NL premiere

A deep current of wisdom and memory courses through the music of self-taught mixed-media sound artist, saxophonist, composer, and researcher Matana Roberts. At Rewire 2025, they perform a rare duo show with drummer Ryan Sawyer. Roberts is perhaps best known for the acclaimed multi-chapter project Coin Coin, which they have  been pursuing since 2011. Described by them as a "panoramic sound quilting," the patterns and shapes that Roberts sews together chart diverse pathways of modern and avant-garde jazz composition. Each chapter is unified by Roberts's archival and personal research into American identity and the legacies of the US slave trade; they shine the spotlight away from male-dominated narratives, seeking to voice otherly gendered subjects whose stories are often invisibilised. Thematically focused on migration, memory, and historicity, their unique, experimental music seeks to "remind people of all walks of life to reach, stand up, give voice, regardless of difference…"