The Roulette Tapes

Gary Lucas: The Treasure Collector

The guitarist and composer Gary Lucas, acclaimed for his technique, imagination, and fearless commitment to both tradition and innovation from his work with Captain Beefheart, Jeff Buckley, his band Gods & Monsters, scores for silent films, reviving Chinese music, and many other projects presented all around the world, and all rooted in the Blues. The program includes Lucas' 2026 commentary alongside excerpts recorded for the Roulette concert series between 1992 and 2018.

Anaïs Maviel: Ritual Alchemy

Vocalist, percussionist, composer, music director, and community facilitator Anaïs Maviel has associated her practice with the inextricable currents that move spaces and people between times and lands. One passion is to explore the use of language, and its vibratory essence in music, expanding its power as a healing and transformative act. Here we hear the artist on voice, percussion, n’goni, and keyboards in solo and ensemble works recorded at Roulette between 2019-21 alongside commentary on her background, performance practice, alchemy, and collaboration.

Wendy Eisenberg: Quasi-Mystical

The guitarist Wendy Eisenberg profiles Squanderers, the collaborative, improvising trio of Eisenberg with David Grubbs (gastr del sol) on electric guitars, and Bonner Kramer (Shimmy Disc) on bass ukulele. Eisenberg’s commentary reveals the roots and flowers of this multi-generational exploration heard alongside excerpts from their 2025 performance at the Roulette concert hall in Brooklyn.

Aruán Ortiz: The Keys of Inspiration

Pianist/composer Aruán Ortiz, classically trained in Cuba and influenced by jazz musicians from Chick Corea to Muhal Richard Abrams, narrates his journey over excerpts from his 2025 concert at Roulette pushing the boundaries of musical Afro-diasporic traditions and storytelling. A 2024 Guggenheim Fellow, we'll hear solos and ensemble works with clarinetist Don Byron, flutist Nicole Mitchell, and percussionist Mauricio Herrera alongside strings and vocalists.

Pauline Oliveros: Sonic Religion

The sonic world and career of composer Pauline Oliveros (1936-2016) featuring a 2008 interview with the artist conducted by David Weinstein for the radio station of the Clocktower Gallery in support of an exhibition at PS1 Contemporary Art Center (now MoMA PS1) entitled WACK: Art of the Feminist Revolution. We also hear solos and collaborative works recorded for the Roulette concert series dating from 1984 to 2014 including excerpts with the Deep Listening Band (Stuart Dempster, trombone, didjeridu and David Gamper (piano, "toys"), and a trio with David Arner (piano) and Doug Van Nort (custom electronics). The influence of Dr. Oliveros on contemporary music is unrivaled, from electronic innovations, sonic meditations, ceremonial works, the Deep Listening paradigm, her Expanded Instrument System (processing time and space), hot-wired accordion, and merging a social conscience with sound.