Results for "Matana Roberts"

Matana Roberts

Matana Roberts is a dynamic saxophonist, composer and improviser, who tries to expose in her music the mystical roots and spiritual traditions of African American creative expression. A Chicago native, she was fortunate enough to be surrounded by elder musicians who showed her by distinct example the importance of listening to one's personal creative voice while at the same time using the profound and many layered traditions of jazz and improvised musics to act only as her creative guide, not as her creative definer. By using their mentorship, she has been able to craft a voice and creative focus that truly speaks to her own true artistic individuality. She feels strongly that her music should not only reflect the many colors and moods of universal human emotions, but that it should also testify, critique, document, and respond to the many socio-economic, historical, and cultural inequalities that exist not only in this country, but all over the world. Her second recording collaboration with bassist Joshua Abrams and drummer/ percussionist Chad Taylor - known as sticks&stones was released to critical acclaim on Thrill Jockey records in June of 2004.( www.thrilljockey.com) She has played alongside such musical luminaries as Steve Lacy, Eugene Chadbourne,Hery Grimes, Hannah Marcus, Fred Anderson, Nicole Mitchell, Jeff Parker, Robert Barry, Joe Maneri, Miya Masaoka, Vijay Iyer, David Boykins, and Ralph Alessi. Matana is currently working on a recording of “live electronic” solo compositions, a string project to be premiered in October 2004, and is collaborating with wordsmith Reg E. Gaines and tap dancer Savion Glover on a project that explores the legacy of saxophonist John Coltrane. She is also an associate member of the A.A.C.M.--Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. Matana is also on the faculty of S.I.M.--School For Improvised Music.

Logan Richardson: To Boldly Go Where No Jazz Has Gone Before

by Chris May
March 8, 2021

In a 2016 interview, jny: Kansas City-born alto saxophonist Logan Richardson said: “Jazz will constantly change because there's constantly a new us, new times. There will always be a fight from the conformists--but they don't represent where the tradition is coming from." Richardson was talking not long after the release of his adventurous Blue Note album, ...

Logan Richardson: AfroFuturism

by Chris May
February 26, 2021

In a 2016 interview, Kansas City-born alto saxophonist Logan Richardson said: “Jazz will constantly change because there's constantly a new us, new times. There will always be a fight from the conformists--but they don't represent where the tradition is coming from." Richardson was talking not long after the release of his adventurous Blue Note album, Shift. ...

Saxophone Colossi: An Alternative Top Ten Banging Albums

by Chris May
February 18, 2021

Miles Davis once said you could tell the history of jazz in four words: Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker. You might want to add John Coltrane, you might even want to add Davis. But however you cut it, saxophones and trumpets have been the flag bearers of the music. Trumpets got things rolling and saxophones came into ...

I Don't Hear Nothin' But The Blues: I Don't Hear Nothin' But The Blues Volume 3: Anatomical Snuffbox

by Karl Ackermann
October 26, 2020

The prolific and eclectic saxophonist/composer Jon Irabagon finds his most uninhibited side with his I Donʼt Hear Nothinʼ but the Blues (IDHNBTB) group, one he aptly describes as his “brutal ensemble." I Don't Hear Nothin' but the Blues Volume 3: Anatomical Snuffbox expands the group that debuted as a duo, then became a trio on Volume ...

The Renewal of AACM: Nicole Mitchell, Mike Reed, Tomeka Reid, Matana Roberts

by Russell Perry
August 4, 2020

In 100 one-hour programs, the series Jazz at 100 told the story of recorded jazz. It established the foundations upon which the broadly diverse music of today is built. This is the first hour of the successor series which aims to give voice to the current jazz scene and appreciates its countless creators. In ...

Lift Every Voice And Sing: Twenty #BlackLives Albums That Matter

by Chris May
July 23, 2020

Jazz has been inextricably linked with social and political protest since at least the late 1930s, when Billie Holiday made famous the leftist songwriter and poet Abel Meeropol's “Strange Fruit." The song, which has a power to move that is undiminished by familiarity, likens the bodies of lynched African Americans to fruit hanging in trees.

Deerhoof and Wadada Leo Smith: To Be Surrounded By Beautiful, Curious, Breathing, Laughing Flesh Is Enough

by Troy Dostert
July 20, 2020

When it comes to combining the anarchic spirit of punk rock with whip-smart musicianship and a penchant for unbelievably catchy grooves, few bands come close to Deerhoof. Since the 1990s, the group has been cherished by indie rock cognoscenti, and they've also earned the respect of a large swath of the non-rock community as well, working ...

Playing For Keeps: Improvisation In The Aftermath

by Ian Patterson
July 1, 2020

Playing For Keeps: Improvisation In The Aftermath Edited by Daniel Fischlin & Eric Porter 352 Pages ISBN: 978-1-4780-0814-9 Duke University Press 2020 Musical improvisation is often described as a conversation. A universal language. Musicians trading back and forth seem to be having a blast, which, on occasion, for ...

Chad Taylor Trio: The Daily Biological

by Giuseppe Segala
May 25, 2020

Chad Taylor è conosciuto in particolare per essere cofondatore, insieme a Rob Mazurek, del Chicago Underground Duo, con le sue varianti nei diversi ampliamenti degli organici. La sua attività si è dipanata ad ampio raggio negli ultimi trent'anni, facendo fulcro sulla scena di Chicago prima, e di New York poi, collaborando tra l'altro con protagonisti storici, ...