Jim Black

Jim Black is an American jazz drummer who has performed with Tim Berne and Dave Douglas, among others. He attended Berklee College of Music.

His own group, AlasNoAxis, includes Hilmar Jensson on electric guitar, Chris Speed on tenor saxophone and clarinet, and Skúli Sverrisson on electric bass.The music is in some ways closer to post-rock than jazz, concentrating on rhythmic shifts and ensemble texture rather than featured solos.Since 2000, the group has released several records on Winter & Winter.

The group Pachora, also including Black, Speed, and Sverrisson, and with Brad Shepik on tambura and electric saz, plays music that is similarly rhythmically diverse, but inspired by Balkan rhythms.

Jim participated as drummer 12 in the Boredoms 77 Boadrum performance which occurred on July 7, 2007, at the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park in Brooklyn, New York.

He is also one-third of the group BBC (Berne/Black/Cline) along with alto saxophonist Berne and Nels Cline of Wilco. The group released a critically acclaimed album called The Veil in 2011.

With AlasNoAxis

• AlasNoAxis (Winter & Winter, 2000)
• Splay (Winter & Winter, 2002)
• Habyor (Winter & Winter, 2004)
• Dogs of Great Indifference (Winter & Winter, 2006)
• Houseplant (Winter & Winter, 2009)
• Antiheroes (Winter & Winter, 2013)

With Jim Black Trio

• Somatic (Winter & Winter, 2011)
• Actuality (Winter & Winter, 2014)
• The Constant (Intakt Records, 2016)

With Malamute

• Malamute (Intakt Records, 2017)

With Human Feel

• Human Use (Human Use, 1989)
• Scatter (GM, 1991)
• Welcome to Malpesta (New World, 1994)
• Speak to It (Songlines, 1996)
• Galore (Skirl, 2007)
• Party Favor (independent, 2016)
• Gold (Intakt Records, 2019)

With Pachora

• Pachora (Knitting Factory Works, 1997)
• Unn (Knitting Factory Works, 1999)
• Ast (Knitting Factory Works, 2000)
• Astereotypical (Winter & Winter, 2003)

With BB&C

• The Veil (Cryptogramophone, 2011)

As sideman

With Tim Berne's Bloodcount

• Lowlife: The Paris Concert (JMT, 1995)
• Poisoned Minds: The Paris Concert (JMT, 1995)
• Memory Select: The Paris Concert (JMT, 1995)
• Unwound (Screwgun, 1996)
• Saturation Point (Screwgun, 1997)
• Discretion (Screwgun, 1998)
• Seconds (Screwgun, 2007)

With Endangered Blood

• Endangered Blod (Skirl Records, 2011)
• Work Your Magic (Skirl Records, 2013)
• Don't Freak Out (Skirl Records, 2018)

With Uri Caine

• Gustav Mahler in Toblach (Winter & Winter, 1999)
• Gustav Mahler: Dark Flame (Winter & Winter, 2003)
• Uri Caine Ensemble Plays Mozart (Winter & Winter, 2006)
• The Othello Syndrome (Winter & Winter, 2009)
• Rhapsody in Blue (Winter & Winter, 2013)

With Kris Davis

• Save Your Breath (Clean Feed, 2015)

With Dave Douglas

• The Tiny Bell Trio (Songlines, 1994)
• Constellations (Hat Hut, 1995)
• Live in Europe (Arabesque, 1997)
• Songs for Wandering Souls (Winter & Winter, 1999)

With Ben Monder

• Dust (Arabesque, 1997)
• Excavation (Arabesque, 2000)

With Hank Roberts

• Green (Winter & Winter, 2008)

With Jamie Saft

• Ragged Jack (Avant, 1997)
• Sovlanut (Tzadik, 2000)

With Carlos Bica & Azul

• Azul (Polygram/ Emarcy, 1996)
• Twist (Enja, 1999)
• Look What They've Done to My Song (Enja, 2003)
• Believer (Enja, 2006)
• Things About (Clean Feed, 2011)
• More Than This (Clean Feed, 2017)

Other albums

• One Great Day (hatOLOGY, 1997) w/ Ellery Eskelin & Andrea Parkins
• "Kulak, 29 & 30" 1998 w/ Ellery Eskelin & Andrea Parkins
• Yeah No w/ Chris Speed: saxophones, Skúli Sverrisson: bass, Cuong Vu: trumpet
• Tyft (Songlines Recordings, 2002) w/ Hilmar Jensson: guitar, Andrew D'Angelo: saxophones
• ditty blei (Songlines Recordings, 2004) w/ Hilmar Jensson: guitars, ((Andrew D'Angelo)):alto sax, bass clarinet, ((Trevor Dunn)): acoustic bass, ((Herb Robertson)): trumpet
• Big Air (Babel) w/ Steve Buckley: saxophones, Chris Batchelor: trumpet, Oren Marshall: tuba, Myra Melford: piano, harmonium
• Mischief & Mayhem w/ Jenny Scheinman: violin, Nels Cline: guitar, Todd Sickafoose: bass
• Nature of the Beast (Enja, 1997) w/Michael Formanek: bass, Tim Berne: alto saxophone & Chris Speed: clarinet
• White & Blue (Buzz-Rec., 1999) w/Natsuki Tamura: trimpet, Aaron Alexander: drums, percussion
• Seen from Above (Arabesque, 2000) Donny McCaslin: tenor saxophone w/ Ben Monder: guitar, Scott Colley: bass
• New Sound Plaza (De Werf, 2012) w/Kris Defoort: piano, Mark Turner: tenor saxophone, Nicolas Thys: double bass & electric bass