Roy Nathanson was born on the best of all days, May 17th. (Disclaimer: this is also Deidre's birthday.) In this episode, the birthday twins talk about their long history playing together in NYC. Also on the docket: the soul in a voice, the truth in the notes, and how the moment of the sound is all about the listening.
Roy Nathanson has had a varied career as a saxophonist, composer, bandleader, poet, actor and teacher. After playing with the Lounge Lizards, Charlie Earland and performing in downtown theatre in the 80’s he formed the Jazz Passengers with Curtis Fowlkes. The band has been together for thirty years, recording and touring actively with a variety of vocalists including Elvis Costello and Deborah Harry. The band’s 8th CD “Still Life with Trouble,” was released in 2017. Since the early 2000s, Nathanson has primarily concentrated on a combining text and music and he formed his band “Sotto Voce,” for that purpose. This ensemble has released three CDs including “Subway Moon.” “Subway Moon,” is also the title of Roy’s first published poetry book and an active non-profit organization which presents intergenerational, inter-disciplinary performances around the world. Roy’s second book of poems, “Conversations and Other Songs,” was published in 2021 by Madhat press. “Small Things,” a record based on some of the poems in the book and featuring vocals by Nick Hakim, was also released this year on the NYXO label of the Onyx Collective. Roy has also performed and composed a variety of other mixed text/music pieces including radio plays, film scores and a song cycle called “Fire at Keaton’s Bar and Grille.” As a composer, Nathanson has received commissions from Chamber Music America, New York Foundation for the Arts, Meet the Composer, the National Endowment for the Arts and the University of Wisconsin Science Museum and he is a recipient of the Bessie and Joseph Jefferson Awards for Composition. Roy’s archives were purchased by the NYU Fales Library for their permanent collection in 2018.
Roy Nathanson, vox/saxophone. Curtis Fowlkes, lead vox/trombone. Tim Kiah, vox/bass. Sam Bardfeld. vox/violin.