The Roulette Tapes

Composer, violinist, vocalist, poet, visual artist, and educator Terry Jenoure traces the arc of a spiritual, artistic, and ancestral journey across nearly four decades of performances at Roulette. From an early fascination with folk music, to the church, to working alongside Leroy Jenkins, to exploring a Puerto Rican, Jamaican, and African heritage, Jenoure's musical explorations and creations are a testament to tradition and imagination. We hear stories and excerpts from collaborative projects with Brandon Ross, James Kamal Jones aka Kamal Sabir, Pheroan Ak Laff, Gene Torres, Maria Mitchell, and others in this compelling musical tale. Jenoure returns to Roulette April 16, 2023, livestreamed and archived.

The guitarist, singer, improviser, and songwriter introduces excerpts from Roulette performances with the project Eye Music and collaborations with Ryan Sawyer, Lester St. Louis, Luisa Muir, Carla Kihlstedt’s Necessary Monsters, Booker Stardrum, Andrew Links… plus ruminations on vibraphone, Lasik surgery, vivid dreams, and more.

Composer/curator Matt Mehlan shares his history and vision for Roulette's annual Mixology Festival (returning 4-5 Feb, 2023), music technology, and the future of the concert hall. Illustrated with clips from Festival performances since 1991: Zeena Parkins, DeForrest Brown, Jr., Carl Stone, Bruce Gremo/Rene Beekman, Val Jeanty, Ron Kuivila, Marcia Bassett/Ted Gordon, Long Distance Poison, and David Linton/Chiaki Watanabe.

Excerpts from Roulette concerts by improvising activist guitarist Derek Bailey, with commentary by musician/professor/author David Grubbs (Records Ruin The Landscape). Emerging from the London free improv scene, between 1986-99 Bailey tapped New York musicians to engage in his wildly diverse Company Weeks, in groupings and pairings with John Zorn (sax), Carlos Zingaro (violin), Ikue Mori (electronic percussion), Jim Staley (trombone), Ciro Baptiste (percussion), Jamaladeen Tacuma (bass), Calvin Weston (drums), Susie Ibarra (percussion), Richard Teitelbaum (electronics), and Greg Bendian (percussion). John Zorn is honoring Derek Bailey with three Nights of Improvisation at Roulette, Jan. 19-21, 2023.

Composer/guitarist Mario Diaz de Leon, whose influences range from hardcore punk to Xenakis, and whose masterful integration of electronics with classical instruments is documented here in concerts recorded at Roulette between 2009-22 in solo works and with the Talea and TAK ensembles, International Contemporary Ensemble, and flutist Laura Cocks. Photo: Ebru Yildiz

The composer/drummer and activist/chronicler for creative social action, in excerpts from epic performances at Roulette from 1988-2021, with personal and generational tales from James Baldwin to COVID. Hooker returns to Roulette Nov. 13, 2022.

Composer and musician Yuka C. Honda reflects on a remarkable musical trajectory, serendipity, and new directions. Widely known for the project Cibo Matto, this program is illustrated with excerpts from a 2016 performance at the Roulette Concert Hall in NYC with drummer Susie Ibarra and electronic percussionist Ikue Mori. Photo: Sophie Caby.

Composer and trumpet player Adam O’Farrill, discusses his illustrious jazz and classical lineage, projects with Mary Halvorson and Jen Shyu, and many of the players who inspired and influenced his work, all illustrated with recent performances recorded at Roulette.

The atmospheric sounds of composer, drummer, electronic percussionist, and media artist Ikue Mori, an innovative and influential figure in the global experimental music scene, in solo and collaborative works, compositions based on fairy tales, and stories of an adventurous career from NoWave punk drummer with legendary band DNA, projects with John Zorn, puppetry and technology, and more. Featuring collaborators Zeena Parkins, Tania Caroline Chen, Okkyung Lee, Sylvie Courvoisier, Jim Black, Arto Lindsay, and Yoshimio. All recorded at Roulette between 1997-2019.

The composer/guitarist in several projects with commentary from the artist on guitar tech, collaboration, and tradition. Excerpts include the duo For Living Lovers with Stomu Takeishi, bass; duos with Zeena Parkins, electric harp and Terry Jenoure, voice; and two iterations of his band, Blazing Beauty with Stomu, JT Lewis, and alternately Steph Richards and Graham Haynes. Recorded at Roulette between 1989 and 2021.