the biophony project
Biophony 1.21
09/13/2021 / 1pm / Sunset Park - Inner Border between 6th and 7th Avenue
Biomes Performed
Meet the Artists
Brooklyn based bassist / composer Ben Rolston is an accomplished and compelling performer in an eclectic range of musical styles. Ben has performed with important musical voices like Marcus Belgrave, Laurence Hobgood (Kurt Elling), Tim Ries (Rolling Stones), Dwight Adams (Stevie Wonder), Vincent Chandler, Marcus Elliot, Michael Malis, and Nick Dunston, and at world-class venues like The Newport Jazz Festival, Birdland, The Jazz Gallery, Roulette Intermedium, and The Green Mill. Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ben attended The University of Michigan to study with master musicians such as Robert Hurst and Geri Allen. Immediately after graduating in 2012, Ben released his debut album Fables, described as “full of grandeur and dissonance” and “find of the week” by Dave Sumner (eMusic Contributor). Since moving to NYC in 2017 Rolston has presented three new bands, each in a different stylistic realm, and helped put on a monthly concert series with POLYFOLD (an arts non-profit Ben helped to found) featuring some of the best improvisers NY has to offer.
Dierk Peters is a Brooklyn based Vibraphonist. Originally from Germany he moved to the US in 2016, and is a now sought-after improviser and composer on both sides of the Atlantic. He is a distinctive voice on his instrument with a unique sound that emphasizes the warmth and depth of the vibraphone, and with his incomparable harmonic agility he surpasses its percussive nature.
Brooklyn-based composer Sana Nagano has a highly distinctive approach to violin playing, grounding chaotic improvisations with restrained precision. Formally trained in both jazz and classical traditions, she rips up the rulebook with projects such as the avant-bluegrass trio Astroturf Noise and 2021's Smashing Humans, which bears the name of her explosive prog-jazz quintet.
Chris Ryan Williams is an interdisciplinary artist and educator based between NYC and LA often found collaborating with contemporary improvisers and experimentalists. His work explores the dyad of ancestral trauma and power existing in all Black Americans. Williams uses a mix of trumpet, electronics, and text to create lush sonic tapestries in his performances with a wide range of artists including Pink Siifu, Luke Stewart, and Patrick Shiroishi.
Dominican-American saxophonist and composer, Alfredo Colon is a proud New York City native. His distinct sound lives at the crossroads of a wide range of experiences and inspirations, from his upbringing in Upper Manhattan, to his Dominican heritage, to his love of musicians with melodic approaches to improvisation, including Sonny Sharrock, Ornette Coleman, and Pharoah Sanders…
Stephen Boegehold is a drummer and composer based in New York City. As a collaborator, Stephen has worked with many of his generation’s forward-thinking jazz and improvising artists including Roulette Intermedium Artists in Residence Sonya Belaya and Nick Dunston, whose 2020 release Atlantic Extraction: Live at Threes appeared on Downbeat’s best albums of 2020 list…
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“Biophony" is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.