Spotlight

The Roost

A home for new and unorthodox music feathers its nest

Eric Williams ericwphoto.com

Creative music impresario (and one hell of a tuba player) Mark Weaver rules The Roost.

Head–improv–head

Verse/chorus–verse/chorus–bridge–verse/chorus

A–B–A

These are some of the “normal” ways of getting music done. But for adventurous musicians, such everyday forms—even everyday instruments—don’t always serve their artistic impulses. These musical explorers search for new ways to communicate. They also need an audience with whom to share their discoveries.

Enter Mark Weaver, architect, tuba player, and adventurous musician and listener, who wondered how he could help out. His answer: The Roost, a series of “emergent creative music,” says the statement of purpose, “curated with an eye to originality, freshness of approach, and artistic vision.”

The series—named in honor of the Royal Roost, a bygone jazz club in New York—provides a place for musical explorers to hang out and enjoy the process of discovery.

“I think it’s important for people to be coming up with new approaches to playing music and new approaches to composition or ensemble playing,” says Weaver. “[The Roost] enables people to try out new ideas, and some of them are going to work better than others, but they all kind of need a place to try it out in performance. The audience is presumably open-minded, so it’s a way for them to try it on.”

The series runs for nine consecutive Monday nights, beginning Aug. 3, at The Filling Station, an intimate theater space. It could return in the future if the stars align properly.

The scheduled performers [see box] were selected from solicited proposals and offer a wide cross-section of music. Computers, simple acoustic and prepared instruments; solos and small ensembles; original jazz, conducted and composed pieces—the musical experiments come in all shapes, sizes and genres. It’s a tasty musical smorgasbord for the adventurous ear.