Nate Wooley Appointed Artistic Director of Pyroclastic Records

Pyroclastic Records has appointed internationally recognized trumpeter, composer, improviser, and writer Nate Wooley as Artistic Director, effective May 1, 2026. Wooley succeeds founder Kris Davis, who is stepping down.

Wooley brings three decades of experience as a performer, along with a focus on experimental and jazz communities. He has worked with nonprofit organizations for 15 years, including the Anthology of Recorded Music (ARM), which encompasses New World Records and the Database of Recorded American Music (DRAM), which he co-curated for 12 years. Under ARM, Wooley founded Sound American, a print journal and record label that introduced a wide audience to contemporary jazz, classical, folk, and experimental music. He served as editor-in-chief and director for eight years before the publication concluded in 2021, and he continues to work as a producer and publisher through Pleasure of the Text Records and Tisser Tissu Editions.

As a performer, Wooley has appeared as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic and has commissioned new works by artists including Wadada Leo Smith and Christian Wolff. His collaborators include Anthony Braxton, John Zorn, and Annea Lockwood. He has led more than 50 recordings and appeared on nearly 400. His compositions incorporate improvisation, folk traditions, text, and immersive elements, and his writing on American experimental music has been published in outlets including The New York Review of Books and The Nation.

Wooley’s appointment follows his ongoing association with Pyroclastic Records as an artist. He will oversee the label’s artistic direction as it continues to support new work and its roster of musicians.

Pyroclastic Records was founded in 2016 and operates as a nonprofit label focused on supporting artists in the creation and distribution of new music. The organization works with both emerging and established artists and aims to expand audiences for noncommercial and experimental work. Its releases often feature collaborations with visual artists including Ellsworth Kelly, Julian Charrière, Dike Blair, Raymond Pettibon, and Gabriel de la Mora.

Recent Pyroclastic projects include releases from Trio of Bloom (Craig Taborn, Nels Cline, Marcus Gilmore), Patricia Brennan, Kris Davis, Brandon Seabrook, and Simon Hanes. Upcoming 2026 releases include a solo album by Yvonne Rogers, scheduled for May 8, and Sylvie Courvoisier’s Amalthea, featuring Patricia Brennan, Thomas Morgan, and Dan Weiss, set for November 13.