Roulette TV: OLIVER LAKE pt. 1

The Oliver Lake Reunion Trio featuring Pheeroan Ak Laff and Michael Gregory. Oliver Lake: reeds, Pheeroan Ak Laff: drums, Michael Gregory: guitar. "It’s all about choices," states modern Renaissance Man Oliver Lake to explain his expansive artistic vision. An accomplished poet, painter and performance artist, Lake has published a book of poetry entitled Life Dance, has exhibited and sold a number of his unique painted-sticks at the Montclair Art Museum, and has toured the country with his one-man performance piece, Matador of 1st and 1st. But it's his extraordinary talents as composer, saxophonist, flautist and bandleader that have brought him world-renown. Although his greatest reputation exists in the world of jazz, Lake's amazingly eclectic musical approach is best expressed by his popular poem SEPARATION: put all my food on the same plate! Whether composing major commissioned works for the Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra and the Brooklyn Philharmonic; creating chamber pieces for the Arditti and Flux String Quartets, the Amherst Sax Quartet and the San Francisco Contemporary Players; arranging for pop diva Bjork, rocker Lou Reed and rap group A Tribe Called Quest; collaborating with poets Amiri Baraka and Ntozake Shange, choreographers Ron Brown and Marlies Yearby, Native American vocalist Mary Redhouse, Korean kumongo player Jin Hi Kim, and Chinese bamboo flute player Shuni Tsou; doing unique performances with MacArthur Award recipients, actress/author Anna Devere Smith and writer/law professor/political commentator Patricia Williams; sharing the stage with hip-hop artist Mos Def and pop star Me'shell Ndegeocello; or leading his own Steel Quartet, Big Band and cooperative ensembles the World Saxophone Quartet and Trio 3; Oliver views it all as parts of the same whole: dixieland, be-bop, soul, rhythm & blues, cool school, swing, avant-garde jazz, free jazz, rock, jazz rock... Pheeroan akLaff has performed internationally since 1975. He is known fo...

Channel: Vimeo Video Length: 28m 13s Date Found: Tue, Jul 06 2010 4:19 PM Category: Home Video Date Produced: Thu, Apr 22 2010 3:14 PM View Count: 0