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Artist Profiles
Matana Roberts
Martin Longley
Martin Longley also writes for the BBC Music website, Jazzwise and The Wire magazines, plus the NYC Jazz Record and Coventry Telegraph newspapers.Illumination is much less specific than Coin Coin. "It's my attempt to have a little balance with that as I have found doing very culturally specific creative exploration has trapped me in at times." The gig will also feature Damion Reid (drums), Shelley Burgon (harp), Graham Haynes (cornet) and Gabriel Guerreo (piano). The subject matter will be contrastingly abstract: "Illumination is based on research I am digging into about dream states and the act of dreaming while in sleep. There's so much that has been done in research on this topic and I have found some really interesting recurring themes in my own dream states, that I'm exploring in this project. I've been keeping dream journals for a long time. It occurred to me that the stories and recurrent themes showing up could actually be represented in sound in a way that might be interesting to me for further personal exploration. I also like the human universality that this approach could possibly represent. I like to compose sound, arrange sound and improvise sound almost as if molding an object of sorts. But I don't like having to sacrifice one for the sake of the other and believe that at least in my vision they can all co-exist in a way that really represents what I hear in my head, though this has not always proven to be successful!"
Recommended Listening:
Sticks and Stones, Eponymous (482 Music, 2002)
Sticks and Stones, Shed Grace (Thrill Jockey, 2003)
Matana Roberts, The Calling (Utech, 2004)
Burnt Sugar, If You Can't Dazzle Them with Your Brilliance, Then Baffle Them With Your Blisluth (Trugoid, 2004)
Matana Roberts, Lines for Lacy (s/r, 2006)
Matana Roberts, The Chicago Project (Central Control, 2008)
