MARC RIBOT
(Booking in North America)
projects:
Marc Ribot (Solo)
Marc Ribot - guitar, vocals
Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog (Noise Rock Trio)
Marc Ribot - guitar/vocals, Shahzad Ismaily - bass, Ches Smith - drums
On the band’s 5th studio release, Connection, Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog have pushed their long-brewing tension between traditional pop songcraft and avantgarde improvisational music to the breaking point, bridging their customary genre-agnostic approach with elements of glam boogie, minimalist disco, psychedelic boogaloo, garage-punk-against-the-machine agitprop, and so much more.
Marc Ribot: The Jazz-Bins (Soul-Jazz Organ Trio)
Marc Ribot - guitar, Greg Lewis - Hammond b3 organ, Joe Dyson - drums
Marc Ribot’s four months with jazz organ legend Brother Jack McDuff were his first ever with an internationally touring artist. Their 1979 itinerary included Ribot’s first concerts in Europe, and his only to date in Gary, Indiana and Rochester, NY. Although the two never recorded together (due to artistic differences that became apparent in Ribot’s later work...Brother Jack reportedly spent much of their stage time fixing Ribot with what sidemusicians referred to as his “death ray”), Ribot never lost his affection for McDuff’s music and the Hammond organ dominated Soul Jazz scene from which it emerged. Says Ribot: “McDuff's US audiences—the so-called ‘Chitlin Circuit— were just the hippest in the world: sophisticated about the music, definitely…but also demanding the deepest soul while rewarding restraint in its expression. What this brought out in the musicians was every bit as intense as the music taking shape at CBGBs at the time. In fact, I always felt the two scenes had something in common, and I’ve been trying to express exactly what ever since."
Marc Ribot’s Songs of Resistance
Marc Ribot - guitar/vocals, Shahzad Ismaily - bass, drums, guitar, harmonium
“Every movement which has ever won anything has had songs,” says accomplished New York City guitarist, Marc Ribot. "The songs in this collection are what I wish I’d been able to hear or sing at the demostrations and benefits I’ve attended since Donald Trump’s election. Through them, I've tried to channel some of the deep rivers of song from movements past into something that may be useful now. A few tunes are arrangements of US Civil Rights (We Are Soldiers In The Army, We'll Never Turn Back) and WWII European resistance songs (Bella Ciao, Fischia Il Vento). One is a Mexican romantic pop ballad originally written as a political attack (Rata de dos Patas). Others are my own tunes based on or inspired by these."
A studio album released September 14, 2018 on ANTI- Records, Ribot set out to assemble a set of songs that spoke to this political moment with appropriate ambition, passion, and fury. The eleven songs on the record features a wide range of guest vocalists, including Tom Waits, Steve Earle, Meshell Ndegeocello, Justin Vivian Bond, Fay Victor, Sam Amidon, and Ohene Cornelius, Tift Merritt, Domenica Fossati, Syd Straw, with proceeds benefitting grassroots advocacy organization Indvisible Project.
Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos (SPECIAL PROJECT)
Marc Ribot - guitar, Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez - drums, Anthony Coleman - keys, Brad Jones - bass, EJ Rodriguez - percussion
One of the ultimate New York City party bands, Marc Ribot Y Los Cubanos Postizos (aka “The Prosthetic Cubans”) became a must-see attraction in the late 1990s, with its feverishly cooking shows built around arrangements of Cuban bandleader Arsenio Rodriguez – innovator of the son montuno, and two critically acclaimed albums released on Atlantic Records. Reformed by popular demand with the addition of Cuban’s own Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez on drums and original members Anthony Coleman (keys), Brad Jones (bass) and EJ Rodriquez (perc), 2011 had the band once again in front of ecstatic audiences from such stages as the Montreal Jazz Festival, Fuji Rock Festival and Ellnora Guitar Festival at the Krannert Center of Performing Arts.
Marc Ribot Quartet, “Hurry Red Telephone” (NEW PROJECT)
Marc Ribot - guitar, Chad Tayler - drums, Ava Mendoza - guitar, Sebastien Steinberg - bass
Marc Ribot’s Spiritual Unity worked together for several years in the early 00s, continuing their Albert Ayler-tinged trajectory as Grimes Taylor Ribot Trio after the death of trumpet player Roy Campbell Jr, and until Mr. Grimes’ failing health forced an end to their legendary performances in 2018. “Those gigs with Henry were the best music I’ve ever played on... or heard…” said Mr. Ribot of their last run of Trio gigs. Ribot and drummer Chad Taylor had been looking for a format to continue this work ever since. With “Hurry Red Telephone” (the title is a quote from the Richard Siken poem, “Several Tremendous"), they’ve found it.
Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid (LIVE SCORE FILM PROJECT)
Marc Ribot - solo guitar
Commissioned and premiered in Jan 2010 by the NY Guitar Festival at Merkin Hall. Marc Ribot’s delicate and at times haunting solo guitar score contemporizes this classic Chaplin film to a story relevant to the economic and social conditions following the housing market crash of 2008 (which occurred shortly before the commissioning of this work).
Aelita: Queen of Mars (LIVE SCORE FILM PROJECT)
Marc Ribot - solo guitar
Said to be the first full-length science fiction movie ever made, this influential film about space travel by the Soviet filmmaker Yakov Protazanov is re-imagined by avant guitarist Marc Ribot with a new score premiered at London’s Meltdown Festival, Royal Festival Hall and recorded live and released on the composer’s album Shoe String Sympnonettes for the Tzadik’s Film Series. In 2016, Marc re-worked his score for solo guitar which premiered at the Museum of Modern Art in Medillin, Colombia.
TOUR:
2025 - Available upon request
2026 - Available upon request
BIO:
Enigmatic guitarist Marc Ribot has released 6 very diverse solo guitar albums: (including John Zorn’s Book of Heads, Plays the Works of Frantz Casseus, Saints, Don’t Blame Me, Exercises in Futility) and 2010's, Silent Movies (Pi Recordings) has been described as a "down-in-mouth-near master piece" by the Village Voice and has landed on several Best of 2010 lists including the LA Times and critical praise across the board. His live solo performances are unpredictable events which may draw on all of these or none, creating a sonic matrix of memory, free improvisation, zeitgeist, extra-terrestrial radio signals, and much more...always leaving the listener on the edge of their seats.
“In the hear-a-pin-drop setting of Cafe Oto, Ribot's intense, heartfelt commitment invited not only the closest of listening but also allowed scrutiny of his technical approach, offering a minor spectacle as well as a rare, transportative musical experience.” – London Jazz News, review of his 2015 OTO residency
"...he can sit down with just his guitar and simultaneously confound you with technique, beauty, and surprise." - John Garratt and Will Layman, PopMatters Picks: The Best Music of 2010 for the album "Silent Movies."
"In discussing the guitarist Marc Ribot, it's more efficient to wonder what he hasn't done then to list what he has actually accomplished. Across four decades, Ribot's career has spanned smooth soul and gnarled blues, blaring no wave and elegant film scores, solo composer roles and Tom Waits supporting work; that's only a sliver of his prolificacy...Though his solo range is only slightly less boundless than his overall discography, he favors quiet, intricate improvisations around standards that you will recognize in flashes but will rarely sound repetitive of their sources. Ribot is a master of timing, tone, and taste, with a bank of experiences so vast and varied he can navigate his way through any song or situation with panache. Consider this visit a master lesson." —Grayson Haver Currin, indyweek.com