American post-
classical composer
Jim O'Rourke has been a key component in the increasing overlap of the American and European experimental music
avant-garde, working in everything from
jazz and rock to
ambient and
electro-acoustic and building many a bridge in between. A Chicago native, his work has found equal luck with experimental jazz and
noise fanatics, chill room denizens, and bedroom experimentalists, and has had the resultant effect of cross-pollinating many otherwise isolated compositional communities. Dealing most often with prepared guitar in improvisational group settings,
O'Rourke has also released a fair bit of material as a soloist, although more often in the
electro-acoustic/
musique concrète vein. He's collaborated with such contemporary improv heroes as
Derek Bailey,
Henry Kaiser,
Eddie Prevost and
Keith Rowe (of English improv group
AMM),
KK Null,
David Jackman (
Organum), and early Krautrock experimentalists
Faust.
O'Rourke is also engaged in an ongoing exploration of
experimental rock as a member of
Gastr del Sol, who've released albums through the Teen Beat and Table of the Elements labels. Beginning with guitar at the age of 6, it wasn't until his collegiate career at DePaul University that
O'Rourke's interest in the less obvious possibilities of the instrument led him through the early catalogs of the post-
classical and
electro-acoustic traditions. While at DePaul,
O'Rourke completed much of the work that would constitute his first few releases. He also had the opportunity to meet up with noted improvisational guitarist
Derek Bailey, whose invitation to
O'Rourke to play at the British improv festival
Company Week led to further collaborative projects with
Bailey,
Henry Kaiser,
Eddie Prevost, and
David Jackman.
O'Rourke began working with
Dan Burke's
Illusion of Safety project in the early '90s, releasing three albums through Staalplaat and Tesco, before moving on to form experimental "rock" group
Gastr del Sol with
David Grubbs. Although focusing more on collaboration after a string of solo releases in the early '90s,
O'Rourke has shifted back to solo work of late, releasing Terminal Pharmacy through
John Zorn's Tzadik label and completing commissioned pieces for the Kronos Quartet and the Rova Saxophone Quartet. In 1995,
O'Rourke was invited by German
experimental electronic label Mille Plateaux (
Oval,
Steel,
Microstoria) to conduct an extended remix of their entire back catalog. He also produced and co-wrote a good portion of innovative German outfit
Faust's Table of the Elements release, Rien. Subsequent releases include 1997's acclaimed Bad Timing and its equally brilliant follow-up, 1999's Eureka. ~ Sean Cooper, All Music Guide
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