Mali Obomsawin (Deerlady) is a genre-defying bassist, composer, vocalist, and proud citizen of Odanak First Nation who “aims to shine a light on the largely hidden history of Indigenous jazz” (WNYC). Her music has been featured in the acclaimed FX series Reservation Dogs, and she composed the score for the Academy Award-nominated National Geographic documentary, Sugarcane (2024).

Obamsawin and her band perform live at Roulette, accompanying a screening of Sugarcane. The debut feature documentary from Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, this powerful film investigates the abuse and disappearance of children at an Indian residential school run by the Catholic Church in Canada, sparking a national outcry and a reckoning on the adjacent Sugarcane Reserve.

The evening is coproduced by Roulette and World Music Institute

Tickets and lineup will be available via WMI.
Roulette members receive a discount – please email membership@roulette.org for more information.

Mali Obomsawin‘s bold artistry punctures the complacency of colonial time with irresistible sound. An international touring artist and celebrated accompanist, her current projects include her eponymous experimental ensemble, the rock band Deerlady, and the Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band. Obomsawin’s expansive artistic practice models the complexity of 21st century Indigenous art.

Obomsawin has been blessed to study and perform with notable musicians including Esperanza Spalding, Raven Chacon, Taylor Ho Bynum, Dave Holland, Angelica Sanchez, Kris Davis, Billy Hart, Jeff Parker, Peter Apfelbaum, Craig Harris, Bill Cole, Althea Sully-Cole, Tomas Fujiwara, Mike Formanek, and more.

Julian Brave NoiseCat is a writer, filmmaker and student of Salish art and history. His first documentary, SUGARCANE, directed alongside Emily Kassie, follows an investigation into abuse and missing children at the Indian residential school NoiseCat’s family was sent to near Williams Lake, British Columbia. NoiseCat is a proud member of the Canim Lake Band Tsq’escen and descendant of the Lil’Wat Nation of Mount Currie.

Emily Kassie is an Emmy® and Peabody®-nominated investigative journalist and filmmaker. Kassie shoots, directs and reports stories on geopolitical conflict, humanitarian crises, corruption and the people caught in the crossfire. Her work for The New York Times, PBS Frontline, Netflix, and others ranges from drug and weapons trafficking in the Saharan desert, to immigrant detention in the United States.