Saxophone giant Tim Berne is one forward-thinking renegade who started altering the landscape of jazz in the mid-1970s by wielding his horn and, in a show of then-unheard of DIY vision, launched his own record label. A late bloomer, Berne didn’t pick up a sax until his very late teens but upon his moving to Brooklyn in the mid-’70s (and where he resides to this day), the fledgling, wide-eyed musician was quickly engulfed in the loft jazz scene and it was there where he connected with his mentor, sax legend Julius Hemphill. In the ’80s, Berne enjoyed a stint on Columbia Records while achieving omnipresent force status in New York jazz, collaborating with the likes of avant-garde titans John Zorn, Bill Frisell and Joey Baron. Alas, while he was tight with downtown titan Zorn, Berne was relegated outsider to that vibrant scene but certainly doing his own thing on his own terms and that seems to be Berne’s raison d’être. Berne’s aesthetic is the epitome of independent. Since 1996, he’s owned and operated his own record label (Screwgun), books gigs and works without a publicist, while remaining busy as ever. Berne leads his own ensembles, supports longtime friends like Michael Formanek and Nels Cline, and plays with young innovators like guitarist Mary Halvorson, Ches Smith and Matt Mitchell.
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