Nate Wooley

Wooley had started out in the Sangha Trio, bopping with Eric Warren on bass and Charlie Doggett on drums, documented on Frantically Frantically Being At Peace (Slippery Slope, 1997).

The live Seven Storey Mountain (september 2007) debuted a trio with David Grubbs (Gastr Del Sol, Bastro, Squirrel Bait) on harmonium and Paul Lytton on percussion that explored tape manipulation and droning music, an experiment repeated on The Seven Storey Mountain II (december 2009) with Chris Corsano and Spencer Yeh.

Tenterhooks (september 2003) collects improvisations with saxophonist Jack Wright, contrabassist Ben Wright and drummer Mike Pride.

The Blue Collar were un trio with trombonist Steve Swell and percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani documented on Is An Apparition (september 2003).

Wooley seemed to meditate on the techniques he had so far assimilated in the 51-minute piece of Wrong Shape To Be A Storyteller (august 2004).

The Duchess Of Oysterville (june 2005) and The Duchess Is Dead Long Live The Duchess (?) contain duets with guitarist Chris Forsyth. Silo (august 2005) was a collaboration with cellist Audrey Chen and fellow trumpeter Leonel Kaplan. Trio (2007) featured percussionist Tim Barnes and bassist Jason Roebke. Crackleknob (november 2006) was a trio with guitarist Mary Halvorson and bassist Reuben Radding.

He also played on Transit (march 2001) and Quadrologues (january 2007) credited to Transit: drummer Jeff Arnal, saxophonist Seth Misterka and bassist Reuben Radding.

Nate Wooley also formed Melee with Graveyards' rhythm section (drummer Ben Hall and cellist Hans Buetow), a trio documented on limited-edition recordings such as Newest Ruins (2006) and Pax Spray (2006). Cloud Atlas Quartet (2008) added guitarist Joe Morris to the trio.

Rift (2007) was a trio with Ryan Jewell on percussion and electronics and Reuben Raddingon on bass.

Throw Down Your Hammer And Sing (october 2007) was a trio with cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and bassist Jason Roebke.

Paul Lytton & Nate Wooley (2008) and the live Creak Above 33 (april 2009) were duets with Paul Lytton.

Tooth And Nail (august 2008) was a duo with guitarist Joe Morris.

High Society (2011) was a collaboration with fellow trumpeter Peter Evans.

The solo Trumpet / Amplifier (2010) collects Trumpet (august 2007) and and Amplifier (april 2009).

Scowl (october 2008) was a quartet with pianist Scott Looney, bassist Damon Smith and drummer Weasel Walter.

The trio of Joe Morris (guitar), Agusti Fernandez (piano) and Nate Wooley (trumpet) recorded the seven lenghty improvisations of From The Discreet To The Particula (july 2011).

The Almond (april 2010 - Pogues, 2011) contains a 70-minute "solo" of overdubbed pure-pitched trumpet. Wooley carefully avoided extended techniques but each note was a scientific accumulation of clones (different mutes, tunings, with different microphones and in different rooms), ultimately sounding like ambient music for a droning synthesizer inspired by LaMonte Young. About half-way the piece picks up steam like a rising tsunami, slowly acquiring the timbral quality of an organ, and then suddenly decays to a quieter tone, all the time emanating an eerie sort of "vocal" echo. This in turn mutates into a thinner timbre which marks the beginning of another crescendo towards the magniloquent finale in which the sound has finally become just a psalm-like human voice. The metamorphoses of the second half are simply breathtaking.

The Nate Wooley Quintet consists of Wooley, Josh Sinton (bass clarinet and bari sax), Matt Moran (vibraphone), Eivind Opsvik (bass) and Harris Eisenstadt (drums) on Hands Together (september 2010). Their follow-up, Dance to The Early Music (Clean Feed, 2015), was mainly devoted to Wynton Marsalis' covers.

8 Syllables (Peira, 2011) was a solo trumpet album by Nate Wooley containing just one 50-minute piece, followed by the 48-minute 9 Syllables (october 2012).

The trio of Bruno Duplant (on electroacoustic device and percussion), Julien Heraud (on alto sax) and Nate Wooley (on trumpet) recorded the three lenghty pieces of Movement And Immobility (may 2012).

Paul Lytton & Nate Wooley, with the collaboration of Ikue Mori and Ken Vandermark recorded live the double-disc The Nows (2012).

Six Feet Under (november 2009) was a collaboration with Christian Weber and Paul Lytton.

The split album Instrumentals Vol 1 (Dead CEO, 2011) contains home recordings: Peter Evans' Natural Light (2010) and Nate Wooley's An Hour Of Continuous Music For Walter Marchetti (2010)

Stem (2012) was a collaboration with the RED Trio of Hernani Faustino, Gabriel Ferrandini and Rodrigo Pinheiro.

(Sit In) The Throne of Friendship (december 2012) features Nate Wooley (trumpet), Josh Sinton (bass clarinet & baritone sax), Matt Moran (vibraphone), Eivind Opsvik (double bass), Dan Peck (tuba) and Harris Eisenstadt (drums).

The quartet NCAT (2013) consisted of Nate Wooley (trumpet and amplifier), Spencer Yeh (violin and voice), Audrey Chen (cello, voice and electronics) and Todd Carter (piano and electronics).

The double-disc Seven Storey Mountain III and IV contains two colossal live jams recorded in march 2011 and in june 2013 by Spencer Yeh (amplified violin), David Grubbs (electric guitar), Chris Corsano and Paul Lytton (drums), Matt Moran and Chris Dingman (vibraphone), Ben Vida (electronics), Ryan Sawyer (drums), Chris McIntyre, Jen Baker and Will Lang (trombone), Gareth Flowers (piccolo trumpet) and Tim Leopold and Chris Dimeglio (trumpet).

About Trumpet And Saxophone (july 2012) documents a collaboration with altoist Seymour Wright.

Nate Wooley (trumpet, amplifier), Hugo Antunes (double bass, amplifier) and Chris Corsano (drums, amplifier) recorded the jams of MALUS (may 2012).

The Evil Art Contest (april 2013) featured Nate Wooley on trumpet and Teun Verbruggen on drums and electronics.

Icepick was a trio formed by Nate Wooley (trumpet), Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten (bass) and Chris Corsano (drums) that debuted with the two lengthy live improvisations of Heptane (17 minutes) and Pentane (26 minutes) collected on Hexane (november 2013).

The Duchess Of Oysterville (june 2005), The Duchess Is Dead Long Live The Duchess (2009) Third (march 2013), containing Evening Rage, were collaborations with guitarist Chris Forsyth.

East By Northwest (june 2013) and All Directions Home (august 2015) document live improvisations between Nate Wooley (trumpet) and Ken Vandermark (clarinet, tenor and baritone saxes).

Battle Pieces (april 2014), featuring Ingrid Laubrock on tenor sax, Matt Moran on vibes and Sylvie Courvoisier on piano, collects four Battle Pieces and three Tape Deconstruction.

A live improvisation with Joe Morris (guitar) and Evan Parker (saxes) is documented on Ninth Square (september 2014).

Nate Wooley also played on drummer Harris Eisenstadt's September - Canada Day IV (january 2015), on cellist Daniel Levin's Friction (april 2015), and on Larry Ochs' The Fictive Five (december 2014),

Icepick's Amaranth (september 2014) contains the 19-minute Rare Rufescent.

Purple Patio (may 2012) documents a quintet with Hugo Antunes (bass) and the percussion trio of Jorge Queijo, Mario Costa and Chris Corsano.

The 49-minute piece of Seven Storey Mountain V (may 2015) was performed by a 19-players ensemble, including Ben Vida on electronics, Spencer Yeh on amplified violin and Colin Stetson on amplified reeds and brass.

The 43-minute suite Argonautica (december 2014), a tribute to trumpeter Ron Miles, featured Cory Smythe (piano), Jozef Dumoulin (Fender Rhodes and electronics), Rudy Royston and Devin Gray (both on drums).

Salt Task (september 2015 - Relative Pitch, 2016) was a collaboration among Chris Corsano (drums), Sylvie Courvoisier (piano) and Nate Wooley (trumpet) containing the 21-minute Salt Task.

Wooley played on drummer Harris Eisenstadt's Recent Developments (june 2016) with Anna Webber on flute, Sara Schoenbeck on bassoon, Jeb Bishop on trombone, Dan Peck on tuba, Brandon Seabrook on banjo, Eivind Opsvik on bass and Hank Roberts on cello; and on On Parade In Parede (may 2016) by Harris Eisenstadt's Canada Day Quartet with Pascal Niggenkemper (bass) and Matt Bauder (tenor sax).

The Complete Syllables Music (2017) is a four-disc box-set collecting 8 Syllables (october 2011) and 9 Syllables (october 2012), as well as two discs of new material specifically composed as a tribute to American composer Kenneth Gaburo, for a grand total of 150 minutes of solo electronically-manipulated trumpet.

The live Celebration Ensemble (july 2015) contains the 67-minute suite Celebration performed by Agusti Fernandez on piano, Mats Gustafsson & Pablo Ledesma on saxes, Nate Wooley on trumpet, Joe Morris on guitar, Francis-Marie Uitti on cello, Ingar Zach & Nurio Andorra on percussion.

Knknighgh (october 2016), based on the poetry of Aram Saroyan, documents a collaboration with Chris Pitsiokos on alto sax, Brandon Lopez on bass, and Dre Hocevar on drums, one of his most creative albums.

Battle Pieces 2 (january 2016) features Ingrid Laubrock on tenor & soprano sax, Sylvie Courvoisier on piano and Matt Moran on vibes.

Legacy Of Ashes (april 2011) documents a trio with Daniele Martini (saxophone) and Joao Lobo (drums).

Ken Vandermark and Nate Wooley recorded the six-disc box-set Momentum 1: Stone (january 2016) and the double-disc Momentum 2: Brullt/ Momentum 3: Monster Roster (august 2016), containing Momentum 2: Brult features the ten-part Brult performed by Nate Wooley on trumpet, C. Spencer Yeh on violin & electronics, Jasper Stadhouders on bass and guitar, Christof Kurzmann on ppooll (loops vis synth or sampler), Vandermark on reeds and Tim Daisy on drums, and Monster Roster with Ken Vandermark and Mars Williams on reeds, Lou Mallozzi on turntables, Nick Macri on acoustic bass and Tim Barnes on drums. Another collaboration between Wooley and Vandermark was Wired For Sound (september 2017), featuring Andrew Clinkman & Steve Marquette on guitars, Macie Stewart on keyboard & violin and Phil Sudderberg on drums.

Of Echoing Bronze (july 2015) documents live duets with Norwegian reedist Snekkestad. The quartet of Ken Vandermark (saxophone and clarinet), Nate Wooley (trumpet), Sylvie Courvoisier (piano) and Tom Rainey (drums) recorded Noise Of Our Time (august 2017).

Columbia Icefield (october 2017) features Mary Halvorson on electric guitar, Susan Alcorn on pedal steel guitar and Ryan Sayer on drums & voice.

Anything Is Possible (may 2018) documents improvisations by Larry Ochs (tenor and sopranino saxes), Nate Wooley (trumpet), Ken Filiano and Pascal Niggenkemper (both on bass and effects) and Harris Eisenstadt (drums).

Deeply Discounted II/ Sequences Of Snow (june 2017) was the third collaboration with Vandermark.

Before Battle Pieces 3, he released Battle Pieces 4 (december 2018).

Wooley also played in Harris Eisenstadt's quartet Canada Day along drummer Harris Eisenstadt, pianist Alexander Hawkins and bassist Pascal Niggenkemper that was documented on Live (march 2018).

Dead Leaves Drop (november 2017) documents two lengthy improvisations (the 20-minute Pakicetus and the 19-minute Ambulocetus) by Nate Wooley on trumpet, Dave Rempis on saxophone, Pascal Niggenkemper on bass and Chris Corsano on drums.

What If? (june 2019) documents a collaboration with Matthew Shipp.

Wooley also played in Ken Vandermark's ensemble Entr'Acte, first documented on Soigne Ta Droite (march 2018).

Known/Unknown (january 2018) documents a collaboration between Paul Lytton (percussions) and Nate Wooley (trumpet), both also on electronics.

The trio of Whit Dickey (drums), Matthew Shipp (piano) and Nate Wooley (trumpet) is documented on the two sessions of the double-disc Morph (march and june 2019).

Icepick's live Hellraiser (february 2020) contains the side-long Blueline.

The 45-minute piece of VI (november 2019), sixth in Wooley's Seven Storey Mountain series, was performed by Samara Lubelski and Spencer Yeh (violin), Chris Corsano, Benjamin Hall and Ryan Sawyer (drums), Susan Alcorn, Julien Desprez and Ava Mendoza (guitars), Isabelle O'Connell and Emily Manzo (keyboards), plus a 21-member female choir.

The double-disc Mutual Aid Music (june 2019) documents a session with Ingrid Laubrock (saxophone), Joshua Modney (violin), Mariel Roberts (cello), Sylvie Courvoisier and Cory Smythe (both on piano), Matt Moran (vibraphone) and Russell Greenberg (vibraphone and percussion).

Polarity (february 2020) marked the first collaboration between Ivo Perelman (tenor sax) and Nate Wooley (trumpet), continued on Polarity 2 (january 2023)

The Columbia Icefield Quartet returned with their second album, Ancient Songs Of Burlap Heroes (october 2021), featuring the same musicians: Wooley, Mary Halvorson (guitar), Susan Alcorn (pedal steel guitar), Ryan Sawyer (drums), but also with two guests: Mat Maneri (viola) and Trevor Dunn (electric bass).

The four-disc boxset Four Experiments (2023) contains lengthy compositions by Nate Wooley performed by others: a solo for recorder, a solo for trombone, a solo for sax, a trio of piano, flute and clarinet, a quartet of piano, percussion, cello and double bass, an a-cappella piece (Wooley himself), etc.

The double-disc Seven Skies Orchestra (november 2022) gathered an all-star sextet: saxophonist Ivo Perelman, trumpeter Nate Wooley, viola player Mat Maneri, celloist Fred Lonberg-Holm, bassist Joe Morris and vibraphonist Matt Moran.