Improvisations Now at Real Art Ways

Press release

HARTFORD, CONN. On Sunday, May 12 at 2:30pm, Real Art Ways will host Tomeka Reid, Melanie Dyer, and Joe Morris in concert. The event is part of Improvisations Now, a concert series where musicians come together to create unrehearsed and innovative music in real time. This will be the last concert of the 2023-2024 Improvisations Now series. Tickets are $15 general admission, $12 for Real Art Ways members, and $5 for full time students. Real Art Ways is located at 56 Arbor Street in Hartford.

Tomeka Reid: Cello

Described as a “New Jazz Power Source” by the New York Times, cellist and composer, and MacArthur Genius Grantee Tomeka Reid has emerged as one of the most original, versatile, and curious musicians in Chicago’s bustling jazz and improvised music community over the last decade. Her distinctive melodic sensibility, always rooted in a strong sense of groove, has been featured in many distinguished ensembles over the years. Reid released her debut recording as a bandleader, Tomeka Reid Quartet, in 2015 featuring herself (cello), Jason Roebke (bass), fellow MacArthur Genius grantee Mary Halvorson (guitar), and Tomas Fujiwara (drums). The album they released provided a vibrant showcase for the cellist’s improvisational acumen, as well as for her dynamic arrangements and compositional ability. For more information, please visit her website.

Melanie Dyer: Viola

Melanie Dyer is a violist who moves across free jazz, jazz, orchestral, and experimental music. She has studied with William Lincer, Lee Yeingst, John Jake Kella and Naomi Fellows. Recently she performed and recorded with William Parker, Henry Grimes, Tomeka Reid, Heroes Are Gang Leaders, New Muse 4tet, Women with an Axe to Grind, and other luminous musicians in the United States, Europe, and South Africa.

She founded WeFreeStrings, a string/rhythm collective rooted in creative improvisation, and plays viola in Gwen Laster’s New Muse 4tet.

To Learn More About Melanie Dyer, please visit her website.

Joe Morris: Guitar

Joe Morris is a composer/improviser multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, double bass, mandolin, banjo, banjouke, electric bass and drums. He is considered to be “one of the most profound improvisers at work in the U.S.” – WIRE Magazine

Morris has performed and/or recorded with many of the most important contemporary artists in improvised music including Anthony Braxton, Evan Parker, John Zorn, Ken Vandermark, Tomeka Reid, Fay Victor, Tim Berne, William Parker, Sylvie Courvoisier, Peter Evans, David S. Ware, Joe Maneri, Dewey Redman, Wadada Leo Smith, Leroy Jenkins, Lawrence D. “Butch” Morris, Marshall Allen, Barre Phillips, Barry Guy, Matthew Shipp, Gerald Cleaver, and many others. He has been curating Improvisations Now at Real Art Ways for many years. To learn more about Joe Morris, please visit his website.

About Improvisations Now
Improvisations Now is a monthly series of concerts programmed by Joe Morris. Joe invites a diverse group of dynamic, innovative musicians, all important members of the global improvised music scene, and performs with them. The music is completely improvised. Every concert is different. Funded by Lisa and Jerome Deupree.

The 2021-22 Improvisations Now series included Mary Halvorson, William Parker, Tyshawn Sorey, Joe McPhee, Rob Brown, Jerome Deupree, Fay Victor, Sam Newsome, Reggie Nicholson, Patricia Brennan, James Brandon Lewis, Tomeka Reid, Taylor Ho Bynum. Kyoko Kitamura, Stephen Haynes, Mat Maneri, and Peter Evans.

The 2022-23 season included Ken Vandermark, Matthew Shipp, Anna Webber, Angelica Sanchez, Hery Paz, Juan Pablo Carletti, Kenneth Jimenez, Matana Roberts, and Melanie Dyer, Daniel Carter, Michael Wimberly, Jamie Saft, Ingrid Laubrock, Tom Rainey, Brandon Lopez, Tony Malaby, and Nasheet Waits.

To learn more about the series:
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