Tim Berne was born in Syracuse, New York in 1954. Twenty years later Berne encountered a saxophonist who was selling his alto, and bought it on impulse. “There was just something about the sound of the saxophone that got to me,” he says. Berne moved to New York in 1974 and began issuing his own albums on his own Empire label in 1979. Over the next five years he would record and distribute five albums under his own name which included such musicians as Ed Schuller, Olu Dara, Paul Motian, John Carter, Glenn Ferris and Bill Frisell. Following two recordings for the Italian Soul Note label, Berne recorded Fulton Street Maul and Sanctified Dreams for Columbia Records. In the late 1990s Berne founded Screwgun Records, which has released his own recordings.
Berne played in band such as: Bloodcount with Michael Formanek, Chris Speed, Jim Black, Marc Ducret; Caos Totale with Mark Dresser, Steve Swell, Bobby Previte, Herb Robertson, Marc Ducret, Django Bates; Big Satan with Tom Rainey, Marc Ducret; Hard Cell with Tom Rainey, Craig Taborn; Science Friction with Tom Rainey, Craig Taborn, Marc Ducret; Paraphrase with Tom Rainey, Drew Gress; Miniature with Joey Baron, Hank Roberts;Buffalo Collision with Hank Roberts, Ethan Iverson, Dave King and BBC Trio with Nels Cline, Jim Black. Beyond his recordings as a bandleader, Berne has recorded and/or performed with guitarist Bill Frisell, avant-garde composer/sax player John Zorn, violinist Mat Maneri, guitarist David Torn, cellist Hank Roberts, trumpet player Herb Robertson, the ARTE Quartett and as a member of the cooperative trio Miniature.
Tim Berne “Insomnia” consist of 2 tracks, “The Proposal” is 35.57 minutes long, “Open, Coma” is 29.55 minutes long, both are two contorted, intense, complex, multi-section compositions, Berne have strong taste for free jazz and improvisations. Some regarded Berne’s music as uncommercial. Well, some like it hot.
