fbpx

Category: Blogcast

loadbang: The Music That Defines

Tuesday, December 4, 2018
Performance 8pm / Doors 7pm

What: Innovative chamber ensemble loadbang celebrate a decade of performance with a concert featuring works from their unique repertoire cultivated over the last 10 years.
When: Tuesday, December 4, 2018
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $18 presale, $25 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: http://bit.ly/FA181204

Brooklyn, NY – The Music That Defines is the first of three loadbang at 10 concerts celebrating the ensemble’s 10th anniversary season. loadbang will perform works that have been cornerstones of their unique repertoire developed over the last 10 years. Music by Charles Wuorinen, Reiko Füting, Eve Beglarian, Andy Akiho, Hannah Lash, and Alexndre Lusqui.

loadbang
Andy Kozar: trumpet
Will Lang: trombone
Jeff Gavett: baritone voice
Carlos Cordeiro: bass clarinet

New York City-based new music chamber group loadbang is building a new kind of music for mixed ensemble of trumpet, trombone, bass clarinet, and baritone voice. Since their founding in 2008, they have been praised as “an extra-cool new music group” and “exhilarating” by the Baltimore Sun, “inventive” by The New York Times and called a “formidable new music force” by TimeOutNY. Their unique lung-powered instrumentation has provoked diverse responses from composers, resulting in a repertoire comprising an inclusive picture of composition today. In New York City, they have been recently presented by and performed at Miller Theater, Symphony Space, MATA and the Avant Music Festival; on American tours at Da Camera of Houston, Rothko Chapel, and the Festival of New American Music at Sacramento State University; and internationally at Ostrava Days (Czech Republic), China-ASEAN Music Week (China) and Shanghai Symphony Hall (China).

Sylvie Courvoisier Trio // Nate Wooley: Battle Pieces IV

Monday, December 3, 2018
Performance 8pm / Doors 7pm

What: Sylvie Courvoisier premieres a new work with her Trio, while Nate Wooley presents the next iteration of his ongoing Battle Pieces project.
When: Monday, December 3, 2018
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $18 presale, $25 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: http://bit.ly/FA181203

Brooklyn, NY – Composers Sylvie Courvoisier and Nate Wooley return to Roulette for a two-part presentation of new work. Intrepid pianist Sylvie Courvoisier appears alongside bassist Drew Gress and percussionist Kenny Wollesen as a trio, before joining Nate Wooley for the return of Battle Pieces. In its fourth iteration at Roulette, this ever-expanding set of compositions began in 2014 as a commission for Anthony Braxton’s Tri-Centric Music Festival and is first within a system Wooley calls “social music.” The piece embodies Wooley’s desire to explore kaleidoscopic sonic boundaries through fearless playing. Wooley and Courvoisier are joined by improvisers Ingrid Laubrock on saxophones and Matt Moran on vibraphone.

Sylvie Courvoisier Trio
Sylvie Courvoisier: piano
Drew Gress: bass
Kenny Wollesen: drums

Battle Pieces IV
Nate Wooley: trumpet
Sylvie Courvoisier: piano
Ingrid Laubrock: saxophones
Matt Moran: vibraphone

Nate Wooley was born in 1974 in Clatskanie, Oregon, a town of 2,000 people in the timber country of the Pacific Northwestern corner of the U.S. He began playing trumpet professionally with his father, a big band saxophonist, at the age of 13. His time in Oregon, a place of relative quiet and slow time reference, instilled in Nate a musical aesthetic that has informed all of his music making for the past 20 years.

Sylvie Courvoisier is a pianist, composer and improviser. Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, Courvoisier moved to New York in 1998 and has lived in Brooklyn since that time. Courvoisier has led multiple groups over the years and has recorded 8 albums as a band leader and 50 albums (25 as a co-leader and 25 as a side-person) for different labels, notably ECM, Tzadik and Intakt Records. Both Wooley and Courvoisier have a long history with Roulette and have presented many of their most important works with the organization.

Webber/Morris Big Band: Reverses

Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Performance 8pm / Doors 7pm

What: Nineteen musicians from the Brooklyn improvisation community play two sets of music by Anna Webber and Angela Morris.
When: Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $18 presale, $25 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: http://bit.ly/FA181127

Brooklyn, NY – In a program developed over five years, conductor-composer-tenor saxophonists Anna Webber and Angela Morris bring together nineteen musicians for a monumental evening of improvised music. Webber and Morris aim to highlight the virtuosity of this ensemble of young musicians, with pieces that draw influence from diverse sources including poetry, early blues, games of chance, number theory, and life experience. In the spirit of their mentors, John Hollenbeck and Darcy James Argue, Webber and Morris, compose music that blurs the lines between composed and improvised while maintaining a strong narrative arc. This performance is a precursor to the ensemble’s debut album, to be released by Greenleaf Music.

WEBBER/MORRIS BIG BAND
Angela Morris: conductor, tenor saxophone, flute
Anna Webber: conductor, tenor saxophone, flute
Jay Rattman: alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute
Charlotte Greve: alto saxophone, clarinet
Adam Schneit: tenor saxophone, clarinet
Lisa Parrott: baritone saxophone, bass clarinet
John Lake: trumpet
Jake Henry: trumpet
Adam O’Farrill: trumpet
Kenny Warren: trumpet
Tim Vaughn: trombone
Nick Grinder: trombone
Jen Baker: trombone
Reginald Chapman: bass trombone
Patricia Brennan: vibraphone
Dustin Carlson: guitar
Marc Hannaford: piano
Adam Hopkins: bass
Jeff Davis: drums

Anna Webber and Angela Morris, two composer-performers whose music overturns expectations for the jazz big band, have co-led this ensemble of stellar New York improvisers since 2015. The band’s instrumentation is a jazz staple, but the composers’ respective pieces are equally rooted in minimalism, pop, noise, and other music of the past century or so. Integrating improvisation and composed material in unorthodox ways and using extra-musical sources – such as poetry or mathematics – to form the foundation of new works, the traditional big band sound mutates into something unpredictable.

Reckoning: Music and Motion

Sunday, November 18, 2018
Performance 8pm / Doors 7pm

What: Composer Ross Feller and choreographer Kora Radella present an evening of new music and motion featuring violin duo String Noise, pianist Adam Tendler, and movement by Anna Pinault, Tim Bendernagel, and Chris Seibert.
When: Sunday, November 18, 2018
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $18 presale, $25 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets:https://roulet…00000MbHZoEAN

Brooklyn, NY – Known for their intense and poetic collaborative work, composer/saxophonist Ross Feller and choreographer/performer Kora Radella present an evening of new work at Roulette which includes world premiere compositions played by the violin duo String Noise, pianist Adam Tendler, and a saxophone quartet comprised of Johnny Butler, Caroline Davis, Matt Nelson, and Feller.

In the same evening of performance, the NYC premieres of the solo Sequinza, danced by Tim Bendernagel, will be met full-force by the duet Force Majeure performed by Pauline Kim Harris of String Noise, and Tendler. Wrest will be danced by Anna Pinault with an electronic score, and an excerpt of the evening-length tour de force, Reckoning, will be performed in this NYC premiere by Chris Seibert and Radella. The evening will be further brightened by improvisations by the Snow Trio consisting of Nick Didkovsky, Michael Lytle, and Feller.

Music
String Noise: Conrad Harris and Pauline Kim Harris, violin
Adam Tendler, piano
Nick Didkovsky, guitar
Michael Lytle, bass clarinet
Johnny Butler, saxophone
Caroline Davis, saxophone
Ross Feller, saxophone
Matt Nelson, saxophone

Movement
Tim Bendernagel
Anna Pinault
Kora Radella
Chris Seibert

100 for 100: Musical Decades of Freedom

Sunday, November 11, 2018
Performance 8pm / Doors 7pm

What: International Contemporary Ensemble performs 100 for 100: Musical Decades of Freedom.
When: Sunday, November 18, 2018
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $18 presale, $25 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: http://bit.ly/FA181118

Brooklyn, NY – The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) partners with the PWM Edition and Polish Cultural Institute New York to present 100 for 100: Musical Decades of Freedom at Roulette. Conductor Steven Schick will lead performances of works by five contemporary Polish composers in celebration of the Polish centennial of independence: Paweł Mykietyn, Tadeusz Wielecki, Lidia Zielinska, Aleksander Nowak, and Agata Zubel.

Program:
Agata Zubel: Double Battery
Tadeusz Wielecki: Liczne odnogi rozgałęzionych splotów
Aleksandr Nowak: Quantemporette
Pawel Mykietyn: Klave for harpsichord and ensemble
Lidia Zielinska: Siedem wysp Conrada

The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) is an artist collective that is transforming the way music is created and experienced. As performers, curators, and educators, ICE explores how new music intersects with communities across the world. The ensemble’s 35 members are featured as soloists, chamber musicians, commissioners, and collaborators with the foremost musical artists of our time. Works by emerging composers have anchored ICE’s programming since its founding in 2001, and the group’s recordings and digital platforms highlight the many voices that weave music’s present. A recipient of the American Music Center’s Trailblazer Award and the Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, ICE was also named the 2014 Musical America Ensemble of the Year. The group currently serves as artists-in-residence at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ Mostly Mozart Festival, and previously led a five-year residency at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. ICE was featured at the Ojai Music Festival from 2015 to 2017, and at recent festivals abroad such as gmem-CNCM-marseille and Vértice at Cultura UNAM, Mexico City. Other performance stages have included the Park Avenue Armory, The Stone, ice floes at Greenland’s Diskotek Sessions, and boats on the Amazon River.

Joseph C. Phillips Jr & Numinous: The Grey Land

Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Performance 8pm / Doors 7pm

What: Joseph C. Phillips Jr and Numinous premiere the intuitive and introspective mono-opera The Grey Land.
When: Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $18 presale, $25 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: http://bit.ly/FA181016

Brooklyn, NY – Roulette is proud to present the world premiere of Joseph C. Phillips’s mono-opera The Grey Land, which explores themes of humanity and identity in relation to race, class, and power through the lens of a black mother’s experiences navigating American society with her son. The Grey Land ruminates on longstanding systemic societal, economic, and cultural issues exemplified by the recent spate of police shootings and subsequent protests, and how they have become part of a wider public consciousness. The piece features 28-piece orchestral ensemble Numinous, as well as soprano Rebecca L. Hargrove, choreography by Edisa Weeks, and film and video work by Malik Isasis & Xuan Zhang.

Joseph C. Phillips Jr.: Composer, Conductor
Rebecca L. Hargrove: Soprano soloist
Kenneth Browning: Narrator
Malik Isasis & Xuan Zhang: Video/Film
Edisa Weeks: Choreography
Michael Hammond: Electronics
Jay Bouey: Dancer

Phillips defines his multifaceted work as mixed-music – a term inspired by mixed-race people who have traits and characteristics that come from individual parents, but blend to create something unique and new. Phillips’s composions not limited or defined by genre but rather are an amalgamation, transmuted into a singular and individual style. Numinous, a flexible ensemble was formed in 2000 to perform Phillips’s compositions. Their music generates emotions in the listener that resonate with beauty, mystery, and wonder in order to challenge, enlighten, and refresh.

Darius Jones: For The People

Darius Jones: For The People
Monday, November 5, 2018
Performance 8pm / Doors 7pm

What: Part concert and part community event, For the People, organized by Darius Jones in collaboration with The Wet Ink Large Ensemble brings together musicians and activists on the eve of the upcoming midterm election.
When: Monday, November 5, 2018
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $18 presale, $25 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: http://bit.ly/FA181105

Brooklyn, NY – For the People is a community-based event and concert organized by Darius Jones on the eve of the November midterm election. The evening is centered around a collection of compositions by Jones—in collaboration with The Wet Ink Large Ensemble—that uphold the belief that artists have the duty and power to inform, inspire, and empower their community. The evening includes the world premiere of Being Caged In ICE, followed by the second performance ever of America The Joke, and concludes with the return of LawNOrder (pronounced “law no order”), a game piece examining social justice and American History in which each player represents a separate character and is handed a law to follow at the beginning of the piece. Onnesha Roychoudhuri, Brooklyn-based activist, editor, educator, and author of The Marginalized Majority: Claiming Our Power in a Post-Truth America to speak.

Appearances by:
Eric Wubbels: piano
Ian Antonio: percussion
Josh Modney: violin
Weston Olencki: trombone
Amirtha Kidambi: voice
Gelsey Bell: voice
Nina Dante: voice
Sugar Vendil: piano
Sean Conly: bass
Michael Vatcher: drums
Daniel Givens: electronics
Jean Carla Rodea: voice
Shelley Nicole: voice
Jonathan Finlayson: trumpet
Leia Slosberg: flute
Jessica Jones: tenor sax
Sam Newsome: soprano sax

For more information about this project visit votefordarius.com.

Darius Jones is a critically acclaimed alto saxophonist and composer. In 2008, Jones was awarded the Van Lier Fellowship by Roulette, which he used to launch the Elizabeth-Caroline Unit, a project dedicated to new works for voice. Roulette continued to support Jones’ work through a Jerome Foundation Commission, awarding Jones an Artist-in-Residence opportunity for the Elizabeth-Caroline Unit to premiere his vocal composition, The Oversoul Manual, in2014. Jones made his compositional debut at Carnegie Hall with The Oversoul Manual in October 2014. In 2013, Jones was nominated for Alto Saxophonist of the Year, and for Up & Coming Artist of the Year two years in a row by the Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards. He was one of Jazz Times’ Debut Artists of the Year for 2009, and his 2012 release, Book of Mæ’bul (Another Kind of Sunrise), was listed among NPR’s Best Top 10 Jazz Albums of that year.

Elliott Sharp: IrRational Music

Elliott Sharp: IrRational Music
Thursday, November 1, 2018
Performance 8pm / Doors 7pm

What: A concert celebrating the release of Elliott Sharp’s forthcoming album Dispersion and the publication of his book, IrRational.
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $18 presale, $25 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: http://bit.ly/FA181101

Brooklyn, NY – Seminal composer and multi-instrumentalist Elliott Sharp returns to Roulette to mark two important forthcoming releases: IrRational Music, Sharp’s memoir and rumination on thought, music, and art published by Terra Nova Books with Found Sound Nation, and the release of his latest album Dispersion, a collaboration with the Vendi Ensemble on Mode Records.

The evening features a solo set by Sharp on 8-string guitarbass, playing selections from his album Octal, in addition to the realization of his graphic score Mare Undarum. The second half of the program brings SysOrk, Sharp’s ensemble dedicated to performing algorithmic scores and graphic notations together with the members of Veni Ensemble to perform three of the pieces included on the Dispersion: The Hidden Variable, Dispersion of Seeds, and Flexagons. Sharp and Veni’s collaboration comes out their residency in Kosice, Slovakia in 2015.

A central figure in the avant-garde and experimental music scene in New York City for over 30 years, Elliott Sharp has released over eighty-five recordings ranging from orchestral music to blues, jazz, noise, no wave rock, and techno music. He is is a 2014 Guggenheim Fellow, and a 2014 Fellow at Parson’s Center for Transformative Media. He received the 2015 Berlin Prize in Musical Composition from the American Academy in Berlin.

SysOrk
Elliott Sharp – Guitar, Clarinet
Rachel Golub – Violin
Shayna Dulberger
Terry L. Green II

Veni Ensemble
Brano Dugovič – Clarinet
David Danel – Violin
Fero Kiraly – Synth
Lenka Novosedlikova – Percussion
Juraj Berats – Guitar
Ivan Siller – Piano
Daniel Matej – Objects

Roulette’s 40th Anniversary Gala Honoring Hal Willner

Roulette’s 40th Anniversary Gala Honoring Hal Willner
Thursday, October 25, 2018

What: Roulette honors eclectic and prolific musician/producer Hal Willner at its 40th Anniversary Gala
When: Thursday, October 25, 2018. 7–11pm.
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: Remaining tables start at $5,000, Tickets at $100
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: https://roulette.org/gala/

Roulette’s Director Jim Staley and Board of Directors are thrilled to announce Roulette’s 40th Anniversary Gala honoring eclectic and prolific musician/producer Hal Willner. The evening will feature performances by artists from Willner’s extensive career, including avant-pop icon Laurie Anderson, incomparable performance artist and filmmaker Kembra Pfahler, Joan Wasser (Joan as Police Woman) of Antony and the Johnsons, composer and slide-trumpeter Steven Bernstein, SNL Musical Directors Lenny Pickett and Eli Brueggemann, singer Janine Nichols, singer/songwriter Teddy Thompson, actress Chloe Webb, saxophonist Doug Wieselman, and more.

Mr. Willner’s unexpected approach to curation and music production has made him one of the most refreshing musical connectors of our time. His many concept albums and live events celebrate unlikely collaborations—his Kurt Weill tribute records feature the likes of Sting, Charlie Haden, Lou Reed, Nick Cave; while his Amarcord Nino Rota tribute album features Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Bill Frisell, Muhal Richard Abrams; his Disney album features performances by artists like Sun Ra and Ringo Starr; and his live events bring together dozens of leading creative voices across film, comedy, music, and theater. He has been the sketch music producer of Saturday Night Live for the past 30 years and is currently working on his next concept album celebrating the music of T. Rex.

All proceeds from the evening go to the creation of Roulette’s Future Fund—a multi-purpose reserve fund to help build a strong, sustainable future for our organization and the artists we present. Support for the Future Fund will be matched up to $150,000 by the Howard Gilman Foundation.

BENEFIT COMMITTEE CO-CHAIRS
Meredith Monk
Joseph Walker

BENEFIT COMMITTEE
Sean Buffington
MV Carbon
Dick Connette
Mario Diaz de Leon
Robert Flynt
Paul + Rochelle Gertner
Mary MacArthur Griffin
Simon Hanes
Anne Hemenway
Pauline Kim
John King
Gordon Knox
John Madsen
Stéphanie Palmer
Zeena Parkins
Catherine Pavlov
Tomeka Reid
Ned Rothenberg
Jason Weiss
Scott Wollschleger

 

Ken Thomson: Sextet Album Release Show

Ken Thomson: Sextet Album Release Show
Sunday, October 7, 2018
Performance 8pm / Doors 7pm

What: Ken Thomson debuts new project and album: Sextet on New Focus Recordings.
When: Sunday, October 7, 2018
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $18 presale, $25 Doors
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: http://bit.ly/FA181007

Brooklyn, NY – Roulette welcomes Brooklyn-based clarinetist, saxophonist, and composer Ken Thomson for an evening of music featuring the New York premieres of  “Ripple” and “Pall”, followed by a performance by Thomson’s ensemble project, Sextet as they celebrate their latest album, out now on New Focus Recordings.

“Ripple” for bass clarinet and string quartet (2017)
“Pall” for clarinet and string quartet (2018)
New York Premieres

Ken Thomson, clarinet
Katie Hyun and Lena Vidulich, violins
Wendy Richman, viola
Jeffrey Zeigler, cello

Ken Thomson: Sextet
Ken Thomson,alto saxophone
Anna Webber, tenor saxophone
Russ Johnson, trumpet
Nick Finzer, trombone
Adam Armstrong, bass
Daniel Dor, drums

Ken Thomson is a staple of NYC’s contemporary music and jazz community, known for performing with the Bang on a Can All-Stars, and composing and playing with the bands Slow/Fast and Gutbucket. He has written music for the JACK Quartet, Ashley Bathgate, American Composers Orchestra, and others. Thomson is known for a unique voice that blends a variety of styles, with the Chicago Reader exclaiming that “few musicians travel as assuredly and meaningfully between jazz and new music as saxophonist Ken Thomson.” Guided by a desire to create music in which composition and improvisation are equally important and codependent, Sextet is the latest in a series of recordings the composer has made unifying these traditions. With this project, Thomson aims to fuse the  intensity and thematic cohesiveness of modern composition with jazz’s spontaneity and openness.