A double bill opened by Dominican-American saxophonist, composer, and former Roulette Awarded Artist Alfredo Colón, who shares a new set of works for his quintet, followed by San Francisco-born vibraphonist/trombonist Selendis Sebastian Alexander Johnson, who presents her 20-piece big band of musicians and friends who have been playing together regularly for the last 2 years.

Alfredo Colón Quintet
Alfredo Colón alto Saxophone, EWI, flute
Ryan Easter trumpet
Lex Korten piano
Steve Williams bass
Connor Parks drums

Samantha Kochis flute/piccolo
Chris Ferrari clarinet
Lemuel Marc, James Worsey, Caylie Davis, Will Evans trumpets
Arjan Singh Dogra, Caleb Smith, AJ Medeiros, Andre Perlman trombones
Francesca H, Josh Boucicaut alto saxophones
Nathan Nakadegawa-Lee, Francisco de la Garza tenor saxophones
Vivek Menon, Jackson Earles violins
Rocío Sánchez cello
Gían Pérez, Christoph Götzen guitars
Hans Young Binter piano
Caroline Morton, Finn Carroll basses
Joshua Mathews, Orchid McRae drums

Dominican-American saxophonist and composer Alfredo Colón is a proud New York City native. His playing has been described as authoritative and fiery yet mournful and melodic. Drawing on his interest in Dominican folklore and the works of visionary saxophonists Albert Ayler and Ornette Coleman, Colon creates a musical atmosphere that highlights beauty by framing it in disarray.

Colón has collaborated with artists such as Amirtha Kidambi, Moses Sumney, Dawn Richard, Cautious Clay, Arturo O’Farrill, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Harish Raghavan, Aaron Parks, William Parker and Henry Threadgill. He has presented works at spaces such as NYC Winter Jazz Fest, The Jazz Gallery, Bronx Arts Space, and Roulette Intermedium. In 2020, Colon was awarded the Jazz Coalition Commission Fund Grant. He was awarded Roulette Intermedium’s Van Lier Fellowship in 2022 and was a Roulette Resident Artist in 2023.

The Selendis Sebastian Alexander Johnson Big Band started 2 years ago as a project at The New School where Johnson returned immediately upon graduation to work as a guest professor leading a big band class twice a week to perform Cal Massey’s Black Liberation Movement Suite, and Fred Ho’s Struggle for a New World Suite. From there Johnson continued to book big band shows performing excerpts from those works, as well as Duke Ellington & Monk pieces, connected together with long conductioned and non-conductioned improvisations. The personnel are always shifting between an always expanding pool of about 35 people right now.