Bassist & composer Joshua Abrams has been in the thick of Chicago’s vibrant music scene for fifteen years, playing & recording as leader & sideman in projects across the genres. Since the release of his Eremite album Natural Information, selected by The Wire as one of the 50 notable records of 2010, Abrams has toured North America & Europe with a shifting line-up of musicians as ‘The Natural Information Society,’ & scored the music for the award-winning 2011 film the interrupters. His new Eremite album is Represencing.
In earlier times Abrams co-founded the “back porch minimalist” band Town & Country (Thrill Jockey/Box Media) & with Matana Roberts & Chad Taylor the trio Sticks & Stones (Thrill Jockety/482 Music). He has appeared on over 50 recordings including records by Fred Anderson, Hamid Drake & Bindu, Bonny “Prince” Billy, Nicole Mitchell Black Earth Ensemble and Black Earth Strings, Sam Prekop, Mike Reed’s Loose Assembly, Ernest Dawkins Chicago 12, Savath & Savalis, Prefuse 73, Rhys Chatham, Rob Mazurek, Tortoise, The Roots, Edith Frost, Mia Doi Todd, Matana Roberts, Diverse, Joan of Arc, Lorren Connors, David Grubbs, David Boykin, Chris Conelly, & the Cairo Gang. He has performed with Roscoe Mitchell, Bill Dixon, Von Freeman, Fred Anderson Trio, John Tchicai, The Exploding Star Orchestra, Henry Grimes, Axel Dorner, Fred Lonberg-holm, Peter Evans, Damo Suzuki, Wilbert de Joode, Jandek, Walter Wierbos, Tony Conrad, Bobby Broom, Sean Bergin, Nate Wooley, Craig Taborn, David Stakenas, Fred hopkins, Rhys Chatham, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Neil Michael Hagerty, Lin Halliday, Raymond Strid, Douglas Ewart, Toumani Diabate, The Chicago Underground Orchestra, Ron Dewar, Baby D, Kevin Drumm, Terry X, Frederick Lvunquist, The Roots, Jim O’Rourke, Kurt Vonnegut, & Earle Brown. When in chicago he plays weekly with Jeff Parker and John Herndon.