The Roulette Tapes

Jan 26 2025 65 ep. 28 mins 23
The Roulette Tapes Podcast artwork

New & Adventurous Music! Founded in 1978 and operating out of lofts and galleries for years, Roulette continues its mission to support new and established innovators in music and cross-media performing arts in a glorious 400 seat theater in Brooklyn. Podcasts and excerpts here; you can hear these full concerts, and hundreds more, at roulette.org/archive. Enjoy!

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Shamar Watt: Superposition

Jan 26 2025 27 mins  
The music of composer Shamar Watt (aka BongoWattZ), whose work incorporates everything from techno to gospel, ecstatic movement, and manipulated light, with excerpts from the artist's archive alongside commentary on his Jamaican heritage, spirituality, technology, and noise. Watt performs at Roulette on March 1, 2025 as part of the annual Mixology Festival and again on March 13 wit

Ellen Fullman: The Miracle Bubbles

Jan 01 2025 28 mins  
Composer/performer and instrument maker Ellen Fullman describes the origins and development of her Long Strong Instrument; dozens of strings running 40 feet or more, excited by longitudinal vibration in just intonation. The artist’s commentary is illustrated with samples from rare recordings and releases with cellist Theresa Wong, the JACK String Quartet, and others. Fullman and

Lesley Mok: Singing Drums

Dec 01 2024 40 mins  
Excerpts from two performances at Roulette by drummer, composer, improviser, activist organizer Lesley Mok with commentary by the artist. "she smashed the enclosure" from 2020 features composer Mok with Charmaine Lee, voice; Maya Keren, piano, voice; Aliya Ultan, cello, voice. "a bird in its chest" from 2022 features Ultan, Joanna Mattrey, viola; Cleek Schrey, violin; David Leon, s

Impossible Music: On & Off

Oct 27 2024 28 mins  
A project launched by Tim Spelios and David Weinstein in the 80s, Impossible Music features cutup, montaged, recycled material, lopsided grooves, appropriated, restored, or reconstituted audio, new and legacy technologies, loops of contrasting and colliding musics, sound effects, disembodied vocal tracks, and noise merged into panoramic constructions. Illustrated with a 2004 perfor

Zeena Parkins: Visible Sound

Oct 01 2024 28 mins  
Composer, harpist, and multi-instrumentalist Zeena Parkins introduces the projects Phantom Orchard with electronic percussion artist Ikue Mori and a duo with electronic sound artist Laetitia Sonami. Alongside excerpts from performances at Roulette, Parkins discuses process, technique, and history. Parkins returns to Roulette on Oct. 24, 2024 with Ikue Mori and their Phantom Orchard

Luke Stewart: Liberation

Sep 01 2024 28 mins  
Bassist, composer, and activist Luke Stewart is best known as an accomplished jazz musician, but he is also an innovator of techniques incorporating feedback as an extension of his sound. This edition features Stewart’s commentary on his musical trajectory as well as the role of liberation politics in music. With excerpts from the Feedback Ensemble with cellist Leila Bordreuil, a

John Zorn & Michihiro Sato: Samurai Memory

Aug 01 2024 28 mins  
Improvisers John Zorn (alto sax, game calls) and Michihiro Sato (shamisen, three-stringed banjo-like instrument) in a 1985 performance at Roulette. Rescued from a reel-to-reel tape and documenting an early chapter in the downtown improv scene, the concert came shortly after the release of the duo's album Ganru Island, since re-released on Tzadik Records.

Zoh Amba: Musical Souls

Jul 01 2024 28 mins  
Admired as a bold saxophonist (and also sometimes guitarist, vocalist, pianist), composer Zoh Amba traces a journey from a difficult Tennessee childhood to musical and spiritual revelation. The remarks are coupled with excerpts from two performances at Roulette: the Bhakti project (2022, with Micah Thomas, piano; Thomas Morgan, bass; Marc Edwards, drums; and Matt Hollenberg, guitar

Jim Staley: A Trombonist's Playbook

Jun 01 2024 55 mins  
The trombonist Jim Staley traces his path from playing in a Vietnam-era Army band and as an orchestral musician; through encounters with influential mentors and techniques; and musical awakenings that led to a career as a master improviser and Director of Roulette, the New York City concert series. With musical appearances by John Zorn, Ikue Mori, Zeena Parkins, Bill Frisell, Fred

Lester St. Louis: The Naked Cello

May 01 2024 28 mins  
The cellist/composer/improviser in commentary with excerpts from several performances at Roulette: his own Transfer 01 and Metahaven projects; collaborative works with guitarist Wendy Eisenberg, drummer Ryan Sawyer, vocalist Charmaine Lee, violist Joanna Mattrey; and yuniya edi kwon's Sun Han Guild. St. Louis has also worked with jaimie branch, Isabel Crespo Pardo, Ka Baird, the Vi