Eugene Chadbourne

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Eugene Chadbourne
Eugene Chadbourne.jpg
Chadbourne performing in 2003
Background information
Born (1954-01-04) January 4, 1954 (age 71)
Mount Vernon, New York, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)Musician and music critic
Instrument(s)Banjo, guitar
Years active1976–present
Website eugenechadbourne.com

Eugene Chadbourne (born January 4, 1954) [1] is an American banjoist, guitarist and music critic.

Contents

Life and career

Chadbourne in Aarhus, Denmark, 2015 Eugin-chadbourn.jpg
Chadbourne in Aarhus, Denmark, 2015

Chadbourne was born in Mount Vernon, New York, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. [1] He started playing guitar when he was 11 or 12 years old, inspired by the Beatles [2] and hoping to get the attention of girls. [3] Although he was drawn to Jimi Hendrix and played in a garage band, he found rock and pop music too conventional. He gravitated to the avant-garde jazz of Anthony Braxton and Derek Bailey. [2] Braxton persuaded Chadbourne to abandon his intention to enter journalism and instead pursue music. [3]

During the early 1970s, he lived in Canada to avoid military service in the Vietnam War. [2] [4] Returning to the United States, he moved to New York City in the mid-1970s and played free improvisation with Henry Kaiser and John Zorn. Around this time, he released his first album, Solo Acoustic Guitar. In the early 1980s, he led the avant-rock band Shockabilly [2] [3] [5] with Mark Kramer and David Licht. [6]

Chadbourne explored other genres, playing with a Cajun band and a Russian folk band at a festival in Winnipeg. He mixed country, Western, and improvisation in the band LSD C&W. [2] [3] For many years he was in a duo with Jimmy Carl Black, who played drums for Frank Zappa. He has also worked with Han Bennink, Fred Frith, Elliott Sharp, and Charles Tyler. [3]

A solo album, Songs (Intakt, 1993), featured politically oriented originals, such as "Hello Ceausescu", and covers, such as Nick Drake's "Thoughts of Mary Jane", Phil Ochs' "Knock on the Door", and Floyd Tillman's "This Cold War With You".

Chadbourne invented an instrument known as the electric rake by attaching an electric guitar pickup to a rake. [7] He played a duet of electric rake and classical piano with Bob Wiseman on Wiseman's 1991 album Presented by Lake Michigan Soda. He also played the instrument on a Sun Ra tribute album.

Discography

With Noël Akchoté

With Han Bennink and Toshinori Kondo

With Evan Johns

With Henry Kaiser

With John Zorn

Books

References

  1. 1 2 Hightower, Laura; DeRemer, Leigh Ann; Avery, Laura (2001). Contemporary musicians. Volume 30: profiles of the people in music. Detroit, Mich.: Gale Group. pp. 37–9. ISBN   978-1-4144-1313-6. OCLC   527366085.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Ankeny, Jason. "Eugene Chadbourne". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Yanow, Scott (2013). The Great Jazz Guitarists. San Francisco: Backbeat. p. 43. ISBN   978-1-61713-023-6.
  4. ↑ Kennedy, Gary W. (2001). "Chadbourne, Eugene". In Sadie, Stanley; Tyrrell, John (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN   978-1-56159-239-5.‎
  5. ↑ Mason, Stewart. "Shockabilly: Vietnam/Heaven > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  6. ↑ Green, Jim; Robbins, Ira; Gehr, Richard. "Shockabilly". Trouser Press . Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  7. ↑ "Welcome to the FREE STATE of Marginal Arts" (PDF). Marginalarts.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2014-09-17.
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