While, in the last several years, the guitar is
considered “more in terms of its limitations than its
capabilities, BILL HORIST [explores] the guitar’s
continued presence as a vital and still challenging
form of musical expression.†(Willamette Week-May,
1998).
Since moving to Seattle in 1995, BILL HORIST has
established himself as a noted
improviser/composer/performer along the West Coast and
beyond. In the past decade, he has appeared on over
40 recordings and has performed almost 700 concerts in
Canada, Mexico, Europe , Japan and throughout the US.
Bill has performed and/or recorded with Bill Frisell,
Wayne Horvitz, KK Null, Matt Chamberlain, Trey
Gunn(King Crimson), Chris Cutler, Kawabata Makoto(Acid
Mothers Temple), William Hooker, Trey Spruance(Mr
Bungle/Secret Chiefs 3), Eugene Chadbourne , Tatsuya
Yoshida(Ruins), Shazaad Ismaily, Climax Golden Twins,
Haco, Illusion of Safety, Saadet Tuerkoez,
Planktonman(Nortec Collective), Jack Wright, Amy
Denio, Uchihashi Kazuhisa, Steve Fisk, Reggie
Watts(Maktub), Anla Courtis (Reynols), Luigi Archetti,
Michael White, Christoph Gallio, Eyvind Kang, Paul
Rucker, Lesli Dalaba, Paul Hoskin, Thomas Dimuzio,
Wally Shoup, Jessica Lurie, Mason Jones, Jeff Grienke,
and Tucker Martine as well as members of Earth, The
Boredoms and Larsen among others.
Horist has toured and recorded with a number of
his own bands including Nobodaddy, Phineas Gage,
Axolotl, UnFolkUs, Zahir, Tablet and Nervewheel. He
currently performs with Master Musicians of Bukkake,
Ghidra and the Paul Rucker Ensemble in addition to
several periodic collaborations.
As a solo artist, Bill’s improvised, prepared
guitar work is informed by Hans Reichel, Fred Frith,
and Henry Kaiser, but shows a unique style and
personality. He has received critical praise
internationally from periodicals including The Wire
and Alternative Press, and several of his recordings
have made critics’ year-end lists. Bill was featured
in the March 2007 issues of Guitar Player Magazine and
Earshot Jazz Magazine. In 2005 and 2006, he was
nominated for "Jazz Artist of the Year" (despite his
total inability to play jazz!) and "Guitarist of the
Year" respectively by the Seattle Weekly. He has
appeared at numerous festivals including
Taktlos(Zuerich), Spring Reverb(San Diego/Tijuana),
Big Sur Experimental Music Fest(Big Sur), Yamaguchi
University Festival(Yamaguchi) Mission Creek Music
Fest(San Francisco), Seattle Improvised Music Fest,
AntiMatter Fest(Vancouver) and Olympia Experimental
Music Fest. He was the recipient of the 2006 GAP
grant, 2005 Artist Trust Fellowship, the 1997 Jack Straw
Artist Assistance Program Grant and has done
several presentations and workshops at schools from
first grade to college-level, including the University
of Calgary, Seattle Art Institute, Martin Luther King
Elementary ( Seattle ), the Experience Music Project and
Big Picture School for at-risk youth.
Bill improvises and composes for film, dance and
theater as well. In the Fall 2002, he was composer in
residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts where he
developed a solo guitar score for University of
Calgary choreographer, Davida Monk's "Lyric". Bill
continues to work with Calgary's M-Body Dance company.
Additionally, Horist works as sideman for
recording and performing. He has worked with Kinski,
Jessica Lurie, Two Loons for Tea, Elizabeth Carpenter,
Mische Eddins, Paul Rucker, Rollerball, Sulpher, John
Schuller, Karl Stevens and Nancy Martin among others.
For more info, e-mail [email protected] .
SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY
FULL-LENGTH RECORDINGS
-Sleep Hammer- Bill Horist/Marron; Public Eyesore
(2006)
-Live at Radio Student Ljubljana - OvO/Bill Horist;
Friends and Relatives Records (2006)
-Northwest Music- Fabrizio Modonese Palumbo/Bill
Horist; Final Muzik (2006)
-Lyric/Suite- solo recordings; Accretions (2004)
-Strawberry Skinflint- Ghidra (Wally Shoup, Bill
Horist, Mike Peterson); Sol Disk (2003)
-Interstellar Chemistry- KK Null/Bill Horist; Beta
Lactam Ring Records (2002)
-Zahir- Lesli Dalaba, Bill Horist, Randall Dunn;
Endless Records (2002)
-KK Null/Bill Horist- split 10†clear vinyl; Torture
Music Records (2001)
-Songs from the Nerve Wheel- solo recordings; Unit
Circle Rekkids (2000)
-Continentes- Luigi Archetti, Uchihashi Kazuhisa, Bill
Horist; self-produced (1999)
-Black Helicopters- FIN live on KCMU; self-produced
(1998)
-UnFolkUs- eponymous CD; Unit Circle Rekkids (1998)
-Soylent Radio- solo and duet recordings; Unit Circle
Rekkids (1997)
-Phineas Gage Travelling Sideshow- eponymous CD;
self-produced (1997)
-Duh Evolution- NOBODADDY live at 10 Weston;
self-produced (1995)
-Guitometry- solo and ensemble recordings;
self-produced (1993)
Additionally, Bill Horist has appeared on over twenty releases.
