David M. Torn (born May 26, 1953) is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is known for combining electronic and acoustic instruments and for his use of looping.

Background

Torn has contributed to recordings by artists as diverse as David Bowie, k.d. lang, John Legend, Madonna, Tori Amos, Bill Bruford, Tony Levin, Mick Karn, David Sylvian, Chocolate Genius, Michael Shrieve, Steve Roach, Patrick O'Hearn, Andy Rinehart, Matt Chamberlain, Meshell Ndegeocello, Tim Berne, and Don Cherry.

In addition to his composition work, Torn's music has been featured in a wide variety of films, including Friday Night Lights, Velvet Goldmine, Adaptation, The Big Lebowski, The Departed, Fur, The Hoax, Kalifornia, Traffic, Reversal of Fortune, Tibet, and Three Kings. He studied with Leonard Bernstein (within the "Music for Young Composers" series), as well as with guitarists John Abercrombie, Pat Martino, Paul Weiss, and Arthur Basile. Torn works out of his personal studios, known as Cell Labs; occasionally, he uses the pseudonym "splattercell."

The New York Times described Torn's 2015 solo release, Only Sky, as "[an abstract landscape that is] both immersive and deftly disorienting."

Biography

Torn was born in Amityville, New York,

In 2006, Torn's film score for Believe in Me won the Best Score-award at the Jackson Hole Film Festival. In 2003, his score for the film The Order was nominated for a Grammy Award.

alt=David_Torn|thumb|Torn in 2008

In 2007, Torn released Prezens with Tim Berne. Jazzwise called the album "a vibrating collage full of shimmering sonic shapes, a dark, urban electronic soundscape–a potent mix of jazz, free-form rock and technology that is both demanding and rewarding."

In 2013, Torn performed as a guitarist on David Bowie's penultimate album, The Next Day—his third collaboration with the artist. In the same year, Torn had a solo guitar performance and talk at TEDx Caltech 2013: The Brain. The presentation examined his brain tumor diagnosis and recovery.

Instruments and effects

As a session artist, composer, and producer, David Torn has experimented with many effects boxes, amplifiers, and instruments, and he has spoken with amplifier designers and pedal builders about their craft. In an interview with Premier Guitar magazine following the release of his solo album Only Sky, he shared an extensive list of the instruments and effects he uses. He plays a Ronin Mirari guitar with Foilbucker pickups and also lists a large number of amplifiers such as a Fryette Aether amplifier, and many guitar effects pedals including the TC Electronic Classic TC XII Phaser, Catalinbread Antichthon, DigiTech Whammy, and the Neunaber Stereo Wet Reverb.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

  • Best Laid Plans with Geoffrey Gordon (ECM, 1985)
  • Cloud About Mercury (ECM, 1987)
  • Door X (Windham Hill, 1990)
  • Polytown with Mick Karn & Terry Bozzio (, 1994)
  • Tripping: Over: God (CMP, 1995)
  • What Means Solid, Traveller? (CMP, 1996)
  • Gtr Oblq with Vernon Reid & Elliott Sharp (Knitting Factory, 1998)
  • Ah - Remikses as Splattercell (CellDivision, 2000)
  • Oah as Splattercell (CellDivision, 2000)
  • Prezens with Tim Berne, Craig Taborn & Tom Rainey (ECM, 2007)
  • Levin Torn White with Tony Levin & Alan White (Lazy Bones, 2011)
  • Only Sky (ECM, 2015)
  • Sun of Goldfinger with Tim Berne & Ches Smith (ECM, 2019)
  • Fur/Torn (Screwgun, 2020)

With Everyman Band

  • Everyman Band (ECM, 1982)
  • Without Warning (ECM, 1985)

As sideman

With Bruford Levin Upper Extremities

  • Bruford Levin Upper Extremities (Papa Bear, 1998)
  • B.L.U.E. Nights (Papa Bear, 2000)

With David Bowie

  • Heathen (Columbia/ISO, 2002)
  • Reality (Columbia/ISO, 2003)
  • The Next Day (Columbia/ISO, 2013)

With Mark Isham

  • Castalia (Virgin, 1988)
  • Tibet (Windham Hill, 1989)
  • Mark Isham (Virgin, 1990)
  • Reversal of Fortune (Milan, 1991)
  • Blue Sun (Columbia, 1995)

With Patrick O'Hearn

  • Trust (Deep Cave, 1995)
  • Metaphor (Deep Cave, 1996)
  • So Flows the Current (Patrickohearn.com, 2001)

With Ryuichi Sakamoto

  • Discord (Gut for Life, 1997)
  • Cinemage (Sony, 1999)
  • Moto.tronic (Sony, 2003)

With others

  • Tori Amos, Scarlet's Walk (Epic, 2002)
  • Laurie Anderson, Life on a String (Nonesuch, 2001)
  • David Baerwald, David Baerwald Presents Hurlyburly (Lakeshore, 1999)
  • Cheryl Bentyne, Something Cool (Columbia, 1992)
  • Tim Berne, Incidentals (ECM, 2017)
  • Tim Berne, The Sevens (New World/CounterCurrents, 2002)
  • Jack Bruce, Somethin Els (Esoteri, 2014)
  • Chocolate Genius, Black Music (V2, 1998)
  • Jan Garbarek, It's OK to Listen to the Gray Voice (ECM, 1985)
  • Gongzilla, Thrive (Lolo, 1996)
  • Happy Rhodes, Building the Colossus (Aural Gratification, 1994)
  • Jansen / Barbieri / Karn, Beginning to Melt: Medium Series Volume 1 (Medium, 1993)
  • Steve Jansen & Richard Barbieri, Stone to Flesh (Medium, 1995)
  • Jarboe, The Men Album (Atavistic, 2005)
  • Mick Karn, Bestial Cluster (CMP, 1993)
  • Mick Karn, The Tooth Mother (CMP, 1995)
  • Manu Katché, Playground, (ECM, 2007)
  • Kaki King, Legs to Make Us Longer (Red Ink, 2004)
  • k.d. lang, Drag (Warner Bros., 1997)
  • John Legend, Once Again (Columbia/Sony, 2006)
  • Tony Levin, Waters of Eden (Narada/Virgin, 2000)
  • Tony Levin, "Bungie Bass" on Bringing It Down to the Bass (Flatiron, 2024)
  • Donna Lewis, Brand New Day (Palmetto, 2015)
  • Mark Nauseef, Sura (CMP, 1983)
  • Mark Nauseef & Miroslav Tadic, The Snake Music (CMP, 1994)
  • Meshell Ndegeocello, Bitter (Maverick, 1999)
  • The Pineapple Thief, Dissolution (Kscope, 2018)
  • Robert Rich, Seven Veils (Hearts of Space, 1998)
  • Andy Rinehart, Jason's Chord (CMP, 1993)
  • Douglas September, Ten Bulls (Gold Circle, 1998)
  • Michael Shrieve, The Leaving Time (Novus/RCA 1988)
  • Michael Shrieve, Stiletto (Novus/RCA/BMG 1989)
  • David Sylvian, Secrets of the Beehive (Virgin, 1987), with prev. unreleased track on compilation Everything and Nothing (Virgin, 2000)
  • Michael Whalen, Mysterious Ways (Koch, 2001)
  • David Wilcox, Blaze (What Are? 2014)
  • Sonar, Three Movements (7d Media, 2023)

Film and television

As musician

  • A Dangerous Woman (1998)
  • A Knight's Tale (2001)
  • Adaptation (2002)
  • Heist (2001)
  • Howl (2010)
  • Kalifornia (1993)
  • March of the Penguins (2005)
  • No Country for Old Men (2007)
  • Rosewater (2015)
  • S1M0NE (2003)
  • Smoke Signals (1998)
  • Snake Eyes (1998)
  • Storyville (1992)
  • The Big Lebowski (1998)
  • The Craft (film) (1996)
  • The Departed (2006)
  • The Fifth Estate (film) (2013)
  • The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)
  • The Order (2003)
  • The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (2012)
  • Three Kings (1999)
  • Traffic (2000)
  • Twilight (2008)
  • Velvet Goldmine (1998)
  • Wonderstruck (2017)

As composer

  • Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2007), additional music
  • Believe in Me (2006)
  • Drumline: A New Beat (2014)
  • Everything Must Go (2011)
  • Friday Night Lights (2004)
  • Glee – The Power of Madonna (2010), "What It Feels Like for a Girl", uncredited
  • Jesus Henry Christ (2011)
  • Lars and the Real Girl (2007)
  • Love Monkey (2006)
  • Saint John of Las Vegas (2009)
  • StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm (2013)
  • Teenage Paparazzo (2010)
  • That Awkward Moment (2014)
  • The Beatles: Eight Days a Week (2016)
  • The Wackness (2008)

References

Further reading

  • Official site
  • short film portrait on David Torn and his work with ECM Records (2020), shot in his Bearsville studio in 2019
  • David Torn interview with Anil Prasad of Innerviews (1990)
  • David Torn interview Anil Prasad of Innerviews (1995)
  • David Torn interview Anil Prasad of Innerviews (2001)
  • David Torn interview Anil Prasad of Innerviews (2012)
  • Electronic Musician profile (2001)
  • Review of prezens at JazzChicago.net