Author: Kerry

Ka Baird: Sapropelicisms

What: Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Ka Baird, joined by Marcia Bassett and Camilla Padgitt-Coles, presents experiments in solo voice, piano, and flute.
When: Wednesday, January 18, 2016, 8pm
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $25/20 Online $20/15 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: General Admission $20, Members/Students/Seniors $15, $25/20 Tickets at the door

Brooklyn, NY – Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Ka Baird (aka Sapropelic Pycnic) will explore piano improvisation, electroacoustic interventions, extended vocal techniques, physical movement, and electronic manipulation of the flute to present Sapropelicisms, featuring Marcia Bassett on Buchla Easel and sound reactive projections from Camilla Padgitt-Coles. Baird coined the term “Sapropelicisms” as exercises or rituals that honor the dark rich sludge of our own psyches and the processes by which they are revealed. Sapropelicisms come from the root word sapropel, a contraction of ancient Greek words sapros and pelos meaning putrefaction and mud, respectively.

Ka Baird is one of the founding members of long running avant-psych project Spires That In The Sunset Rise, which has contributed a different slant to the New Folk movement by incorporating various avant-garde and world music influences into their music. Since 2001, the band released eight full length records and several side releases. Since relocating to New York City in November 2014, Baird has set off in numerous directions with new collaborations as well as honing in on her own solo work. Baird released See Sun Think Shadow, an album of piano improvisations in November 2015 and A Love Supreme, a tribute record to John Coltrane in January 2016. She co-runs the Brooklyn-based record label and concert organizer Perfect Wave with Camilla Padgitt-Coles.

As a co-founder of Philadelphia’s shambolic psychonauts un, tectonic drone pioneers Double Leopards, psych-folk drone trio GHQ, and Hototogisu, Marcia Bassett is deeply entwined with the American noise underground. In addition to collaborations with Samara Lubelski, Barry Weisblat and others, she performs solo under the moniker Zaimph and released the album Between The Infinite and The Finite in November.

Camilla Padgitt-Coles is a multimedia artist working in light, sound, video art and audio-visual environments. She makes music solo as Ivy Meadows and participates ambient projects Future Shuttle, Energy Star, Tropical Rock and Non Human Persons.

[GENERATE] William Parker

What: Two evenings of vocal + ensemble performance from free jazz legend William Parker.
When: Friday + Saturday, January 13+14, 2016, 8pm
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $25/20 Online $20/15 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: General Admission $20, Members/Students/Seniors $15, $25/20 Tickets at the door

Brooklyn, NY – Roulette and Centering Music present two evenings celebrating the music of free jazz bassist, composer, and improviser William Parker. The first evening, Healing Songs from the Tone World, will feature various ensembles presenting vocal music, while the second evening, Tone World Creation Song, will feature the Little Huey Music Orchestra.

William Parker is a bassist, improviser, composer, writer, and educator from New York City. Heralded by The Village Voice as “the most consistently brilliant free jazz bassist of all time,” Parker has contributed to over 150 albums and six books in addition to teaching and mentoring young musicians and artists. Parker’s current bands include the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra, In Order to Survive, Raining on the Moon, Stan’s Hat Flapping in the Wind, and the Cosmic Mountain Quartet with Hamid Drake, Kidd Jordan, and Cooper-Moore. Parker has performed with Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry, Milford Graves, and David S. Ware, among many others.

Facelessness Plays Unlikelihoods

What: Matt Mehlan presents “Unlikelihoods,” a suite of new compositions written to be realized in iterations, from the new band Facelessness.
When: Wednesday, January 11, 2016, 8pm
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $25/20 Online $20/15 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: General Admission $20, Members/Students/Seniors $15, $25/20 Tickets at the door

Brooklyn, NY – Chicago-based musician, filmmaker, and arts organizer Matt Mehlan presents “Unlikelihoods,” a suite of new compositions written to be realized in iterations, from the new band Facelessness. Performances from American Academy of Achievement and JOBS round out of the evening.

“Unlikelihoods” exists as two scores of the same music. The first cycle is fully entered into notation software, while the second cycle is a set of looser scores for ensemble. This music will be realized in as many iterations as possible, including:

The MIDI Output / Computer Version of the “Score,” orchestrated for a collection of synthesizers and drum machines (with Choir – 3 vocalists + Mehlan)
The performance of the “Score” by X musicians
The performance of the score as a set instructions by Y musicians

Facelessness is a new band formed for the purpose of playing brand new compositions by Matt Mehlan in New York City. Mehlan is joined by longtime collaborators Jason McMahon and Matt Nelson, violist Jessica Pavone, Rob Lundberg and Max Jaffe, and Sam Sowyrda. Matt Mehlan is an artist and musician currently living in Chicago, where he is a lecturer at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Based in Brooklyn for 10 years, he is the lead singer of the Skeletons and Uumans, a member of Congotronics Vs. Rockers, and runs the record label Shinkoyo.

American Academy of Achievement is the pseudonym of guitarist, composer, and performer Jason McMahon.

Since forming in 2008, JOBS has quickly established itself as one of the most exciting new forces within the thriving Brooklyn experimental music scene. Comprised of drummer Max Jaffe, bassist Rob Lundberg, and guitarist Dave Scanlon, the group (formerly known as Killer Bob) has set itself apart with its charged performances dripping with intensity and wild spontaneity.

Winter 2017 Season (January – March)

What: Roulette winter season highlights include two evenings of free jazz legend William Parker; the return [DANCEROULETTE] and Mixology, two annual winter performance series celebrating emerging and established artists; the continuation of Meredith Monk’s curated performance series featuring American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME), Don Byron, Robin Holcomb, and Ellen Fisher; and rising jazz star Tomeka Reid.
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368

Roulette is pleased to announce the release of their winter season from January 11 to March 30, 2017. Tickets will be available online at roulette.org or by phone at (917) 267-0368.

The winter season kicks off Chicago-based musician, filmmaker, and arts organizer Matt Mehlan presenting “Unlikelihoods,” a suite of new compositions written to be realized in iterations, from the new band Facelessness, followed by back-to-back evenings from legendary free jazz bassist William Parker. Multi instrumentalist and Perfect Wave cofounder Ka Baird will utilize Roulette’s Steinway D Grand Piano to present experiments in solo voice + piano, followed by the return of Moroccan-influenced psychedelic jazz collective Club d’Elf. The premiere of Gary Lucas’ solo guitar score accompanying Orson Welles’ surreal silent comedy Too Much Johnson rounds out the month of January.

February will see performances from tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis presenting works from his most recent release, No Filter; Brendon Randall-Myers’ Invisible Anatomy ensemble exploring the notion of change through composition, lighting, video, and choreography; and Richard Sussman’s Evolution Ensemble presenting The Evolution Suite for jazz and string quartet. Highlights include the week-long [DANCEROULETTE] New Movement Series curated by Jennifer Lafferty, featuring performances from contemporary dance artists Marc Crousillat, Jessie Gold, John Hoobyar, Heather Lang, Abigail Levine, Melanie Maar, Marilyn Maywald Yahel, Maddie Schimmel, EmmaGrace Skove-Epes, Tatyana Tenenbaum, Netta Yerushalmy, and Anonymous: Pierre Guilbault and Cori Kresge. Roulette’s annual electronic music festival, Mixology, will also make a reappearance with Michael J. Schumacher as curator. The four day festival will witness live performances from Olivia Block, Anne Guthrie, Greg Fox, Eli Keszler, Kenneth Kirschner, Jason Lescalleet, Daniel Neumann, and Stefan Tcherepnin, complimented by nightly installations from Mario de Vega, Cecilia Lopez, and Ben Manley. The final performance of Mixology will feature a dance installation from Liz Gerring with Michael J. Schumacher, Ursula Scherrer, and Leila Bordreuil. The month concludes with performances from avant-garde percussionist Susie Ibarra; musician / video artist Josiah Cuneo presenting The Paper Dance, a site-specific film and performance; a rare performance of Morton Feldman’s 1982 composition For John Cage from the piano and violin duo of Joe Houston and Aisha Orazbayeva; and American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME) curated by Meredith Monk.

March marks the beginning of Roulette’s residencies and commissions series for emerging experimental artists, featuring performances from saxophone quartet Battle Trance presenting Blade of Love and an evening with Chicago-based cellist, composer, and educator Tomeka Reid. Meredith Monk’s year-long curated performance series continues with clarinetist Don Byron performing works for quartet, singer-songwriter Robin Holcomb, and longtime Meredith Monk ensemble member Ellen Fisher. Taylor Ho Bynum’s PlusTet will perform music from their recent release on Firehouse 12 Records, followed by performances from seven-piece ensemble The Jazz Passengers and Kaufman Music Center’s youth ensemble Face The Music. Kayo Dot frontman Toby Driver will perform two sets of austere avant-folk, first as Madonnawhore, a duo of Keith Abrams and Driver, and secondly as String Noise, an avant-punk violin duo comprised of violinists Conrad Harris and Pauline Kim. The winter season concludes with two evenings of the String Orchestra of Brooklyn’s String Theories festival celebrating 21st century music for strings. The first evening will feature a portrait of composer Anna Clyne in collaboration with Mivos Quartet, followed by a newly commissioned evening-length orchestral work by the composers of the W4 New Music Collective.

Phill Niblock: 6 Hours of Music and Film

What: Roulette legend and intermedia artist Phill Niblock presents his annual 6-hour Winter Solstice concert.
When: Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $25/20 Online $20/15 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: General Admission $20, Members/Students/Seniors $15, $25/20 Tickets at the door

Brooklyn, NY – As the longest night of the year unfolds and the journey of our planet nears the point when Winter commences in the Northern Hemisphere, Roulette stages Phill Niblock’s annual Winter Solstice concert — six sublime hours of acoustic and electronic music and mixed media film and video in a live procession that charts the movement of our planet and the progress of ourselves through art and performance at its maximal best.

Niblock’s minimalistic drone approach to composition and music was inspired by the musical and artistic activities of New York in the 1960s, from the art of Mark Rothko, Carl Andre, Sol LeWitt, Donald Judd, and Robert Morris to the music of John Cage and Morton Feldman. Niblock’s music is an exploration of sound textures created by multiple tones in very dense, often atonal tunings (generally microtonal in conception) performed in long durations.

Phill Niblock is an intermedia artist using music, film, photography, video, and computers as his medium. Since the mid-1960s, he has been making music and intermedia performances which have been shown at numerous venues around the world, including The Museum of Modern Art, The Kitchen, The Institute of Contemporary Art in London, and World Music Institute at Merkin Hall. Since 1985, Niblock has been the director of the Experimental Intermedia Foundation in New York where he has been an artist and member since 1968. He is the producer of Music and Intermedia presentations at Experimental Intermedia since 1973 (with 1000 performances to date!) and the curator of EI’s XI Records label. Niblock’s music is available on the XI, Moikai, Mode and Touch labels. He is the recipient of the prestigious 2014 Foundation for Contemporary Arts John Cage award.

Ingrid Laubrock Septet: Serpentines Album Release

What: The Ingrid Laubrock Septet weaves together Laubrock's compositions with improvisation and live processing.
When: Thursday, December 15, 2016
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $25/20 Online $20/15 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: General Admission $20, Members/Students/Seniors $15, $25/20 Tickets at the door

Brooklyn, NY – Coinciding with the release of Serpentines on INTAKT Records, the Ingrid Laubrock Septet will present four compositions that straddle the boundaries of improvisation, new music and avant-jazz. Weaving together Laubrock’s compositions with live processing in multiple simultaneous layers, the four compositions will combine to create an imaginative and evocative whole.

Consisting of seven New York City-based musicians who are significant composers, performers, and improvisers in their own right, the Ingrid Laubrock Septet features the talents of Ingrid Laubrock on tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, and glockenspiel; Peter Evans on piccolo trumpet and trumpet; Miya Masaoka on koto; Craig Taborn on piano; Sam Pluta on electronics; Dan Peck on tuba; and Tyshawn Sorey on drums.

Originally from Germany, Ingrid Laubrock currently resides in Brooklyn, NY. Between 1989 and 2009 she was active as a saxophonist and composer in London, and has performed and/or recorded with Anthony Braxton, Dave Douglas, Kenny Wheeler, Jason Moran, Tim Berne, William Parker, Tom Rainey, Mary Halvorson, Kris Davis, Tyshawn Sorey, and Craig Taborn, and many others. Ingrid's current projects as a leader include Anti-House, Sleepthief, Ingrid Laubrock Orchestra, Ingrid Laubrock Sextet, and Ubatuba. She is a member of Anthony Braxton's Falling River Music Quartet, Nonet and 12+1tet, Tom Rainey Trio and Obbligato, Andrew Drury's Content Provider, Mary Halvorson Septet, Kris’ Davis Quintet, Nate Wooley’s Battle Pieces, and Luc Ex’ Assemblée. Ingrid was one of the featured soloists in Anthony Braxton’s opera Trillium J.

Featuring:
Ingrid Laubrock – Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Glockenspiel
Peter Evans – Piccolo Trumpet, Trumpet
Miya Masaoka – Koto
Craig Taborn – Piano
Sam Pluta – Electronics
Dan Peck – Tuba
Tyshawn Sorey – Drums

Yoshimio / Susie Ibarra / Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe Trio

What: The debut performance from a new trio consisting of Yoshimio, Susie Ibarra, and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe.
When: Friday, December 9, 2016
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $25/20 Online $20/15 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: General Admission $20, Members/Students/Seniors $15, $25/20 Tickets at the door

Brooklyn, NY – A first time meeting of a trio consisting of multi-instrumentalist Yoshimio (Boredoms / OOIOO), avant-garde percussionist Susie Ibarra, and modular synthesist Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe.

As an original member of BOREDOMS, one of Japan’s most radical experimental music groups, Yoshimio is a drummer and multi instrumentalist who dabbles in guitar, keyboard, trumpet, and vocal performance. She is the leader of the experimental band OOIOO and a member of Free Kitten with Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, and counts Hisham Bharoocha and The Flaming Lips among her collaborators. A multi-disciplinary artist, Yoshimio has contributed to innumerable session works and participated in many musical adventures outside of her usual projects. Outside of music, Yoshimio is the head designer / creative director for the fashion line Emeraldthirteen.

Percussionist Susie Ibarra is known for her innovative style and cultural dialogue as a composer, improviser and humanitarian. She is interested in the intersection of tradition and avant-garde and how this informs and inspires interdisciplinary art, education and public service. Ibarra creates live and immersive music that explores rhythm, Indigenous practices, and interaction with the natural world. A 2014 TEDSenior Fellow and Faculty member at Bennington College in Vermont, Ibarra teaches Percussion, Performance and at the Center for Advancement in Public Action with focused advocacy on Human Rights extended equally to women and girls and Rebuilding Cities with the Arts.

Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe is an artist and composer who works with his voice in the realm of spontaneous music, most often under the Lichens moniker. Modular synth patch pieces and tonal vocal work have been the focus of his live performances and recordings recently. His written work leans toward the themes of human relations to the natural/magical world, and the repetition of motifs. Through a series of artist residencies and commissions in 2015-15, Lowe has focused on performances related to Hypnagogic states and video synthesis, including collaboration with Jóhann Jóhannsson and French composer Ariel Kalma, as well as theatre/installation based work with artist Alexandra Wolkowicz.

Steve Swell's Kende Dreams

What: Trombonist Steve Swell presents Kende Dreams, an homage to Hungarian composer Béla Bartók.
When: Sunday, December 4, 2016
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $25/20 Online $20/15 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: General Admission $20, Members/Students/Seniors $15, $25/20 Tickets at the door

Brooklyn, NY – Steve Swell‘s curiosity and passion for extending the bounds of the vocabulary of the trombone has garnered him the reputation of being an asset to any ensemble. For this evening, Swell calls up his quintet — featuring Rob Brown on alto saxophone, Dave Burrell on piano, William Parker on bass, and Chad Taylor on drums and percussion — to present Kende Dreams, an homage to Béla Bartók. The piece sources its name from the “Kende,” the spiritual leader of the early Hungarian tribe known as the Maygars. Although thought to be wiped out, the spirit of the Kende strives to assert itself in art, music and throughout modern society. This program will feature some of New York’s premier improvisers playing music inspired by Bartok and Olivier Messiaen.

A native of Newark, NJ, Steve Swell has been an active member of the NYC music community since 1975. Having toured with and recorded with artists such as Anthony Braxton, Bill Dixon, Cecil Taylor and William Parker, Swell counts over 40 CDs to his name and is a featured artist on more than 100 other releases. In addition to running workshops around the world, Swell is a teaching artist in the New York City public school system focusing on special needs children.

Featuring:
Steve Swell – Trombone, Compositions
Rob Brown – Alto Saxophone
Dave Burrell – Piano
William Parker – Bass
Chad Taylor – Drums, Percussion

Curated by Meredith Monk: Missy Mazzoli // GABI

What: Missy Mazzoli and GABI present an evening of vocal exploration curated by Meredith Monk.
When: Thursday, December 1, 2016, 8pm
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $20/15 Online $25/20 Doors $50 Series Pass
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: General Admission $20, Members/Students/Seniors $15, $25/20 Tickets at the door, $50 Series Pass

Brooklyn, NY – Composers and performers Missy Mazzoli and GABI join forces for a rare night of solo and collaborative performances exploring the ethereal fringes of electronic music, classical virtuosity, glitchy vocals, and extended techniques.

For this performance, Missy Mazzoli brings her trademark blend of harmony-drenched electronic soundscapes, virtuosic piano performance, and eccentric minimalism to Roulette’s stage. Mazzoli will perform as a soloist and in new collaborations with Aaron Roche (guitar, voice), Ludovica Burtone (violin) and Gabrielle Herbst (voice). She will present new compositions for electronics, piano, synths, guitar, strings, and voice, accompanied by new films created for her work. Mazzoli is a Brooklyn-based composer and pianist who has received wide critical acclaim for her chamber, orchestral and operatic work. Her first chamber opera Song from the Uproar, based on the life of Swiss explorer Isabelle Eberhardt and featuring a libretto by Royce Vavrek, premiered at The Kitchen in March 2012. She is the founder and keyboardist for Victoire, an electro-acoustic band dedicated to performing her music. Mazzoli is a 2015 recipient of the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award.

GABI (née Gabrielle Herbst) performs new experimentations for voice and ensemble inspired by dissolving genres and incorporating her pop sensibility within an evolving landscape of opera. GABI will experiment with extended technique, textural looping, and theatrical performance to present new spatial music for two voices and two harps, as well as music for saxophone, piano, percussion, and electronics. Herbst’s formal training began at an early age, studying Balinese dance and gamelan in Indonesia while learning both the clarinet and piano. She continued her training at Bard College where she studied voice and composition under the tutelage of Joan Tower, Zeena Parkins and Marina Rosenfeld. Her work has been showcased at Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center, as well as Roulette, who in 2014 commissioned and premiered her first opera, Bodiless. GABI released her debut album, Sympathy, on Software Recording Company in 2015.

About the Series: Curated by Meredith Monk features performers selected by Monk who are following his or her own path, asking questions, finding places that fall between the cracks of genres or categories.

[DANCEROULETTE] Kyli Kleven: Triangle Theory

What: Three nights of Kyli Kleven’s Triangle Theory, a dance-based preoccupation with the meaning and depth of shape-making.
When: Monday + Tuesday + Wednesday, November 28-30, 2016
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $15/10 Online $20/15 Doors $50 Series Pass
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: General Admission $15, Members/Students/Seniors $10, $20/15 Tickets at the door, $50 Series Pass

Brooklyn, NY – Roulette presents three consecutive evenings of Kyli Kleven’s Triangle Theory, a dance-based preoccupation with the meaning and depth of shape-making, specifically of making meaning with/as triangles. The piece began as an exploration of dance’s relationship to form/precision, and has morphed into a dance-driven series of studies mixing craft values with pared down shapes/textures and abstract femme iconography. Making use of visual effects, foam props, and immersive projections, Triangle Theory pays homage to Wendy Carlos’ Beauty in the Beast album, Oskar Schlemmer’s Triadic Ballet, and the very first tripod erected in Nenana, Alaska, which, every spring since, has floated down the broken Tanana river pulling a line of triangles behind it.

Kyli Kleven is an experimental dance artist and video artist based in Brooklyn and originally hailing from Nenana, Alaska. She owes much of her point-of-view to her participation in the art-making practices of Kim Brandt, Ryan McNamara, Jillian Peña, Milka Djordjevich, Jen Monson, Jen Rosenblit, Jen Allen, Kirstie Simson, and many others. She also worked extensively with Our Dads, a dance-making collaborative project with Stevie May, Tess Dworman, and Caitlin Marz, and as a video artist for knitwear designer Stephen West. She studied dance and gender studies at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was a 2008 DanceWEB scholar at ImPulsTanz.

The ongoing [DANCEROULETTE] series reflects Roulette’s commitment to presenting experimental dance held since the organization’s founding in 1978, particularly the collaborative efforts of composers and choreographers exploring the relationship between sound and movement, choreography and composition.

Featuring:
Lydia Adler-Okrent
Jessica Cook
Tess Dworman
Angie Pittman