Biography
Einstein Records' world of sound, like the aesthetic of the time, is no singular style, but offers the output of a community built around Jim Staley, namely Staley's collaborators within the New York Downtown scene, such as John Zorn, Ikue Mori, Zeena Parkins, Elliott Sharp and Shelley Hirsch; as well as his cohorts that shared time, space and blossoming musical ideas from the University of Illinois, including Morgan Powell, Michael Kowalski and others from a collective known as the Tone Road Ramblers. Anything was a potential avenue for musical exploration, and any source materials and sound making devices (electronic, classical, rock/pop, non-musical) were considered usable, even “dirty” amalgams of various styles and degraded samples. Roulette was a crucial venue for this burgeoning community, and Einstein documents the growth of those musicians, and furthermore, the world of composer-trombonist and Roulette Director Jim Staley.