A Double Bill featuring the music of Steve Lehman and Georgia Anne Muldrow

Steve Lehman – alto saxophonist, composer, musical scholar and newest member of the CalArts music faculty, opens with his stunning composition Manifold, for solo saxophone, interactive electronics and a trio of “virtual instrumentalists.” Developed, in part, during a research residency at IRCAM, these works incorporate detailed programming, live processing, and computer-driven improvisation, and call for an instrumental soloist and a trio of virtual instrumentalists to navigate a series of highly structured compositional grids. The recipient of a 2015 Guggenheim Fellowship and a 2014 Doris Duke Artist Award, Lehman is an alto saxophonist who has performed and recorded nationally and internationally with his own ensembles and with those led by Anthony Braxton, Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran, Meshell Ndegeocello, and High Priest of Anti-Pop Consortium, among many others. Lehman’s 2014 release Mise en Abime was cited as the #1 Jazz Album of the Year by the Los Angeles Times. His 2016 album Selebeyone was selected as a Top 10 CD of 2016 by NPR, The Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times Popcast, among others

Saturday February 4 at 8:30 pm.

Visionary Afrofuturist singer-songwriter and producer Georgia Anne Muldrow, who fronts a five-piece band. A prodigy of soul, R&B and hip-hop sought after for her distinctive vocal style, rhythmic production and complex songwriting, she has collaborated with artists such asMadlib, Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Dudley Perkins and Rickie Byars Beckwith. As the LA label Stones Throw’s first female signee, Georgia released her critically acclaimed debut solo EP Worthnothings, followed by Olesi, Ocotea (2010), Seeds (2012) and A Thoughtiverse Unmarred (2015).

Saturday February 4 at 8:30 pm.

REDCAT, CalArts’ downtown center for contemporary arts, presents a double bill bringing together two of today’s most bracingly original voices in jazz and urban experimentalism. Steve Lehman and Georgia Anne Muldrow will perform!!

 

Lehman’s recent electro-acoustic music has focused on the development of computer-driven models for improvisation, based in the Max/MSP programming environment. Lehman’s work has been favorably reviewed in Artforum, Downbeat magazine, The New York Times, Newsweek, and The Wire, and on National Public Radio, the BBC, and SWR.

As a Fulbright scholar in France, Lehman began researching the reception of African-American experimental composers working in France during the 1970s. His article in the journal Critical Studies in Improvisation, “I Love You with an Asterisk: African-American Experimental Composers and the French Jazz Press, 1970­­–1980,” is based on his Fulbright research. More recently, Lehman has published writings and presented lectures on a wide range of topics, including jazz pedagogy, rhythm cognition, and European notions of American experimentalism. His current scholarship, including a forthcoming contribution to the Oxford Handbook of Spectral Music, examines the overlapping histories of spectral composition and jazz improvisation.

Lehman received his B.A. (2000) and M.A. in Composition (2002) from Wesleyan University where he studied under Anthony Braxton, Jay Hoggard, and Alvin Lucier, while concurrently working with Jackie McLean at the Hartt School of Music. He received his doctorate with distinction in Music Composition from Columbia University (2012), where his principal teachers included Tristan Murail and George Lewis. Lehman has taught undergraduate courses at Wesleyan University, the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, New School University, and Columbia University, and has presented lectures at Amherst College, UC Berkeley, The Berklee School of Music, The Banff Centre, The Royal Academy of Music in London, and IRCAM in Paris, where he was a 2011 research fellow.

“If this is the direction jazz is heading, Lehman, as usual, is miles ahead.” —Downbeat

“Lehman is a dazzling saxophonist… A state-of-the-art musical thinker.” – The New York Times

Steve Lehman:

 

Born in Los Angeles to acclaimed jazz musician Ronald Muldrow, known as an instrumentalist with Eddie Harris, and Rickie Byars-Beckwith, leader of the famed Agape Choir and a noted spiritual teacher with the New Thought movement, Georgia was exposed to music at an early age. Upon graduating, Georgia moved to New York for The New School’s jazz program and met fellow students Robert Glasper and Bilal. Connecting with the likes of Wajeed led to her works on the critically acclaimed Platinum Pied Pipers’ Triple P album, but being on the NYC subway underneath the World Trade Center during the mayhem of that tragic event led her to abandon New York for Los Angeles. Working with local producers such as Ras G, Dibiase and Sa-Ra grew her buzz, which attracted major artists Erykah Badu and Mos Def.

Currently residing in Las Vegas, Muldrow and rapper, poet and producer Dudley Perkins a.k.a. Declaime, unite under the alias of G&D. Besides handling production, the two are co-owners of their independent label SomeOthaShip Connect. The duo live, record, and raise their family, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, strong family unit and connection to their Afrocentric roots, all of which is reflected in their music. Fed up with labels, the two decided to start their own and in 2009 inked a deal with leading independent distributor eOne Entertainment. Their first release, compilation Ms. One Presents…, was followed by Perkin’s Holy Smokes and Muldrow’s solo Umsindo which included the hit “Roses” included on Mos Def’s Grammy-nominated The Ecstatic. In 2011, Muldrow released experimental jazz instrumental album Ocotea under the alias Jyoti, a name given to her by spiritual mentor Alice Coltrane. The record was chosen by UK tastemaker Gilles Peterson as the Jazz Album of the year at his 2011 Worldwide Awards. In 2012, Muldrow released Seeds with Madlib handling production.

Georgia Anne Muldrow:

“Georgia Anne Muldrow is one of the most daring and important (albeit underappreciated) artists of her time” —Allmusic Guide

“Georgia Anne sounds like Alice Coltrane and J Dilla rolled into one.” – Erykah Badu

 

Date/Time	G	m/ST	CA
SAT 2/4 8:30 pm	$20	$16	$10

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GENERAL INFORMATION

For current program and exhibition information call 213-237-2800 or www.redcat.org.

THE THEATER | Tickets for programs held in the theater are available through the REDCAT Box Office, by phone 213-237-2800 or online at www.redcat.org. Group, member, student and CalArts faculty/staff discounts available.

Box Office Hours: Tuesdays–Saturday from noon until 6 pm or two hour prior to curtain.

THE GALLERY | REDCAT’s Gallery presents five major exhibitions each year, and publishes artist books and catalogues. Admission to the Gallery is FREE.

Gallery Hours: Tuesdays–Sundays from noon until 6 pm and through intermission.

THE LOUNGE | Open to the public six days a week, the Lounge is a great place to spend an afternoon or grab a drink pre- and post-performance.

Lounge Hours: Tuesdays–Fridays: 9am until 8 pm or post-show; Saturdays: noon until 8 pm or post-show; Sundays: noon until 6pm or post-show.

Location/Parking: 631 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles CA 90012

REDCAT is located in downtown Los Angeles inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex with a separate entrance at the corner of West 2nd and Hope Streets. Parking is available in the Walt Disney Concert Hall parking structure. $9 event rate or $5 for vehicles entering after 8:00 pm on weekdays.

www.redcat.org