In this studio visit, bassist and tape collage artist Shayna Dulberger discusses her upcoming show at Roulette as part of her Jerome Residency. She will be presenting three sets representing her most formative ensembles and projects. They include Hot Date, Warrior of Light, and Dromedaries.
HOT DATE is noise project has been a crucial development in Dulberger’s artistic path. Here she abandons the bass to explore found sounds and electronic manipulations with tape. Her collages explore themes of nostalgia and commercialism by using samples of R&B singers, Heavy Metal, Gamelan, confident celebrity interviews, feminist discussions, international depression awareness PSA’s, grief management, hypnotism and television from the 1990’s. HOT DATE is representative of Dulberger’s chaotic mind and sense of humor for the absurd world we live in. Welcome and Dulberger have been recording and touring as HOT DATE since 2013. They have four releases on Talking Skull Records (Montreal) and Babysunghxing Tapes (New York).
Warrior of the Light is an evolving, ongoing collaboration between, dancer-choreographer Djassi DaCosta Johnson and Dulberger. The base of their creative impulse for the work is rooted in inspiration from the manual Warrior of the Light, by Paolo Coehlo which speaks to personal strength and poise when faced with constant war and struggle. We live in a time where we are constantly reminded of war, struggle, inequality, and the rapid decline of mother earth.
Dromedaries is a Philadelphia/Brooklyn-based trio who first played together in this format in 2014. The three musicians share an approach to improvisation that is grounded in technical virtuosity, instrumental physicality, and a rigorous approach to form. Stated differently: they climb deep into their instruments and play hard to reward listeners for their time. All three have performed with and been mentored by elders of the jazz avant-garde. Each performs solo and leads their own projects, and each has long-standing collaborations across a range of genres. Their first album, recorded by Eugene Lew in Philadelphia in 2015, was released in 2017 on independent cassette label Already Dead Tapes.
Shayna Dulberger has been living and performing in the NYC area since 2003. You can catch her slapping upright bass in her old timey band Nifty Knuckles, rocking out on electric bass in band Chaser and exploring textures and found sounds on tape collages in noise project HOT DATE. Dulberger has appeared on over a dozen recordings mostly in the free jazz genre. She has performed in ensembles led by William Parker, Ras Moshe, Bill Cole, Charles Gayle, Jonathan Moritz and Chris Welcome. She plays electric bass on Cellular Chaos’s record Diamond Teeth Clenched (Skin Graft). Dulberger (b. 1983) is from Mahopac, NY. She attended Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division in High School and was awarded a Bachelor of Music from Mason Gross School of The Arts Conservatory, Rutgers University where she majored in Jazz Performance. Aside from performing she currently teaches at Brooklyn Conservatory.