Marc Ribot Quartet: Hurry Red Telephone

(free jazz)

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 McDuff. 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, 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 dual 2025 tours, first in New England and then in Europe, guitarist Ava Mendoza added the combustible extra ingredient, her chemistry with Ribot seeming to push each of them to play a bit harder, meaner, wilder. For 2026, 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.

“…filthy guitar grooves full of motor oil by Marc Ribot and his quartet.” - NRC review at Transition Jazz Festival (Utrecht)

Photos:

Press:

Artfuse - Austin Concert Review
Free Jazz Blog - Bergamo Jazz Festival Review
Bergamo News - Bergamo Jazz Festival Review
Nachriten (Austria) - Concert Review
Chronogram - Interview
Corriere Della Sera (Italy) - Interview

Performance History

Marc Ribot Quartet: Hurry Red Telephone (w/Ava Mendoza, Sebastian Steinberg, Chad Taylor)
European Summer Tour
July 17 - London/UK Jazz Cafe (LOW TIX ALERT!)
July 18 -  Rotterdam/NL LantarenVenster (SOLD OUT!)
July 19 - Hamburg/DE Nica Jazz Club
July 20 - Lublin/PL Lublin Jazz Festival
July 22 - Montone/IT Rocca di Braccio (SOLD OUT!)
July 25 - San Sebastian/ES Jazzaldia 60 Festival (LOW TIX ALERT!)

MARC RIBOT QUARTET: HURRY RED TELEPHONE (w/Ava Mendoza, Sebastian Steinberg, Chad Taylor)
European Tour
13.03.2025  WARSAW/Poland - Pardon,To Tu SOLD OUT!
15.03.2025  UTRECHT/Netherlands - Transition Festival SOLD OUT!
16.03.2025  DORTMUND/Germany - Domicil
17.03.2025  KÖLN/Germany - Stadtgarten SOLD OUT!
18.03.2025  GALLNEUKIRCHEN/Austria - Altes Hallenbad Gallneukirchen SOLD OUT!
19.03.2025  LJUBLJANA/Slovenia - Kino Siska
21.03.2025  STOCKHOLM/Sweden - Jazzclub Fasching SOLD OUT!
22.03.2025  MÜNCHEN/Germany - Jazzclub Unterfahrt SOLD OUT!
23.03.2025  BERGAMO/Italy - Teatro Donizetti SOLD OUT!

Marc Ribot Quartet: Hurry Red Telephone (w/Ava Mendoza, Sebastian Steinberg, Chad Taylor)
2/20/2025 Brooklyn, NY Lunatico SOLD OUT!
2/21/2025 Boston (Somerville), MA Arts at the Armory SOLD OUT!
2/22/2025 Hudson, NY Hudson Hall SOLD OUT!

Marc Ribot Quartet feat. Mary Halvorson, Hilliard Greene, Chad Taylor
9/20/24 Denver, CO Mercury Cafe (SOLD OUT!)
9/21/24 Portland, OR Jack London Revue Early Show / Late Show (SOLD OUT!)
9/22/24 San Francisco, CA SFJAZZ - Miner (w/special guest James Brandon Lewis)
9/23/24 Santa Cruz, CA Kuumbwa
9/24/24 Kirkland, WA Kirkland Center
9/25/24 Albuquerque, NM Outpost - NM Jazz Festival (SOLD OUT!)
9/26/24 Austin, TX Nothing Is Sacred - KMFA-Draylen Mason (SOLD OUT!)