Home » Jazz Musicians » Matana Roberts
Matana Roberts
Matana Roberts is an internationally celebrated composer, performer, band leader, saxophonist, sound experimentalist, and mixed-media practitioner.
Working across many contexts and mediums, including improvisation, music composition, visual art, dance, poetry, and theatre, Roberts is perhaps best known for their acclaimed Coin Coin project - a multi-chapter work of 'panoramic sound quilting' mixed media performance work, that aims to expose the mystical roots and intuitive traditions of American creative expression, while maintaining a deep and substantive engagement with narrative, history, community and political expression within sonic structures.
The ongoing twelve-part Coin Coin series began with Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens de couleur libres (2011), which was named “one of the most conceptually ambitious, sonically captivating, emotionally raw musical odysseys of the decade..” by Tiny Mixtapes, whilst The Wire deemed Matana “a major talent”. SPIN Magazine described this first chapter as “Deeply spiritual, sadistically dissonant, evocative as any novel." The album’s story begins the Coin Coin cycle in 1742, the birth year of freed slave entrepreneur Marie Thérèse Metoyer, whose nickname, “Coin Coin” (also a nickname given to Matana by their grandfather) gives us the title of what NPR called “consistently rewarding music”.
Coin Coin Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile is woven together from verbatim conversations Matana had with their grandmother. It features the talents of tenor Jeremiah Abiah, pianist Shoko Nagai, trumpeter Jason Palmer, double bassist Thomson Kneeland, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara. In the wake of its release, Pitchfork deemed Matana “one of the most exciting new spirits in contemporary music,” and LA Times called Matana, “a unique, shape-shifting compositional voice”. Coin Coin Chapter Three: river run thee took a different path, with Roberts electing to perform solo, and making heavy use of electronics for the first time. A Closer Listen called it “a quilt of conviction, a tapestry of interlocking genres and a musical masterpiece,” whilst Pitchfork was enthralled, claiming that “Roberts isn’t just a storyteller, musician, ethnographer, historian, bandleader, arranger, improviser, or activist. [They] play all of those roles, yes; collectively, they power one of the most provocative ongoing bodies of work by any American musician”.
Coin Coin Chapter Four: Memphis was released in 2019, predominantly telling the story of a girl whose parents were killed by the Klu Klux Klan. NPR summed up Matana as a “multidisciplinary visionary”, Stereogum called the album “a staggering work of art,”, and The Quietus concluded that “one can only assume that when the 12-album cycle is completed, it will be regarded as a singular masterpiece of twenty-first century sonic and narrative art.”
Read moreTags
New Releases From Clark Sommers, Olivia Maisel, Matana Roberts & More
by Bob Osborne
On this show all new releases from Clark Sommers, Olivia Maisel, Matana Roberts, Dylan Ryan with Heather McIntosh & Devin Ryan, Joe Melnicove, Oscar Peñas, Ray Blue, Nina Simone, François Bourassa Quartet, and The Man From Atlantis.Playlist Show Intro 00:00 Clark Sommers “The Rider" from Feast Ephemera (Irabbagast Records) 00:54 Olivia Maisel “Crazy He Calls Me" from A Moment In Time (Self Released) 11:02 Matana Roberts “We Said/Different Rings/Unbeknownst" from Coin Coin Chapter Five: in the garden... (Constellation) ...
read moreMatana Roberts, the Organ in Jazz, and New Releases
by Bob Osborne
This week a focus on Matana Roberts, a preview of the new album from Dave Douglas, other new releases and a focus on the organ, Hammond and otherwise, in jazz. Playlist Dave Douglas “Showing Up" from Engage (Greenleaf) 00:00 Chicago Edge Ensemble “A Pontificators Tale" from Insidious Anthem (Trost) 08:31 Matana Roberts, Josh Abrams, Chad Taylor “Hannibul" from Sticks and Stones (482 Music) 17:27 Matana Roberts “Love Call" from The Chicago Project (Central Control International) 24:50 Matana Roberts ...
read moreMatana Roberts: Always
by Mark Corroto
The saxophone is possibly the musical instrument that produces a sound closest to the human voice. Listening to a virtuoso saxophonist like Matana Roberts, one hears more than just breath through a reed instrument. Her solo recording Always, travels beyond voice, to mind, body, and spirit. Recorded in studio, without the benefit of a reflecting audience, the experience is one of a voyeur to the saxophonist's most private thoughts. Offered with excellent sound, the recording reproduces fingers on ...
read moreMatana Roberts / Sam Shalabi / Nicolas Caloia: Feldspar
by Eyal Hareuveni
An exceptional improvised meeting between American saxophonist Matana Roberts, known for her Coin Coin project--Chapter One: Gens de Couleur Libres and Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile (Constellation, 2011 and 2013)--and two left-of-center, free improvisers from the Canadian, Montreal scene--guitarist Sam Shalabi, known for his Middle-Eastern-tinged band Shalabi Effect and his orchestral works with Land of Kush, and double bassist Nicola Caloia, who leads the improvising Ratchet Orchestra. Feldspar, titled after Earth's rock formations, was recorded in studio ...
read moreMatana Roberts
by Martin Longley
John Zorn has invited the Chicagoan alto saxophonist Matana Roberts to curate at The Stone. The most common practice is for a month to be shared by two artists, but Roberts has all of January to herself. It's a sign of an omnivorous musical appetite that she's struggled to cram all of her dream-choices into a mere four weeks. It's also unusual for an artist not to showcase several of their own band permutations. Showing remarkable restraint, Roberts will only ...
read moreMatana Roberts at the Vortex in London
by John Sharpe
Matana Roberts Quartet The Vortex Jazz Bar London, England April 1, 2009
While Barack Obama was in town for the G20 summit, the American president wasn't the only recent Chicago resident to be making waves in London. As Obama and the other G20 leaders provoked an outpouring of discontent and police helicopters buzzed over protestors, just a few miles down the road from the City banks, upcoming saxophonist Matana Roberts faced a rather ...
read moreMatana Roberts: The Chicago Project
by Troy Collins
The Chicago Project, a tribute to saxophonist Matana Roberts' hometown, features some of the Windy City's finest players, including guitarist Jeff Parker, bassist Josh Abrams, drummer Frank Rosaly and a special guest appearance by veteran tenor saxophonist and fellow AACM member Fred Anderson. Now a resident of New York City, Roberts establishes her Chicago bred lineage with this stunning, forward thinking release.
Roberts' singular style is equally informed by her AACM heritage and the fervent expressionism of the ...
read moreNew England Conservatory Jazz Alumna Matana Roberts Receives Doris Duke Impact Award
Source:
Braithwaite & Katz Communications
Program will give awards to 100 artists over the next five years New England Conservatory jazz alumna Matana Roberts '03 M.M. is one of 20 individuals in the first class of Doris Duke Impact Awards, presented by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Roberts will receive an unrestricted cash grant of as much as $80,000. The Impact Awards were announced April 22, alongside the third class of Doris Duke Artist Awards since the program's 2012 launch. NEC alumnus Don Byron '84 ...
read more
Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens de Couleur Libre (Constellation, 2011)
Source:
Music and More by Tim Niland
Saxophonist and composer Matana Roberts has been involved in a lengthy genealogical exploration of her family's rich history, and in doing so has conceived of an ambitious twelve part experience of music, narrative and sound.
Part one is this album, subtitled Chapter One: Gens De Couleur Libres which is a fascinating mix of genres, ideas and song. There is the raw toned tenor saxophone that she has developed a unique tone on in instrumental pieces like the opening “Rise," which ...
read more
Matana Roberts - Live in London (2011)
Source:
Something Else!
A few years ago when I sat down and took a stab at identifying some up and coming women in a world of instrumental jazz still dominated by men, one of those ten names that came to mind was avant-garde saxophonist Matana Roberts. After moving to NYC from her Windy City hometown she finally led a record, The Chicago Project, and created a lot of buzz in 2008. Count this writer as among one of the impressed, as I recounted ...
read more
UCC Concert Series presents Matana Roberts, Han-earl Park and Mark Sanders
Source:
Han-earl Park
Get ready for a truly international musical exploration of technique, craft and tradition by three extraordinary improvisers. Chicago-born, New York-based saxophonist Matana Roberts, leading Birmingham-based drummer Mark Sanders, and Cork-based Korean-American guitarist Han-earl Park perform as part of the University College Cork Concert Series on Thursday, 25 November 2010 at 8:00 pm in the Ó Riada Hall, UCC Music Building, Sundays Well, Cork. Tickets are $10 ($5 concessions) and available from Music, School of Music and Theatre, UCC. The event ...
read more
Ars Nova Workshop Presents: Peter Brotzmann/Nasheet Waits, Offonoff, Matana Roberts and the Sun Ra Arkestra!
Source:
All About Jazz
Ars Nova Workshop presents: Wednesday, May 6, 8pm BROTZMANN / WAITS DUO Peter Brotzmann, reeds Nasheet Waits, drums Philadelphia Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th Street $12 General Admission The founding father of the European Free Jazz movement, German saxophonist Peter Brotzmann has made important contributions with Last Exit (with Bill Laswell, Sonny Sharrock and Ronald Shannon Jackson), Die Like a Dog (with William Parker, Hamid Drake and Toshinori Kondo) and his Chicago- ...
read more
Ten Questions with Matana Roberts
Source:
RVAjazz
Matana Roberts is a composer/alto sax player from New York by way of Chicago. Shes got a lot of great things going on. I mentioned her new Chicago Project album here. In addition to that, she has a fascinating experiment called the COIN COIN Project that deals with her family roots as far back as she can trace them. A big fan of zines and independent media, she has her own video blog/vlog (whatever the kids are calling it) here. ...
read more
Saxophone Maven Matana Roberts Releases the Chicago Project on Central Control International February 2008
Source:
Allegro Media
Produced and Engineered by VIJAY IYER and JOHN McENTIRE (TORTOISE) THE CHICAGO PROJECT Includes an All-Star Cast Including Members of PREFUSE 73 and saxophonist FRED ANDERSON NOVEMBER 8, 2007 -- BROOKLYN, NY: Central Control International is pleased to present THE CHICAGO PROJECT by MATANA ROBERTS. Matana is a dynamic saxophonist, composer and improviser who exposes in her music the mystical roots and spiritual traditions of African American creative expression. A Chicago native, Roberts was fortunate enough to be surrounded by ...
read more
Photos
Music
Videos
Similar
Fred Anderson
saxophone
Tim Berne
saxophone, alto
Joe McPhee
woodwinds
Sam Rivers
saxophone, tenor
David S. Ware
saxophone, tenor
Lonnie Plaxico
bass
Kahil El'Zabar
drums
Andy Milne
piano
Chris Speed
saxophone
Rashied Ali
drums
Harris Eisenstadt
drums
Mary Halvorson
guitar
John Tchicai
saxophone
Odean Pope
saxophone
Ellery Eskelin
saxophone, tenor
