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Author: Intern

Ken Thomson: Sextet Album Release Show

Ken Thomson: Sextet Album Release Show
Sunday, October 7, 2018
Performance 8pm / Doors 7pm

What: Ken Thomson debuts new project and album: Sextet on New Focus Recordings.
When: Sunday, October 7, 2018
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $18 presale, $25 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: http://bit.ly/FA181007

Brooklyn, NY – Roulette welcomes Brooklyn-based clarinetist, saxophonist, and composer Ken Thomson for an evening of music featuring the New York premieres of  “Ripple” and “Pall”, followed by a performance by Thomson’s ensemble project, Sextet as they celebrate their latest album, out now on New Focus Recordings.

“Ripple” for bass clarinet and string quartet (2017)
“Pall” for clarinet and string quartet (2018)
New York Premieres

Ken Thomson, clarinet
Katie Hyun and Lena Vidulich, violins
Wendy Richman, viola
Jeffrey Zeigler, cello

Ken Thomson: Sextet
Ken Thomson,alto saxophone
Anna Webber, tenor saxophone
Russ Johnson, trumpet
Nick Finzer, trombone
Adam Armstrong, bass
Daniel Dor, drums

Ken Thomson is a staple of NYC’s contemporary music and jazz community, known for performing with the Bang on a Can All-Stars, and composing and playing with the bands Slow/Fast and Gutbucket. He has written music for the JACK Quartet, Ashley Bathgate, American Composers Orchestra, and others. Thomson is known for a unique voice that blends a variety of styles, with the Chicago Reader exclaiming that “few musicians travel as assuredly and meaningfully between jazz and new music as saxophonist Ken Thomson.” Guided by a desire to create music in which composition and improvisation are equally important and codependent, Sextet is the latest in a series of recordings the composer has made unifying these traditions. With this project, Thomson aims to fuse the  intensity and thematic cohesiveness of modern composition with jazz’s spontaneity and openness.

Brandon Seabrook Trio: Convulsionaries Album Release

Brandon Seabrook Trio: Convulsionaries Album Release
Monday, October 1, 2018
Performance 8pm / Doors 7pm

What: The Brandon Seabrook Trio celebrates the release of their newest album Convulsionaries now out on Astral Spirits.
When: Monday, October 1, 2018
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $18 presale, $25 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: http://bit.ly/FA181001

Brooklyn, NY – The Brandon Seabrook Trio celebrates the release of their latest album Convulsionaries on Astral Spirits. For this all-string group, guitarist and composer Brandon Seabrook is joined by two revolutionary players – rising upright bassist Henry Fraser (Anthony Coleman, The Full Salon) and Daniel Levin (Tony Malaby, Mat Maneri) on cello. The trio aims to decipher Seabrook’s thorny compositions, which perpetually surprise and unseat the listener and audience through rhythmic precision oscillating between ominous repeating ostinatos; angular, intricate, and with a massive dynamic range which changes rapidly. Seabrook’s imaginative compositions are a study in transforming sense of impending doom into a cathartic release, allowing equal space for improvisation and rigid execution of the complex scores.

Brandon Seabrook Trio

Brandon Seabrook –  Guitar/Compositions
Daniel Levin – Cello
Henry Fraser – Double Bass

Brandon Seabrook is a guitarist, banjoist, and composer living in New York City whose work focuses on the intersections between improvisation and structure through fragmented and rapidly changing soundscapes. Described by Spin as “An apocalyptic, supersonic general of the banjo…” Seabrook has established himself as one of the most unique and volatile guitarists and banjo players working in New York today.

VX Bliss: Audiovisual Arrangements by Ginny Benson

VX Bliss: Audiovisual Arrangements by Ginny Benson
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Performance 8pm / Doors 7pm

 

What: Roulette welcomes back intermedia artist Ginny Benson, deploying a new immersive project in sound and video.
When: Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $18 presale, $25 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: http://bit.ly/FA181107

Brooklyn, NY – VX Bliss is the solo project of intermedia artist Ginny Benson. Her live performances use analog synthesis to create densely layered electronic music that drifts between melodic soundscape and atonal noise, integrated with video collages made from VHS tapes, circuit bent mixers, and feedback.

VX Bliss explores techniques of blending and juxtaposing sound and video to create an immersive abstract environment where audio and control-voltage signals fuse modular synthesis with analog video technology. Found images from VHS tapes, layered and woven into video feedback, are distorted into shapes and patterns – samplers and synthesizer glitches, drones, and other electronic ephemera create lush compositions that stimulate and disrupt the viewer’s perception.

VX Bliss on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/vxbliss

Tomas Fujiwara: 7 Poets Trio

Tomas Fujiwara: 7 Poets Trio
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Performance 8pm / Doors 7pm

What: Tomas Fujiwara presents new music with Patricia Brennan and Tomeka Reid.
When: Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $18 presale, $25 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: http://bit.ly/FA181010

Brooklyn, NY – Drummer and composer Tomas Fujiwara premieres new work for his latest ensemble project, 7 Poets Trio. Composed specifically for this ensemble, with Fujiwara on drums, Patricia Brennan on vibraphone, and Tomeka Reid on cello, Fujiwara aims to utilize the distinct musical personalities of his collaborators as well as the unique instrumentation of the trio. 7 Poets Trio seeks to strike a balance between composition and improvisation, to offer each musician a number of roles—foreground and background, soloistic and supportive, melodic and percussive—and, most importantly, to provide an environment for a truly collaborative ensemble sound.

Tomas Fujiwara: drums
Patricia Brennan: vibraphone
Tomeka Reid: cello

7 Poets Trio formed in April 2018 during Fujiwara’s residency at The Stone. The rapport was instantaneous and the trio’s debut was described by All About Jazz as “a meshing of chamber jazz, modern classical composition, and improvisation, although most of Fujiwara’s music sounded well organized in advance. All three players rose to an individual expression, working as a composite unit to deliver solo embellishments. Roles were malleable, as the listener decided whether everyone was soloing, or no-one. All three members were devoted to establishing a sensitive group consciousness, and they succeeded eminently.” The trio is a continuation of several of Fujiwara’s musical interests – the flexible roles and multifaceted possibilities of a particular instrument, the sounds of multi-percussion ensembles, drawing from his days as a performer in Stomp and his bands Triple Double and Double Double, as well as other double-drummer ensembles he’s been a part of such as Living By Lanterns, No Moto, and the Taylor Ho Bynum 7-tette.

Joseph C. Phillips Jr & Numinous: The Grey Land

Joseph C. Phillips Jr & Numinous: The Grey Land
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Performance 8pm / Doors 7pm

What: Joseph C. Phillips Jr and Numinous premiere the intuitive and introspective mono-opera The Grey Land.
When: Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $18 presale, $25 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: http://bit.ly/FA181016

Brooklyn, NY – Roulette is proud to present the world premiere of Joseph C. Phillips’s mono-opera The Grey Land, which explores themes of humanity and identity in relation to race, class, and power through the lens of a black mother’s experiences navigating American society with her son. The Grey Land ruminates on longstanding systemic societal, economic, and cultural issues exemplified by the recent spate of police shootings and subsequent protests, and how they have become part of a wider public consciousness. The piece features 28-piece orchestral ensemble Numinous, as well as soprano Rebecca L. Hargrove, choreography by Edisa Weeks, and film and video work by Malik Isasis & Xuan Zhang.

Joseph C. Phillips Jr.: Composer, Conductor
Rebecca L. Hargrove: Soprano soloist
Kenneth Browning: Narrator
Malik Isasis & Xuan Zhang: Video/Film

Edisa Weeks: Choreography
Michael Hammond: Electronics
Jay Bouey: Dancer

Phillips defines his multifaceted work as mixed-music – a term inspired by mixed-race people who have traits and characteristics that come from individual parents, but blend to create something unique and new. Phillips’s composions not limited or defined by genre but rather are an amalgamation, transmuted into a singular and individual style. Numinous, a flexible ensemble was formed in 2000 to perform Phillips’s compositions. Their music generates emotions in the listener that resonate with beauty, mystery, and wonder in order to challenge, enlighten, and refresh.

Jamie Baum Septet+

The Jamie Baum Septet+: Bridges Album Release
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Performance 8pm / Doors 7pm

What: The Jamie Baum Septet+ celebrates the release of their much-anticipated album Bridges on Sunnyside Records.
When: Sunday, September 16, 2018
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $18 presale, $25 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: http://bit.ly/FA180916

Brooklyn, NY – The Jamie Baum Septet+, led by New York-based flutist, composer, and 2014 Guggenheim Fellow Jamie Baum, celebrates the release of their album Bridges on Sunnyside Records.The highly-anticipated follow-up to Baum’s wildly successful 2013 recording In This Life, Bridges is the culmination of Baum’s search for common links between some of the world’s great religious music traditions, resulting in a recording of depth, beauty, spirituality, and undiluted zeal. Hailed by Downbeat for her “remarkable artistic facility” and by The New York Times for her “remarkable balance of fluidity and restless creativity,” Baum’s advanced harmonic sensibility and sonic imagination—beautifully brought to life by the members of her long-running ensemble—proves the capacity of modern jazz to absorb and transform music of diverse traditions, without sacrificing the improvisational core of its identity.

The Jamie Baum Septet+

Jamie Baum: Flutes
Jason Palmer: Trumpet
Sam Sadigursky: Alto Sax / Bass Clarinet
Chris Komer: French Horn
Brad Shepik: Guitar
Luis Perdomo: Piano
Zack Lober: Bass
Jeff Hirshfield: Drums

The Jamie Baum Septet+, formed in 1999, has been performing with this current line-up of musicians since 2010. For almost 20 years Baum has created opportunities to perform her compositions with this ensemble, developing a unique voice with the colors and textures of this unusual instrumentation. Their four albums, including Bridges, have received stellar reviews in relevant publications including the New York Times and NPR’s “All Things Considered”, with most receiving four stars in DownBeat. Nominated by the Jazz Journalists Association, for “Best Midsize Ensemble of 2014,” they have done several tours in the US and abroad at notable venues and festivals.

Resonant Bodies Festival

Resonant Bodies Festival
Tuesday, September 11; Wednesday, September 12; Thursday, September 13, 2018
Performance 7:30pm / Doors 7pm

What: The annual Resonant Bodies Festival returns to present nine boundary-pushing vocalists performing over three consecutive nights.
When: Tuesday–Thursday, September 11–13, 2018, 7:30pm
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $20 presale, $25 Doors, $50 Festival pass
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: http://bit.ly/2018RBF

Tuesday, September 11 Paul Pinto, Helga Davis, Lucy Dhegrae
Wednesday, September 12 Jen Shyu, Caroline Shaw, Nathalie Joachim
Thursday, September 13 Sarah Maria Sun, Pamela Z, Gelsey Bell

Brooklyn, NY – Roulette is pleased to co-present the sixth annual Resonant Bodies Festival, taking place September 11–13, 2018.

Highlights include Resonant Bodies Festival director Lucy Dhegrae premiering a multimedia project that explores the neurological aftermath of trauma, with new works by Jessie Montgomery, Du Yun, Katherine Young, Eve Beglarian, Angélica Negrón, and Osnat Netzer, directed by Alison Moritz, on opening night, followed by Pulitzer Prize-winner Caroline Shaw (of Roomful of Teeth) performing works of her own composition on Wednesday, September 12. On Thursday, September 13, German soprano Sarah Maria Sun collaborates with International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) on works by Georges Aperghis, Rebecca Saunders, Thierry Tidrow, and Màtyàs Seiber, and the legendary San Francisco-based Pamela Z will perform compositions for voice and electronics to close the festival.

Founded in 2013, Resonant Bodies Festival is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to hear expert contemporary music vocalists present repertoire of wide-ranging and innovative work. Presented over three nights, nine dynamic and unique vocalists curate and present 45-minute sets expressing their particular blend of musical tastes. The festival recently expanded to Melbourne, Sydney, and Chicago, with a Los Angeles festival slated for 2019.

High Zero Festival of Experimental Improvised Music

High Zero Festival of Experimental Improvised Music
Wednesday–Thursday, September 19–20, 2018
Performance 8pm / Doors 7pm

What: Roulette and the High Zero Foundation present the High Zero Festival of Experimental Improvised Music, a 2-day festival featuring over 25 musicians from New York and Baltimore.
When: Wednesday–Thursday, September 19–20, 2018
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $18 presale, $25 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: http://bit.ly/FA180919

Brooklyn, NY – The Baltimore-based High Zero Festival usually brings musicians from all over the world to Baltimore, but this year’s 20th-anniversary concert series flips the format by bringing High Zero Collective members to Roulette for two nights of improvisation with New York musicians. Each evening’s four curated sets aim to combine musicians who have never played together before. These musicians will improvise together for 20–30 minutes.

September 19
Set 1: Tom Boram, Ikue Mori, C Spencer Yeh
Set 2: Owen Gardner, Margaret Schedel, Shelly Purdy
Set 3: Jamal Moore, Jeff Carey, Ras Moshe, JD Parran, Andrew Bernstein
Set 4: Samuel Burt, Lea Bertucci, Michael Evans

September 20
Set 1: Bonnie Jones, Laura Ortman
Set 2: Sandy Ewen, Rose Hammer Burt, M.C. Schmidt
Set 3: Amirtha Kidambi, CK Barlow, John Berndt, Tom Hamilton
Set 4: Chuck Bettis, Stewart Mostofsky, Jaimie Branch

Kit Fitzgerald and Peter Gorgon: Into the Hot, Out of the Cool

What: Large-scale video paintings by Kit Fitzgerald accompanied by six-piece musical ensemble directed by Peter Gordon.
When: Sunday, April 22, 2018, 8pm
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $20 Online $25 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org // (917) 267-0368

Brooklyn, NY – Long-standing collaborative duo Peter Gordon (keyboard, sax, electronics) and Kit Fitzgerald (video) present Into the Hot, Out of the Cool. The performance will feature large-scale video paintings by Fitzgerald accompanied by a six-piece musical ensemble directed by Gordon. Fitzgerald’s visual imagery will include video drawings, animations, and camera imagery—mixed and processed live—combining early analog and current digital technology. The dialogue between the early and the contemporary video aesthetic is part of Fitzgerald’s signature look and is at the heart of the Hot/Cool dialogue. Into the Hot, Out of the Cool is a new work that marks the 35th year of collaboration between Fitzgerald and Gordon, a pioneering duo incorporating live video and musical performance. Read

Kit Fitzgerald has collaborated with composers Max Roach, Peter Gordon, Ned Sublette, and Ryuichi Sakamoto; choreographers Donald Byrd, Bebe Miller, and Bill T. Jones; poets Sekou Sundiata and Bob Holman, and theater companies The Wooster Group and The Talking Band. She directs award-winning documentaries on art and culture, music videos, dance videos, video installations, live performance, and album covers. Her work is in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art and has been featured twice in the Whitney Biennial. Her work has been commissioned by Tokyo Broadcasting, Fuji TV, SONY Japan, and Northern Netherlands Theatre. Fitzgerald is the recipient of prizes at international film and television festivals and awards from The Rockefeller Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, and Japan Foundation. Her work is distributed by Electronic Arts Intermix, New York. Fitzgerald is Professor of New Media at Concordia College-New York.

Peter Gordon moved to New York in 1975, where his Love of Life Orchestra first gained attention at downtown venues such as The Kitchen, CBGB, Max’s Kansas City, and the Mudd Club. An early proponent of the recording studio as a compositional tool, Gordon produced recordings for LOLO, as well as Robert Ashley, Arthur Russell, Rhys Chatham, Laurie Anderson, Jill Kroesen, David Van Tieghem, and “Blue” Gene Tyranny. He was music producer for Robert Ashley’s video opera Perfect Lives, as well as the recent Spanish-language version, Vidas Perfectas (presented at the Whitney Museum in 2014). A friend and frequent collaborator of the late Arthur Russell, Gordon has recently been touring Arthur Russell’s INSTRUMENTALS at several international festivals. Gordon is Professor of Music at Bloomfield College.

Lineup:
Kit Fitzgerald – Video Artist
Max Gordon – Keyboards, Trumpet
Peter Gordon – Composer, Saxophone, Keyboards, Electronics
Matt Mottel – Synthesizer
Michael Attias – Saxophone
Paul Nowinski – Bass
Ron Blake – Saxophone
Bill Ruyle – Percussion

ECCE and Court-Circuit: French/American Music in Dialogue

What: A tour de force of French and American repertoire by two leading ensembles from America and France.
When: Thursday, April 19, 2018, 8pm
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $15 Online, $20 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: https://roulette.org/event/ecce-and-court-circuit-french-american-music-in-dialogue/

Brooklyn, NY — ECCE and Court-Circuit join forces to present works by Christophe Bertrand, Philippe Hurel, David Felder, Philippe Leroux, and John Aylward. The ensembles themselves will present smaller chamber works featuring members of each ensemble. Then, Maestro Jean Deroyer from Court-circuit will lead the combined ensembles in performances of Philippe Hurel’s Figures Libre and the world premiere of John Aylward’s Narcissus.

Founded by composer John Aylward, ECCE is an East Coast-based ensemble of culturally and socially engaged musicians. The French ensemble Court-Circuit has been dedicated to experimentation and intense risk-taking in contemporary music since its founding in 1991.

Performers

ECCE
Jennifer Choi — Violin
John Popham — Cello
Roberta Michel — Flutes
Carlos Cordeiro — Clarinets
Hassan Anderson — Oboe
Julia Den Boer — Piano
Dennis Sullivan — Percussion
Nicholas Demaison — Conductor

Court-Circuit
Jeremie Fèvre — Flute
Pierre Dutrieu — Clarinet
Tom Kolor — Percussion
Jean Marie Cottet — Piano
Alexandra Greffin Klein — Violin
Frédéric Baldassare — Cello
Jean Deroyer — Conductor