# André Vida

André Vida (born 1974) is an American-born German saxophonist, lyricist, avant-garde musician, and experimental composer. Vida has been on the forefront of several major developments in experimental music, including his membership in Anthony Braxton’s original Ghost Trance Ensemble, as founding member of New York collective the CTIA, performances with The Tower Recordings and subsequent ‘freak folk’ groups. He is based in Berlin.

## Early life and education

André Vida was born in 1974 in the United States. His father was Julius A. Vida (1928–2018), a Hungarian refugee to the U.S. during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956; and a prominent chemist and pharmaceutical businessperson in Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S.. His sister is visual artist, Katie Vida.
Throughout the 1990s, Vida played in bands with Anthony Braxton, a professor of music at Wesleyan University. In 1995, Vida moved to New York City and co-founded the Creative Trans-Informational Alliance Presents (CTIA) with Brandon Evans and Dominique Eade. Vida graduated from Wesleyan University in 1997. He received a M.F.A. degree in experimental sound practices in 2005 from the school of music at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts).

## Career

In 2001, Vida moved to Berlin and soon after launched the Kreuzberg suite, a once a week concert series with Vida and a frequently changing musical guest creating improvisational music around the subject of "Fish And Green".
His musical language is informed by an awareness of the human body and its limits. Vida worked in a collaboration with Anri Sala for the exhibition "3-2-1" at The Serpentine Gallery in London. Vida was scheduled to perform over 400 improvisational saxophone concerts over the course of 51 days (from October 1 to November 20, 2011).
Vida was an Eyebeam Honorary Fellow in 2013. In 2013, as part of the Global Art Forum 7, Vida performed "Score" at the Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, challenging the question what if we spoke music instead of words?
2015 Sculpture Park, Frieze Art Fair London presented a live performance by Anri Sala in collaboration with André Vida. The piece is called To Each His Own (in Bridges), it is based on 74 pieces of music, combining fragments of jazz, folk, and pop songs played on the saxophone, clarinet and trombone.
In 2016, Vida participated in the art exhibition, "Anri Sala: Answer Me,” at the New Museum in New York City. Vida live improvises sound with his saxophone next to a video of Jemeel Moondoc’s performance, shot on the balcony of a building in Berlin.
Vida has collaborated with artists such as; Elton John, MV & EE, Anaïs Croze, Kevin Blechdom, Oni Ayhun, Tim Exile, Anri Sala, James Tenney, David Rosenboom, Sonny Simmons, Cecil Taylor, Lee Ranaldo, Heatsick, Jim O'Rourke, Dean Roberts, Tony Buck, Hildur Gudnadottir, Jimmy Edgar, Chilly Gonzales, Mocky, Tyshawn Sorey, Susie Ibarra, Guillermo E. Brown, and many others.

## Discography

| Year | Title | Artist(s) | Vida's Role | Label | Notes |
| 1994 | Composition No. 8 'Pinnacles & Tentacles | Brandon Evans Quintet (Hildegard Kleeb, André Vida, Joe Fonda, Eric Rosenthal, Brandon Evans) | Soprano saxophone, Hungarian shepherd's flute (Track 3) | Parallactic | |
| 1994 | Small Ensemble Music (Wesleyan) 1994 | Anthony Braxton | Baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone (track 1) | Splasc(H) | |
| 1995 | The Sky Has Melted Away | Brandon Evans, Andre Vida, and Dominique Eade | Soprano, alto, tenor saxophone, Hungarian shepherd flute | | |
| 1996 | Tentet (New York) 1996 | Anthony Braxton | B♭ soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone | Braxton House | |
| 1997 | Octet (New York) 1995 | Anthony Braxton | | Braxton House | |
| 1999 | Four Compositions (Washington, D.C.) 1998 | Anthony Braxton | | Braxton House | |
| 2001 | GTM (Knitting Factory) 1997 | Anthony Braxton | | Braxton House | |
| 2001 | Folkscene | The Tower Recordings | | Communion | |
| 2002 | Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997 Vol. 1 | Anthony Braxton | Tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, baritone saxophone | Leo | |
| 2003 | Parallactic 54 | Anthony Braxton, Sonny Simmons, Brandon Evans, Shanir Blumenkranz, Andre Vida, and Mike Pride | Baritone Saxophone | Parallactic | 2 CD set, recorded May 2003 at Wesleyan University |
| 2003 | Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997 Vol. 2 | Anthony Braxton | Tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, baritone saxophone | Leo | |
| 2005 | Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997 Vol. 3 | Anthony Braxton | Tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, baritone saxophone | Leo | |
| 2005 | Multiply | Jamie Lidell | Horns | Warp Records | |
| 2005 | Child Real Eyes | Andre Vida, Anthony Braxton, Loren Dempster, Tyshawn Sorey | As band leader, composer, reeds | Vidatone Recordings | |
| 2007 | Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997 Vol. 4 | Anthony Braxton | | Leo | |
| 2008 | I Dont Know Whats Wrong With Me, My Computer Eyes Or My Internet Knees | Andre Vida | As band leader | Insubordinations | |
| 2008 | 1956: Solo Saxophone | Andre Vida | As band leader | | |
| 2011 | BRUD Volumes I - III: 1995–2011 | Andre Vida | As band leader | Pan | |
| 2011 | Quartet (Mannheim) 2010 | Anthony Braxton | Alto saxophone, baritone saxophone | New Braxton House | Recorded at Enjoy Jazz Festival, Mannheim, Germany. |
| 2012 | Quintet (Tristano) 1997 | Anthony Braxton | | New Braxton House | |

## Publications

* Vida, André; Lissoni, Andrea; Wood, Catherine (2017). Tarek Atoui: The Reverse Collection/the Reverse Session. Mousse Publishing. ISBN 9788867492596.