Excerpts from two 2008 Roulette concerts featuring the composer/vocalist/improviser and storyteller Shelley Hirsch in collaboration with artist/turntablist Christian Marclay and guitarist Uchihashi Kazuhisa (known as Kazu). Hirsch’s speed and spontaneity with both musical cues and language fragments is unmatched. Her work as both improviser and composer has been recognized most recently with Guggenheim and Foundation for Contemporary Arts awards. Marclay is known for his sound montage work, visual art, and the remarkable film The Clock, which won the grand prize at the Venice Biennale in 2011. Kazu, formerly of Otomo Yoshihide's Ground Zero, is a virtuoso and influential advocate for experimental music and theater in Japan. These live recordings have not been altered in any way to enhance the interaction of the players. These folks really do hear, think, and act at lightning speed.

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 third Thursday of each month at 1 a.m. ET 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. It's archive of thousands of audio and video recordings is currently being restored.

Pictured: A screening, reading, and performance for Henry Hills' film "Money" at Roulette (1985) with dancer Pooh Kaye surrounded by (L-R) John Zorn, Tom Cora, Ciro Baptiste, (obstructed, possibly Sally Silvers), Abigail Child, Diane Ward, Susie Timmons, Alan Davies, Bruce Andrews, Ikue Mori, Jim Staley, Butch Morris. Photo: Lona Foote.