For the Record is a conversation series where we speak with all manner of music heads — DJs, music journos, indie label captains, record shop owners, listening bar kingpins, et al — about their stories + the music that makes them.

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Chris Corsano (b. 1975, USA) is a New York-based drummer who has been active at the intersections of collective improvisation, free jazz, avant-rock, and experimental music since the late 1990's. He's been the rim-batterer of choice for some of the greatest contemporary purveyors of "jazz" (Joe McPhee, Paul Flaherty, Mette Rasmussen, Zoh Amba) and "rock" (Sir Richard Bishop, Bill Orcutt, Jim O'Rourke), as well as artists beyond categorization (Björk for her Volta album and world tour, Michael Flower, Okkyung Lee). The Guardian has called him "one of the world's great drummers."

Music Mentions

  • Jimi Hendrix
  • Captain Beefheart
  • Minutemen
  • The Meters
  • George Hurley
  • Mike Watt

Performance dynamics through the years (17:50):

  • Ornette Coleman
  • John Coltrane
  • Cecil Taylor
  • Michael Ehlers
  • Eremite Records
  • Paul Flaherty
  • Randall Colbourne
  • TEST!

Q&A

  • Rolling Stones
  • Led Zeppelin
  • Androide

Discovering music today (29:30):

  • Band Camp
  • Zoh Amba
  • Farida Amadou

First album ever purchased (31:49):

  • “Greatest Hits” by Weird Al Yankovic

Most recent album purchased (32:56):

  • “sun lit starlings” by Marta Warelis

Noteworthy artists discovered in the past year (36:18):

  • Mabe Fratti
  • Earth Ball
  • Don Malfon
  • Gibrán Andrade

Desert Island Discs (43:58):

  • “Curtis/Live!” by Curtis Mayfield
  • “Live!” by TEST!
  • “Body and Soul” by Billie Holiday

Recommendations for future guests (48:36):

  • Ben Chesney
  • Farida Amadou