IMPROVISING COMMUNITY:
An Introduction to New Frequencies Fest: Jazz@YBCA
Hosted by Myra Melford & Tamara Roberts
YBCA Artist-in-Residence Myra Melford and her UC Berkeley colleague, Professor Tamara Roberts, present this special series of programs designed to introduce audiences to some of the most innovative and compelling local, national, and international jazz artists who will be featured during the New Frequencies Fest: Jazz@YBCA Feb 5-7, 2015. Through participatory listening and improvisation exercises, live and pre-recorded music samplings, and additional resources for further listening and exploring, this series offers a great introduction to contemporary improvised music and progressive jazz.
Internationally acclaimed saxophonist and sound experimentalist Matana Roberts shares stories about her work, known for forging new conceptual approaches around narrative, history, and political expression within improvisatory structures. Matana returns in February with the New Frequencies Fest: Jazz@YBCA to present her highly acclaimed projHect Coin Coin, described as a blend of the elements of avant-garde improvisation with rock and dub. Coin Coin is an ongoing, multi-part work, begun in 2011, that traces her family's African-American heritage back over several generations through music and text.