Oct. 18: Interpretations Series with Andrew Lamb and Thurman Barker

Interpretations series’ 30th year continues with two avant-garde jazz legends

Thurman Baker and Andrew Lamb will headline the second concert of the 2018-2019 Thirtieth Anniversary Season of the Interpretations Series will take place on Thursday, October 18th at 8pm at Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217. The Interpretations Series is dedicated to nurturing the relationship of innovative composers with the growing community of new music virtuoso performers.

Tickets are available online and more information is available at www.interpretations.info. Tickets range from $15 for Seniors, Students, and Roulette Members to $20 for General Admission. All concerts begin at 8pm unless otherwise noted.


Percussionist, composer, and educator Thurman Barker presents the world premiere of “South Side Suite”, a long-form work for 23 musicians that illustrates the profound influence that Chicago’s musical history played in shaping the minds and lives of the members of the AACM and beyond.

Featuring Lena Vidulich, Pala Garcia, Leah Asher, Marina Kifferstein, Carrie Frey, Hannah Livingston, Helen Newby, Meaghan Burke (strings); Ellen Hindson, Alice Jones, Paavo Carey, Marty Ehrlich (woodwinds); Vincent Chancey, James Zollar, Willie Applewhite, Bill Lowe (brass); Warren Smith, Malik Washington, Eli Fountain (percussion); Noah Barker (piano); James Emery (guitar); Dean Torrey (bass); Thurman Barker (drum set, conductor).

The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) founded in 1965 in Chicago by pianist/composer Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall, and composer Phil Cohran, is devoted “to nurturing, performing, and recording serious, original music.” While founded in the Jazz tradition, the group’s outreach and influence has, according to Larry Blumenfeld, “ouched nearly all corners of modern music.”

Growing up in Chicago in the 1950s, Thurman Barker was exposed to the city’s rich musical heritage, regularly hearing R&B, doo-wop, soul, jazz, and blues. Accordingly, he began his professional career at age 17 by anchoring the rhythm section for blues legend Mighty Joe Young. He then attended the American Conservatory of Music and later Roosevelt University, where he received classical training. Barker has performed with singers the likes of Billy Eckstine, Marvin Gaye, Bette Midler, and Vicki Carr, and worked with classical groups like the Chicago Chamber Players and the New York City Opera.


Saxophonist and composer Andrew Lamb presents his Circadian Spheres of Light Project, which uses improvisation as stimulation for those with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and post-traumatic stress disorder.  Blending music, theater, and performance art, the group features Larry Roland, bass; José Luis AbreuWarren Smith & Lloyd Haber, vibraphone, drums, & percussion; Newman Baker, washboard; Ngoma Hill, poetry & didjeridoo; Vincent Chancey, French horn; Dick Griffin, trombone; Jimmy James Greene, spontaneous visual art; Roberto Cartagena, magic; and Trashina Conner, dance.

Andrew Lamb was born in Clinton, North Carolina and grew up in Chicago and in South Jamaica, Queens. Mr. Lamb came into New York’s “avant-garde” community in the ’70s, becoming an active presence in the vibrant Bedford-Stuyvesant arts world at that time, and winning a Brooklyn Arts Council grant. Andrew Lamb and his ensembles remain a regular presence in the New York area and have frequently played in the annual Vision Festival. Always, Andrew Lamb’s music rises out of the African-American jazz, blues, and church traditions and is deeply spiritual, profoundly emotional, and readily accessible to all who hear him.


Interpretations began as a collaboration with Robert and Helene Browning and the World Music Institute, presenting concerts at Merkin Concert Hall, then at Roulette, at its Greene Street location in Soho. When Roulette moved to the current space in Brooklyn, Interpretations moved with it. Interpretations is thrilled to co-produce at Roulette, which has developed into a premiere venue for new and innovative music, with excellent acoustics and world-class technical facilities.

For its 30th Anniversary, Interpretations has assembled an eclectic line-up of innovative composers and their interpreters, representing a wide variety of approaches to music making.


For more information, please visit interpretations.info