Matana Roberts is one of the most acclaimed, socio-politically conscious and aesthetically intrepid avant-jazz practitioners of the 21st century.
The critical accolades for their work, place them at the vanguard of stylistic innovation and radicalisation, while confirming the deep substance and soul that guides their compositional agenda. Roberts has long employed the phrase “panoramic sound quilting”, creating a sound art tapestry from field recordings, loop and effects pedals, and spoken word recitations, alongside their saxophone and singing voices. In what Roberts calls “a fever dream” of sonic material, inspired by a solitary research-based road trip Roberts took through the American South in early 2014, fragments of traditional song interlace with Roberts’ singing voice. Atop waves of radiophonic texture and wandering horn, this is an adventurous, socially engaged definition of what Jazz can mean today.
“the saxophonist fuses free jazz and folk spirituals into an ecstatic confrontation with American history at its darkest.” – PITCHFORK
