Roulette Presents SOUNDBITES: CELEBRATING 35 YEARS OF ROULETTE Tonight

Roulette presents "Soundbites" a celebration of their 35 years at the helm of experimental music, dance and intermedia. This significant event, the first salute to Roulette's long history of innovative and experimental programming, will feature six performances by a selection artists whose work truly represents Roulette's unparalleled and unique perspective. Featured artists will be Jen Shyu, Jennifer Choi, Tristan Perich, Darius Jones , Gelsey Bell, and Mario Diaz de Leon, the event will be hosted by highly acclaimed musician and WNYC host, David Garland.

Roulette was conceived and incorporated in 1978 by Jim Staley, David Weinstein and Dan Senn, three composers who met at the University of Illinois. The first concert was in Chicago at the Old Town School of Folk Music in November 1978 (a favorite haunt of Odetta, Mason Williams and other greats). By 1979 Staley had established a loft performance space in Tribeca, New York with a piano and a recording facility.

In the summer of 1980 the group produced five concerts there and was inundated with requests by composers who loved the room. Even in these early days, Roulette paid the artists a fee. Weinstein said, "How will we choose who to show?" Staley said, "Let's do them all!" A community was born, and the work of learning how to support such an endeavor began in full.

Over the next three decades, Roulette built and continues to build, an international reputation for the quality and quantity of its eclectic programming, its dedication to the inquisitive, and its transformation of a loft space into a finely tuned environment for performing and listening to music. Thousands of artists have presented their work at Roulette. Many of them are now recognized as the leaders of avant-garde music. Roulette also continues to foster and support the work of emerging artists presenting a complex spectrum avant jazz, world music, experimental rock, improvisation, computer music, new technologies, and traditional and hybrid chamber ensembles.

In September 2011, Roulette took up residency in an Art Deco concert hall in Downtown Brooklyn. The new space features two levels of seating for up to 400 people (600 standing), an expanded multi-channel sound system, projection screen for film and multi-media events, state-of-the-art lighting system, modular stage, and a specially designed floor to accommodate dance. Since finding a new home, Roulette has received numerous accolades from major national and international critics and has been tipped as one of the city's best concert halls.

When: TONIGHT, May 8th @ 8pm
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $25/20
Info: www.roulette.org / 917.267.0368

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