Marc Ribot was never suited to play straight jazz. A New Jersey kid trying to make a stand in New York, Ribot realized that in his 20s while trying to bop with veteran organist Jack McDuD. But Ribot soon found his calling—and the core of his mission, really—both in the city’s melting pot and in its no-holds-barred No Wave scene. He threw out the rules he was trying to ace, joined the Lounge Lizards, and accepted Tom Waits’ invitation to play on Rain Dogs. Ribot stopped trying to sound like the guitarist he was supposed to be and became, instead, the guitar player he was. In the last 40 years, he has been an indispensable collaborator to the likes of Waits, Robert Plant, John Zorn, and so many others that his list of credits reads like a library’s card catalog. But Ribot has also been a great bandleader, from his renegade bunch Ceramic Dog to his committed Latin band, Los Cubanos Postizos. Since that mid-‘80s epiphany, Ribot has continued to be anything he’s wanted to be.

Twenty years ago, Marc Ribot convened a glorious quartet, Spiritual Unity, to tackle the songbook of Albert Ayler. After Roy Campbell died and Henry Grimes had to step away for health concerns, Ribot and drummer Chad Taylor wanted to maintain the exploratory energy of that band with a new lineup. Ribot called on Sebastian Steinberg, a collaborator and confidant since the ‘80s and an anchor of his great Shrek. The new group is Hurry Red Telephone. During the quartet’s 2024-2025 tours, guitarists Mary Halvorson, Ava Mendoza, and tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis took turns rounding out the quartet adding the combustible extra ingredient. For 2026, alto saxophonist Briggan Krauss will step into that role with Hurry Red Telephone, yet another chapter in Ribot’s ever-unfolding quest to find new ways to play.

Marc Ribot - guitar
Marc Ribot has spent more than four decades pushing the guitar into uncharted territory. From his formative years with John Lurie’s Lounge Lizards to his searing contributions to Tom Waits’ Rain Dogs—which Rolling Stone credits with shaping a “new, weird Americana”—Ribot has been the restless, go-to voice for artists as varied as Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Elvis Costello, Diana Krall, Caetano Veloso, Laurie Anderson, and countless others. As a bandleader, Ribot has released over 25 albums that span radical jazz, Cuban son, avant-rock, and cinematic solo works. His projects include the raucous Ceramic Dog, the Ayler-inspired Spiritual Unity, and Los Cubanos Postizos, his acclaimed tribute to Arsenio Rodríguez. Equally at home in intimate solo performances or explosive ensembles, Ribot brings both fire and nuance to every setting. His music also extends to film and theater, with scores for directors such as Martin Scorsese and collaborations with John Zorn, T Bone Burnett, and a long list of adventurous peers. In recent years, he has turned to politically charged projects like Songs of Resistance 1942–2018 and published his first book, Unstrung: Rants & Stories of a Noise Guitarist. In 2025, Ribot unveils Map of a Blue City (New West Records), a project three decades in the making—one that promises to be a defining statement from one of the most singular guitarists of our time.

Briggan Krauss - saxophone
Saxophonist Briggan Krauss has been an internationally recognized key player in New York City’s creative music scene since 1994. He connects the extreme edges of technique with the unexplored tonal possibilities of the instrument while making his work as much about shape as it is about his unique signature sound. He has released several critically acclaimed recordings as a leader and has appeared on over fifty other recrdings as a sideman. Briggan’s voice has been a part of Steven Bernstein’s iconic quartet Sexmob from its inception more than twenty-five years ago, earning a Grammy Award nomination for their 2006 recording titled Sexotica, and currently performing with Laurie Anderson. He has worked with a diverse range of artists such as John Zorn, Bill Frisell, Wayne Horvitz, Levon Helm, Skerik, Butch Morris, Eyvind Kang, Robin Holcomb, Norah Jones, Medeski Martin and Wood, Hal Willner, Skuli Sverrisson, Jim Black, Ikue Mori, Iron & Wine, Rufus Wainwright, Trey Anastasio, Joan Wasser, Jessie Harris, Bernie Worrell, Lou Reed, Anohni, U2, and many others.

Sebastian Steinberg – bass
Ribot’s bassist of choice in the early 90’s NYC downtown music scene, Sebastian formed idiosyncratic avant-rock band, Soul Coughing, achieving cult status before moving to LA where Sebastian soon became a sought-out session and touring musician for the likes of Fiona Apple, Iron and Wine, and more recently the rhythm section for Diana Krall alongside drummer Matt Chamberlain.

Chad Taylor - drums
One of the most prolific drummers/percussionists of his generation, Chad Taylor has recorded and performed with some of modern improvised music’s most influential musicians such as the late Pharoah Sanders, Eric Revis, Fred Anderson, James Brandon Lewis, Jaimie Branch, Dave Liebman, Peter Brotzmann, Nicole Mitchell, Matana Roberts, Ken Vandermark, Marc Ribot, JeD Parker, amongst many others. Chad Taylor has defined his voice as unique, rawly refined, unending in creativity, and historically relevant in the world of modern creative music. His partnership with Rob Mazurek in the Chicago/ London / Sao Paulo Underground Duo/ Trio/ Quartet/ Orchestra, has placed him in an individualistic stylistic mode of playing that is distinct and undoubtedly original. He has also contributed to folk/rock/pop groups such as Stereolab, Sam Prekop, Yo La Tengo, Iron and Wine, Kurt Vile and Glen Hansard, In 2024, Chad was appointed the William S. Dietrich II Chair in Jazz Studies and Artistic Director of Jazz Studies for the University of Pittsburgh. In 2025, Chad released an album original music, Smoke Shifter (Otherly Love) featuring Jonathan Finlayson on trumpet, Bryan Rogers on tenor saxophone, Victor Vierra-Branco on vibraphone and Matt Engle on bass.