Bern Nix

Bern Nix
Bern Nix
	Bern Nix, Les Gallery Clemente Soto Velez, February 2005
Background information
Born	September 21, 1947; Toledo, Ohio, U.S.
Died	May 31, 2017 (aged 69); New York City, U.S.
Genres	Avant-garde jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician
Years active	1975–2017
Labels	Tompkins Square

Bern Nix (September 21, 1947 – May 31, 2017)^[1] was an American jazz guitarist. He is best known for recording and performing with Ornette Coleman from 1975 to 1987, notably with guitarist Charlie Ellerbee in Coleman's Prime Time group on recordings including Dancing in Your Head and In All Languages. Nix was voted among the top ten jazz guitarists in a poll by Down Beat magazine.^[2]^[when?]

Career

A native of Toledo, Ohio, Nix was introduced to music in childhood and began playing the guitar at eleven years old. He listened intently to jazz guitarists including Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Raney, Barney Kessel, and Charlie Christian. He taught guitar upon his arrival to New York City.^[when?] He attended the Berklee College of Music.^[when?]

Nix led a trio with bassist William Parker and drummer David Cappello from 1985 until his death in 2017. In 1993, the trio released the album Alarms and Excursions.^[3] Nix released the solo album Low Barometer on Tompkins Square Records in September 2006. His composition "Les is More" appears on Art and Money, an album released by 1687, Inc. in 2006. In 2013, the Bern Nix Quartet, featuring Francois Grillot, Reggie Sylvester, and Matt Lavelle, released Negative Capability.^[4]

Nix's song "The Fire Within" was featured on the soundtrack of the 2015 film Tangerine.^{[citation needed]}

Nix performed with James Chance and the Contortions and appeared on their 1981 album Live in New York. He also worked with Jayne Cortez, John Zorn, Marc Ribot, Elliott Sharp, Jemeel Moondoc, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Kip Hanrahan, and Lenore Von Stein.^{[citation needed]}