Rozanne
Levine
"Crystal Clarinets is a model of taste, restraint, and intelligence...
which is not to say that this band can't be raucous - it certainly and
most enjoyably can...This is a type of Jazz - the quiet and cerebral -
that's heard less often than it should be...Roz plays with just a hint
of vibrato; she's a lyrical soloist and a deliberate player who pays close
attention to texture and dynamics and supports her band mates with refinement
and empathy."Chris Kelsey, Jazz Now
In CRYSTAL CLARINETS, I bring my love of improvisational spontaneity
and organic, subtly shifting sounds to the fore. Sonic conversations emerge and
develop as the group explores textures, sonorities and space. The music of Crystal
Clarinets weaves in and out of melodies, exploring rhythms, moods and silences in a
transforming, unfolding journey.
My voice is soprano clarinet and the "singing" sound sculptures
of long-time
band mate Mark Whitecage, who joins me on the sculptures and on alto
and
soprano clarinet and soprano saxophone. Perry Robinson and Anthony
Braxton
join the mix -- Robinson on soprano and sopranino clarinet, and Braxton
on soprano
and contrabass clarinet. Two other veterans, versatile bassist
Joe Fonda and cellist
Tomas Ulrich, round out the ensemble, and up-and-coming trumpeter
Taylor Ho
Bynum brings his youthful perspective.
All the musicians in Crystal Clarinets are band leaders and composers
in
their own right, and they are among the musicians whose music I most
enjoy and who
are primary influences on my musical development. When working
with musicians of
such caliber, I have only to suggest a rhythmic direction or melodic
phrase, and the
musicians take off, each one adding their own unique voice.
Crystal Clarinets, and its earlier incarnation, Rozanne Levine and the
Clarinet Choir, have performed at Context Performance Space in New
York City
during two recent seasons of Improvisors Collective concerts and recently
appeared at
The Buttonwood Tree in Middletown, Connecticut.
I was introduced to jazz/new music fans as a performer with William
and Patricia
Nicholson Parker's Centering Music/Dance Ensemble during the late 1970's.
Since
the early 1980s I have performed in Mark Whitecage's Glass House Ensemble,
playing both clarinet and Whitecage's sound sculptures. In 1993
I rejoined the
Parker's as a founding member of their New York-based Improvisors Collective,
performing in the Collective Orchestra and with Collective members
in smaller
ensembles. I have also appeared in Johnny Reinhard's Microtonal
Festival and Nick
Mathis' Many Colors of a Woman Jazz Concerts, and in recent years I
have been a
staple of various Clarinet Choirs. Among my recordings is the
Acoustics release
Watching Paint Dry, which features Whitecage, Gerry Hemingway, Mario
Pavone, and
Joe Fonda. My recording with William Parker, Through the Acceptance
of the Mystery
Peace, is about to be re-released on CD on Eremite in the Fall of 1998,
and I have
performed with Anthony Braxton, Jason Hwang, Jackson Krall, Theo Jorgensmann,
Blaise Siwula, and Steve Swell, among others. I'm also a photographer,
and I have
given several concerts where my photographs were projected or exhibited.
The
Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania awarded me a
commission
grant in 1989 for both my music and photographs.