Alan Licht

It's something of a cliché to say that a musician "stubbornly refuses to be categorized," but with Alan Licht, that statement is simply the truth. Though the guitarist's body of work encompasses noise rock, alternative pop/rock, improvisational music, free jazz, minimalism, musique concrète, electronics, and plenty of other stops within and outside those boundaries, Licht has managed to do so without ever chaining himself to any one style, and his muse is one of the most unfettered in contemporary music. 2003's A New York Minute was an eclectic collection of studio and live material, 2016's Skip to the Solo was a collaboration with fellow maverick guitarist Henry Kaiser, 2022's Three Chords and a Sword: Solo Cover Versions saw him exploring a handful of celebrated rock songs, and 2024's The Blue Hour preserved a performance with noted improvisational artist Loren Connors.