Roulette presents MEPHISTA, an all women supergroup featuring the colorful piano of Sylvie Courvoisier, the groundbreaking laptop electronics of Ikue Mori and the dynamic drumming of Susie Ibarra. Mephista is one of the most spectacular new music groups working today, a perfect blend of heart, fire and mind.Separately these three have worked with some of the most important musicians in new music (Derek Bailey, William Parker, John Zorn, Fred Frith, Mike Patton, Dave Douglas, etc.)-together they have created a whole new kind of music spanning the worlds of rock, classical, jazz and electronica. Sensitive, powerful and exotic.
Sylvie Courvoisier is an award winning pianist ,composer, sideman and band leader. Courvoisier has led several groups over the years and has recorded over 40 records for different labels, notably ECM , Tzadik and Intakt records. She has performed and recorded with John Zorn, Mark Feldman, Yusef Lateef, Ikue Mori, Tony Oxley, Tim Berne, Joey Baron,Joëlle Léandre, Herb Robertson, Butch Morris, Tom Rainey, Mark Dresser, Ellery Eskelin, Lotte Anker, Fred Frith, Michel Godard, Mark Nauseef among others. She has received several commissions to write music for concerts, radio, dance and theater. Her works include:” Concerto for electric guitar and chamber orchestra”; “Balbutiements” for vocal quartet and soprano.
Drummer/composer/laptop pioneer Ikue Mori moved to New York in 1977 and has since launched a multi-faceted career as a musician. After forming seminal no-wave band DNA with Arto Lindsay, Mori used drum machines to create her own highly sensitive signature style of improvisation and experimental music; she received the Distinctive Award for Prix Ars Electronica Digital Music in 1999. Mori’s activities in the realm of music and media are wide-ranging and diverse, including performing in several bands and collaborating with international artists Current groups include “Mephista”, a quartet with Kim Gordon, DJ Olive and Jim O’Rourke, a duo project with Zeena Parkins, a Trio with Haco and Aki Onda and Hemophiliac with John Zorn and Mike Patton.
Composer/Percussionist Susie Ibarra has performed as a soloist and collaborator in various configurations. Known for her innovative style Ibarra creates cultural dialogue through her music. She is a Yamaha, Vic Firth and Paiste Artist and has recorded over 40 records as a leader and co-leader. Ibarra composes and performs regularly with her collaborative projects with composer/percussionist Roberto Rodriguez in their eco-electronica duo Electric Kulintang, chidrens world music with Mundo Niños, Susie Ibarra Quartet with featured soloists Bridget Kibbey, Jennifer Choi and Kathleen Supove and Ibarra, as well as various interdisciplinary art collaborations with poet Yusef Komunyakaa and visual artist Makoto Fujimura.