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Tracking The Odds: Matana Roberts (Audio)

Jun 24, 2024

The saxophonist/composer Matana Roberts in excerpts from the 4th Chapter (Memphis) of her epic musical novel, Coin Coin, recorded at the Roulette Concert Hall in Brooklyn in 2019. Described by the artist as “a work of ‘panoramic sound quilting’ that aims to expose the mystical roots and channel the intuitive spirit-raising traditions of American creative expression”. In this chapter, Roberts weaves African-American ethnography and history with strands of jazz, blues, free improv, afro-futurism, traditional songs, spoken word, and experimental techniques. Roberts is joined by collaborators Hannah Marcus, accordion; Ryan Sawyer, drums: Matt Lavelle, trumpet, clarinet; Stuart Bogie, clarinet, jaw harp; Kyp Malone, guitar; and Meshell Ndegeocello, bass.

"Tracking The Odds: The Roulette Concert Archive" is a monthly hour-long radio special produced by Roulette Intermedium (roulette.org) and broadcast in partnership with Wave Farm’s WGXC 90.7-FM and Standing Wave Radio. The broadcasts feature selected highlights from Roulette’s New York experimental music space dating from the early 1980s to the present. Thousands of rare, formative, and often unheard recordings by innovators and adventurous musicians populate the archive. "Tracking The Odds" airs the fourth Monday of the month from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. and is archived at wavefarm.org.

Founded in 1978, Roulette operates a 400-seat concert hall on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn with a focus on experimental and unorthodox music and performance across all genres and media. Its archive of thousands of audio and video recordings is online and searchable, streamble for free.