Big Band directed by Karen Borca plays "Womb Water" and other Cecil Taylor

The third and final concert presented by The Graduate Center and Brooklyn College of the City University of New York for the Unit Structures: The Art of Cecil Taylor Conference features a big band directed by Karen Borca playing "Womb Water" and other compositions by Cecil Taylor.

Bassoonist/improviser/composer Karen Borca has played in Taylor's big bands from the early 70's as a student in his Black Music Ensemble at the University of Wisconsin and as his teaching assistant at Antioch College, to the 80's, as documented in the album Cecil Taylor Segments II, (Orchestra of two Continents)/Winged Serpent (Sliding Quadrants). Borca is the "definitive living authority on Cecil Taylor's ensemble methods," as described by the late violinist Ramsey Ameen, and will lead a workshop using Taylor's instructional methods as a part of the Unit Structures Conference, culminating in this concert.

Musicians

Karen Borca, bassoon

Evie Ward, voice/poetry

Michelle Yom, flute

Pawan Benjamin, sax/bansuri flute

Ras Moshe Burnett, woodwinds

Elliott Levin, woodwinds

Charles Sharp, woodwinds

Elizabeth Newton, alto sax

Bobby Zankel, alto sax

Dario Fariello, sax

Paolo Rossi, tenor sax

Scott Currie, alto/baritone sax

Ben Zucker, trumpet/vibraphones

Chris Stover, trombone

Julian Velasco, vibraphones

Anthony Caulkins, guitar

Rafael Goncalves, guitar

Dominic Lash, double bass

Gahlord Dewald, double bass

Jeff Schwartz, double bass

Nicolas Ordonez, double bass

Mark Micchelli, piano

André Martinez, percussion

Jackson Krall, drums

Image credit: Karen Borca