Ches Smith
Encyclopedia
Ches Smith is an American
musician whose primary instruments are drums
, percussion
, and vibraphone
. He writes and performs music in a wide variety of contexts, including solo percussion, experimental rock bands, and small and large jazz ensembles.
Smith has performed with Good For Cows, Marc Ribot
, Mr. Bungle
, Secret Chiefs 3
, Xiu Xiu
, Trevor Dunn
's Trio-Convulsant, Carla Bozulich
, Beat Circus
, Sean Hayes
, Ben Goldberg, 7 Year Rabbit Cycle, Ara Anderson and Fred Frith
.
He has also recorded and performed a full-length album of his own solo percussion pieces entitled Congs For Brums (2006). In 2010 he released Congs for Brums 'Noise to Men'.
with Moe! Staiano
with Moe! Staiano's Moe!kestra!
with Graham Connah
with Good For Cows
with Theory Of Ruin
with Mitch Marcus Quintet
with Lou Harrison
with John Zorn
with Xiu Xiu
with Secret Chiefs 3
with Trevor Dunn
's Trio-Convulsant
with Aaron Novik
with Redressers
with Carla Bozulich
with Will Bernard Trio
with Fever Pitch
with Sean Hayes
with Todd Sickafoose
with Ben Goldberg Quintet
with 7 Year Rabbit Cycle
with Fred Frith
, Darren Johnston, Devin Hoff and Larry Ochs
with Marc Ribot
's Ceramic Dog
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician whose primary instruments are drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, and vibraphone
Vibraphone
The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
. He writes and performs music in a wide variety of contexts, including solo percussion, experimental rock bands, and small and large jazz ensembles.
Smith has performed with Good For Cows, Marc Ribot
Marc Ribot
Marc Ribot born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer.His own work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and composer John Zorn.-Biography:Ribot was...
, Mr. Bungle
Mr. Bungle
Mr. Bungle was an experimental band from Northern California. The band was formed in 1985 while the members were still in high school and was named after a children's educational film. Mr. Bungle released four demo tapes in the mid to late 1980s before being signed to Warner Bros. Records and...
, Secret Chiefs 3
Secret Chiefs 3
Secret Chiefs 3 is an instrumental rock group led by guitarist/composer Trey Spruance . Their studio recordings and tours have featured different line-ups, as the group performs a wide range of musical styles including surf rock, Persian, Arab, Indian, death metal, film music, electronic music,...
, Xiu Xiu
Xiu Xiu
Xiu Xiu is an American avant-garde group originally from San Jose, California. The band is the brainchild of singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart, who has been its only constant member since its inception in 2002. His current bandmate is Angela Seo...
, Trevor Dunn
Trevor Dunn
Trevor Roy Dunn is an American composer, bass guitarist and double bassist.Dunn came to prominence in the 1990s with the experimental band Mr. Bungle. He has since worked in an array of musical styles, notably with singer and Mr...
's Trio-Convulsant, Carla Bozulich
Carla Bozulich
Carla Bozulich is an American musician based in Los Angeles, known for her work as the lead singer, lyricist and founder of both The Geraldine Fibbers and and as a founding member of Ethyl Meatplow. Her 2006 album, Evangelista, was released by Constellation Records, that label's first release by a...
, Beat Circus
Beat Circus
Beat Circus is a band from Boston, Massachusetts fronted by multi-instrumentalist / singer-songwriter Brian Carpenter, who has been its only constant member since its inception.-Musical style:...
, Sean Hayes
Sean Hayes (musician)
Sean Padrick Hayes is an American singer-songwriter.Hayes is a native of New York City, but raised in North Carolina. He began playing traditional American and Irish music with a band called the Boys of Bluehill...
, Ben Goldberg, 7 Year Rabbit Cycle, Ara Anderson and Fred Frith
Fred Frith
Fred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
.
He has also recorded and performed a full-length album of his own solo percussion pieces entitled Congs For Brums (2006). In 2010 he released Congs for Brums 'Noise to Men'.
Selected discography
Solo- 2006 – Congs For Brums
- 2010 – Noise for Men
with Moe! Staiano
- 2001 – The Lateness of Yearly Presentations
with Moe! Staiano's Moe!kestra!
- 2006 – An Inescapable Siren Within Earshot Distance Therein and Other Whereabouts
- 2007 - Two Rooms of Uranium Inside 83 Markers
with Graham Connah
- 2001 – The Only Song We Know
with Good For Cows
Good For Cows
Good For Cows is an experimental jazz band from Oakland, USA. Their line-up consists of Xiu Xiu's current drummer Ches Smith and former Xiu Xiu bassist Devin Hoff.- Beginning :...
- 2001 – Good for Cows
- 2003 – Cows Less Than or Equal To
- 2004 – Bebop Fantasy
- 2008 – 10th Concert Anniversary
- 2010 – Audumla
with Theory Of Ruin
- 2002 – Counter-Culture Nosebleed
- 2003 – Frontline Posterchild
with Mitch Marcus Quintet
- 2002 – Entropious
with Lou Harrison
Lou Harrison
Lou Silver Harrison was an American composer. He was a student of Henry Cowell, Arnold Schoenberg, and K. P. H. Notoprojo Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 – February 2, 2003) was an American composer. He was a student of Henry Cowell, Arnold Schoenberg, and K. P. H. Notoprojo Lou Silver Harrison...
- 2003 – Drums Along the Pacific
with John Zorn
John Zorn
John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
- 2003 – Voices in the WildernessVoices in the WildernessMasada Anniversary Edition Volume 2: Voices in the Wilderness is the second album in a series of five releases celebrating the 10th anniversary of John Zorn's Masada songbook project....
with Xiu Xiu
Xiu Xiu
Xiu Xiu is an American avant-garde group originally from San Jose, California. The band is the brainchild of singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart, who has been its only constant member since its inception in 2002. His current bandmate is Angela Seo...
- 2008 - "Women as Lovers"
- 2007 - "Remixed and Covered" as Good for Cows
- 2005 - "La Foret"
- 2003 – A Promise
- 2002 - "Knife Play" with Greg Saunier
with Secret Chiefs 3
Secret Chiefs 3
Secret Chiefs 3 is an instrumental rock group led by guitarist/composer Trey Spruance . Their studio recordings and tours have featured different line-ups, as the group performs a wide range of musical styles including surf rock, Persian, Arab, Indian, death metal, film music, electronic music,...
- 2004 – Book of HorizonsBook of Horizons-Personnel:* Trey Spruance — guitars , keyboards , percussion , santur, rabab, banjo, saz, sheng, synthesizer, sampler, soundscape, Foley sound effects, electroacoustic treatment, vocals, producer, engineer* Mike...
- 2008 – Xaphan: Book of Angels Volume 9Xaphan: Book of Angels Volume 9-External links:*[ Xaphan: Book of Angels Volume 9] at Allmusic...
with Trevor Dunn
Trevor Dunn
Trevor Roy Dunn is an American composer, bass guitarist and double bassist.Dunn came to prominence in the 1990s with the experimental band Mr. Bungle. He has since worked in an array of musical styles, notably with singer and Mr...
's Trio-Convulsant
- 2004 – Sister Phantom Owl Fish
with Aaron Novik
- 2004 – Gubbish: Notations in Tonations
- 2006 - Kipple: "Flashes of Irrational Happiness"
with Redressers
- 2004 – To Each According...
with Carla Bozulich
Carla Bozulich
Carla Bozulich is an American musician based in Los Angeles, known for her work as the lead singer, lyricist and founder of both The Geraldine Fibbers and and as a founding member of Ethyl Meatplow. Her 2006 album, Evangelista, was released by Constellation Records, that label's first release by a...
- 2004 – I'm Gonna Stop Killing
with Will Bernard Trio
Will Bernard
Will Bernard is a guitarist and band leader from the San Francisco Bay Area, now living in Brooklyn, New York. He has led the Will Bernard Band, Will Bernard Trio, Will Bernard 4-tet, and Motherbug....
- 2005 – Directions to My House
with Fever Pitch
- 2005 – Just Drums 2 Project
with Sean Hayes
- 2006 – Big Black Hole and the Little Baby Star
with Todd Sickafoose
- 2006 – Blood Orange
with Ben Goldberg Quintet
- 2006 – The Door, the Hat, the Chair, the Fact
with 7 Year Rabbit Cycle
- 2006 – Ache Horns
with Fred Frith
Fred Frith
Fred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, Darren Johnston, Devin Hoff and Larry Ochs
Larry Ochs (musician)
Larry Ochs is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.Ochs studied trumpet briefly but concentrated on tenor and sopranino saxophones. He worked as a record producer and founded his own label, Metalanguage Records, in 1978, in addition to operating the Twelve Stars studio in California...
- 2007 – Reason to Move
with Marc Ribot
Marc Ribot
Marc Ribot born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer.His own work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and composer John Zorn.-Biography:Ribot was...
's Ceramic Dog
- 2008 - Party IntellectualsParty IntellectualsParty Intellectuals is the debut album by jazz fusion trio Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog. It was produced by Joel Hamilton and released June 24, 2008 on Pi Recordings.-Reception:...