Jim O'Rourke (born January 18, 1969) is an American musician and producer. He was long associated with the Chicago experimental and improv scene. Around 2000 he relocated to New York City.
Known for his idiosyncratic tastes, and regarded as something of an expert on modern experimental music, he has released albums of jazz, noise and guitar rock music. O'Rourke has collaborated with the likes of Thurston Moore, Derek Bailey, Loren Mazzacane Connors, Nurse With Wound, Fennesz, Organum, Henry Kaiser, Flying Saucer Attack, and most recently mixed Joanna Newsom's album Ys.
He has produced albums by artists as varied as Wilco, Stereolab, Kahimi Karie, Quruli, John Fahey, Smog, Faust, Tony Conrad, Bobby Conn, Beth Orton, Joanna Newsom and U.S. Maple. He mixed Wilco's very successful Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album, which made many reviewers' top ten lists for 2002, and produced their 2004 album, A Ghost Is Born, for which he won a Grammy for "Best Alternative Album". During the recording of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, O'Rourke collaborated with Wilco member Jeff Tweedy and pre-Wilco Glenn Kotche, a veteran of the Chicago scene and O'Rourke's own solo albums, under the name Loose Fur. Their self-titled debut was released in 2003 with a follow-up in 2006 entitled Born Again in the USA.
O'Rourke has released a large number of albums and was once a member of Illusion of Safety, Gastr Del Sol and the Red Crayola. From 2000 he played bass guitar and guitar with Sonic Youth; he quit as a full member in 2005 to pursue his interest in filmmaking, but continues to play with them in some of their side projects.
With music director Takehisa Kosugi, he played for the Merce Cunningham dance company for 4 years.
James Henry O'Rourke (September 1, 1850 - January 8, 1919), nicknamed "Orator Jim", was an American professional baseball player in the National Association and Major League Baseball who played primarily as a left fielder. In the era before the establishment of the 60'6" distance between the batter and the pitcher in 1893, he ranked behind only Cap Anson in career games played (1644), hits (2146), at-bats (6884), doubles (392) and total bases (2936), and behind only Harry Stovey in runs scored (1370).
He was born in East Bridgeport, Connecticut. On April 22, 1876, he made the first base hit in National League history. After leaving the major leagues following the 1893 season, he continued to play in the minor leagues until he was over 50 years old; in 1904 he made a final appearance with the New York Giants under manager and friend John McGraw, becoming at age 54 the oldest player ever to appear in the National League and the oldest player to ever hit safely in a major league game. He returned to the minors as president of the Connecticut League, and in 1912 returned to the field to catch a complete minor league game at the age of 60.
O'Rourke died of pneumonia at age 68 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945 as one of the earliest inductees from the 19th century. His older brother John O'Rourke and his son James "Queenie" O'Rourke also played in the majors.
"O'Rourke has made a brilliant record for himself as an outfielder, being an excellent judge of a ball, a swift runner, and making the most difficult running catches with the utmost ease and certainty. As a thrower, too, he stands pre-eminent, being credited with a throw of 365 feet, the next to the longest yet accomplished by any player." — The Sporting Life
