The Roulette Tapes

The musical works of drummer, percussionist, and instrument builder Kenny Wollesen and his Wollesonic project. We'll hear excerpts from two multimedia, theatrical, large ensemble pieces recorded at Roulette in 2006 and 2008 plus his contribution to a trio led by pianist/composer Sylvie Courvoisier with bassist Drew Gress. Wollesonic is a band, a laboratory, a record label, an archive, and a collection of hundreds of hand-made "noise" instruments. Featuring the artist's commentary and an amazing story about his grandmother's music which Wollesen debuts at The Stone in Manhattan on August 20-23, 2025

The music of Shahzad Ismaily, a multi-instrumentalist widely admired for his mastery of the bass guitar and drum set in solos, collaborations, and groups across genres. The program features the artist’s remarks on personal history, spiritual growth, and musical projects alongside excerpts from several performances at Roulette: a duo with guitarist Indigo Street, a vocal duo with Arooj Aftab, and in an ensemble led by composer/percussionist Ches Smith. Shahzad returns to Roulette with Marc Ribot on June 11, 2025.

The music of Bobby Previte and ensembles recorded between 1987 and 2018 at the Roulette performance spaces in New York. Admired as both a drummer and composer, Previte is also one the great raconteurs of the downtown experimental music scene. We'll hear the 1987 band with Marty Ehrlich (reeds),Tom Varner (horn), Wayne Horvitz (keys), Dave Hofstra (bass); a trio from 1994 with Horvitz (piano & electronic keyboards), and Skerik (tenor sax & electronics); and the Rhapsody Band from 2018 with Nels Cline (acoustic guitars), John Medeski, (piano), Zeena Parkins (harp), Jen Shyu (voice and erhu fiddle), Fabian Rucker (alto sax), and the composer on drums, autoharp, electronics, and percussion.

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 with Lester St. Louis.

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, sax; Yuma Uesaka, reeds. The aerialists! mentioned in the piece are Gabrielle “Teddy” Ment, Eleanor Getz, Georgie Johnson, and Copper Santiago. Mok returns to Roulette on 20 Dec 2024 with “The Living Collection”, a 10-piece band that crosses musical communities.

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 project.

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.

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 Frith, Chris Cochrane, Derek Bailey, Joey Baron, Kyoko Kitamura, and Cyro Baptista with recordings captured between 1986 and 2015. Staley will be honored with an all-star Gala at Roulette on June 6, 2024.