Hank Roberts

Hank Roberts (born March 24, 1954, in Terre Haute, Indiana) is an American jazz cellist and vocalist. He plays the electric cello, and his style is a mixture of rock, jazz, avant-garde, folk and classical influences. He emerged with the downtown New York jazz scene of the 1980s and is strongly associated with its post-modern tendencies.

Background

In the early 1980s Roberts made a number of recordings for the defunct JMT label, was a featured member of the Bill Frisell Quartet, and was an important voice in many groups of saxophonist Tim Berne. Roberts also recorded three discs with the Arcado String Trio, an improvisational chamber group featuring Mark Feldman, violin, and Mark Dresser, double bass. In the early 1990s Roberts left Frisell's group and stopped touring widely. He continued to release recordings, if sporadically, including with the progressive folk group Ti Ti Chickapea. In 2008 he was again touring and performing regularly, releasing Green (with Jim Black and Marc Ducret) on Winter & Winter, Stefan F. Winters subsequent label to JMT. In December 2011, Winter and Winter released Roberts' Everything Is Alive, as well as re-releasing his entire JMT catalogue.

Selected discography

As Leader

• Black Pastels (JMT, 1987)
• Birds of Prey (JMT, 1990)
• Little Motor People (JMT, 1993)
• 22 Years from Now (Level Green, 1997)
• I'll Always Remember (Level Green, 1998)
• Cause and Reflect (Level Green, 1998) - with Tim Berne
• The Truth and Reconciliation Show (I Town, 2002)
• Green (Winter & Winter, 2008) - with Marc Ducret and Jim Black
• Everything Is Alive (Winter & Winter, 2011) - with Bill Frisell, Jerome Harris and Kenny Wollesen

With Arcado String Trio

• Arcado (JMT, 1989)
• Behind the Myth (JMT, 1990)
• For Three Strings and Orchestra (JMT, 1992) with Kölner Rundfunk Orchester conducted by David de Villiers

With Miniature

• Miniature (JMT, 1989)
• I Can't Put My Finger on It (JMT, 1992)

As sideman

With Tim Berne

• Fulton Street Maul (CBS, 1986)
• Sanctified Dreams (Columbia, 1988)
• Tim Berne's Fractured Fairy Tales (JMT, 1989)
• Diminutive Mysteries (Mostly Hemphill) (JMT, 1993)

With Bill Frisell

• Lookout for Hope (ECM, 1987)
• Before We Were Born (Nonesuch, 1989)
• Where in the World (Nonesuch, 1991)
• Unspeakable (Nonesuch, 2004)
• Richter 858 (Songlines, 2005)
• History, Mystery (Nonesuch, 2008)
• Disfarmer (Nonesuch, 2009)
• Signs of Life: Music for 858 Quartet (Savoy, 2011)
• Big Sur (OKeh, 2013)

With Alex Cline

• The Lamp and the Star (ECM, 1987)

With Marilyn Crispell

• Santuerio (1993)

With Ti Ti Chickapea

• Change of Worlds (2000)
• Firestick (2002)

With Edmar Casteñeda

• Cuarto de Colores (2006)

With Buffalo Collision

• Duck (Screwgun, 2008)

With Donald Rubinstein

• Martin (Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Varese Sarabande, 1979)
• When She Kisses the Ship on His Arm (Bare Bones, 2009)

External links

• Official website
• Screwgun Records
• Hank Roberts at AllMusic