuvalVoices & Dreams with Raymond BoniAngels, Devils & Haints with Michael Bisio, Dominic Duval, Claude Tchamitian and Paul RogersMister Peabody Goes to Baltimore Remembrance with Michael Bisio, Raymond Boni and Paul HardingTales Out of Time with Peter BrötzmannA Parallax View with Paul HessionBetween with Sato MakotoEverything Happens for a Reason In Finland with Matthew Shipp and Dominic DuvalNext To You with Raymond Boni, Daunik Lazro and Claude TchamitchianGuts with Peter Brötzmann, Kent Kessler and Michael Zerang

With Trio X

With Survival Unit III

  • Don’t Postpone Joy!
  • Syncronicity]
  • Game Theory
  • Barrow Street Blues
  • Straylight
  • ''Straylight ''

Compilations

  • A Future Retospective – compiles Old Eyes and Oleo
  • Nation Time: The Complete Recordings – Compiles Nation Times and Black Magic Man with 2 CDs of unreleased live recordings
  • The CjR Years – 4LP Box Set compiles Underground Railroad, Nation Time, Trinity and ''Pieces of Light''

As sideman

With Peter BrötzmannThe Chicago Octet/Tentet American Landscapes 1 American Landscapes 2 3 Nights in Oslo
With Roy Campbell, William Parker & Warren Smith
With the C. T. String Quartet
  • Reqiphoenix Nexus
With Dominic Duval
With Joe Fonda
  • Heat Suite
With Joe GiardulloShadow & Light
With Jimmy Giuffre and André Jaume
  • River Station
With Raphe Malik
With Mat Maneri
  • Sustain
With the Nihilist Spasm Band
  • No Borders
With Evan Parker
With Jamie Saft
  • Ticonderoga
With Clifford Thornton
With The Thing
  • ''She Knows...''