Roy Nathanson’s ‘82 Days’

BROOKLYN MARATHON @ JOLENE SOUNDROOM

Saturday, January 13, 2024

Roy Nathanson has had a varied career as a saxophonist, composer, bandleader, poet, actor and teacher. After playing with the Lounge Lizards, Charlie Earland and performing in downtown theatre in the 80’s, Nathanson formed the Jazz Passengers with trombonist Curtis Fowlkes. The band has been together for over thirty years, creating a variety of recordings as well various thematic performance pieces. The Passengers worked and toured actively with a variety of vocalists including Elvis Costello and Deborah Harry until the early 2000s. They continue to tour and record occasionally. Their most recent Jazz Passengers CD, “Still Life with Trouble” celebrating 30 years of the band was released in February 2017 on Enja/Yellowbird and Thirsty Ear records.

Since the 2000s Nathanson has broadened the work he started with the Passengers by exploring various text/music forms. His song cycle, “Fire at Keaton’s Bar and Grille” premiered at St. Ann’s Theatre in the U.S. in 2000 at Royal Festival Hall in Europe. His band “Sotto Voce,” released 3 CDS between 2006 and 2012: “Sotto Voce,” “Subway Moon” and “Complicated Day.” The band worked with a collage of poetry, vocal sounds and sax, trombone, bass and violin.  Nathanson also wrote and performed his semi biographical radio play, “You’re the Fool” for NPR, and wrote a variety of film scores. Roy has published 2 books of poetry, “Subway Moon” in 2007 and “Conversations and Other Songs” on Madhat press in 2020. In March 2021, Roy released the album “Small Things,” with vocalist Nick Hakim on NYXO Records. Nick and Roy co-composed songs for the record based on poems from Roy’s new book.

When the pandemic started in March 2020, Roy was supposed to go on tour in France, but when everything was cancelled he started playing one song a night from his Flatbush Brooklyn balcony. Musicians from the neighborhood joined in and they played 82 straight days.  After articles in the NY Times and other publications spoke about the project, Roy started a local music program, called 5pm porch concerts that furthers his commitment to professional/student collaborations and to music as a form of community building. His album “82 Days” which reflects on these porch concerts and includes new original compositions will be released in October 2023 on Enja/Yellowbird Records.