Earshot Jazz Festival

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28 CHAPEL PERFORMANCE SPACE, 8PM
Matana Roberts COIN COIN, solo and w/ Seattle artists
Presented in association with Nonsequitur.
$5-$15 sliding scale BUY NOW

Saxophonist Matana Roberts brings her solo works and a series of ensemble pieces called “COIN COIN” to Seattle. “COIN COIN” is inspired by her own research and examination of her family’s African American history over ten generations. At the same time “COIN COIN” has also become a catalyst for collaboration with musicians in cities across the country. Tonight, she tries it out with a select group of Seattle soloists.

Roberts is herself a much-desired collaborator and has worked with artists and ensembles like Greg Tate and his Burnt Sugar Arkestra, Savion Glover’s homage project to John Coltrane, the Oliver Lake Big Band, the Julius Hemphill Sextet and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. She has also appeared on recordings with genre-bending bands such as Godspeed You Black Emperor and TV on the Radio. In 2008, she released a critically-acclaimed recording entitled The Chicago Project, produced by pianist Vijay Iyer, and featuring Chicago collaborators like the late Fred Anderson, a founding Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) member. (Roberts is a current AACM member.)

Though she now lives in New York, Roberts remains very closely identified with the Chicago avant garde. Reviewing a Roberts’ performance in 2005 for the New York Times, Ben Ratliff argued that the Windy City “breeds a temperate kind of jazz avant-gardist, catholic minded about new directions but inclined to see bebop as earthy and nourishing rather than a venerable, unkillable oppressor.” That same night, Ratliff also pointed out that she began her set with a polite warning: “Excuse me while I change the atmosphere a little.” No doubt Robert’s performance tonight in Seattle will foster similar atmospheric adaptations.

The first half of tonight's concert features Matana's solo saxophone improvisations. The second half is devoted "COIN COIN" and features performances with ace Seattle musicians Tom Baker (guitar), Angelina Baldoz (trumpet), Brian Cobb (bass), Marchette DuBois (accordion), Greg Campbell (drums/percussion), Beth Fleenor (clarinets), Lori Goldston (cello), Tari Nelson-Zagar (violin), and Greg Powers (trombone).

-Danielle Bias

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