In this studio visit, Roulette TV visits William Hooker at his house to discuss his upcoming performance at Roulette, Touch: Soul and Service.
Touch: Soul and Service is a work for music, poetry, spoken word, dance, and film directed and composed by American jazz drummer and poet William Hooker. The piece is a sequence of four events with original compositions for duet and trio and film accompaniment. This is the third in a series of multi-disciplinary projects that Hooker has presented at Roulette, with past performances including 2018’s The Great Migration and 2016’s EVIDENCE: The Baldwin Suite.
This performance marks the premiere of a new film created by Hooker and acclaimed filmmaker Phill Niblock, accompanied by a live score performed by Hooker (solo drums).
William Hooker has a long history of premiering work at Roulette. Beginning in 1988, his rich interdisciplinary performances incorporating dance, music, visuals, poetry, and historical texts have illustrated the Great Migration – the historical movement of African Americans from the American South to points north during the years of 1935–1950, the life of activist and writer James Baldwin, and the work of novelist Richard Wright. TOUCH: Soul and Service, the third in a series of multi-disciplinary performances which included 2018’s The Great Migration and 2016’s EVIDENCE: The Baldwin Suite was scheduled to premiere on March 15, 2020 and was the first show suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hooker shot a studio visit with Roulette TV in the weeks prior and Chimes will be his first concert at Roulette since.