Hello folks, good news for all free jazz, spoken word and improvised music lovers. Composer saxophonist and visual artist Matana Roberts will release the latest instalment in their Coin Coin series.
The forthcoming record marks the fifth chapter in the series, which began in 2011 with Chapter One. Roberts will unleash Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the garden… into the world on 29th September. It will be Roberts’ first album since 2019’s Coin Coin Chapter Four: Memphis. As a first taste, they have shared the three-song suite that opens the album. Listen to “we said” / “different rings” / “unbenkownst” below.
As a response to the current abortion laws in the US, Roberts presents the story of a woman who died from an illegal abortion.
“I wanted to talk about this issue, but in a way where she gets some sense of liberation,” Roberts explained in the accompanying liner notes essay:
“There is something quite rancid going on in America right now, more so than any time I have seen… a growing cohort of ghoul-like humans who seem to think that your body does not belong to you. We have seen some of this before, we knew it was wrong, and we eradicated some of the issues. It wasn’t perfect how we did it, but we did it. And yet, like a never-ending train wreck, here we are again. The lack of access to safe and legal abortion services disproportionately affects marginalized and low-income communities, who often lack the resources and support to obtain safe reproductive health care. Reproductive healthcare includes abortion….
This over-focus and policing of ovaried bodies are getting in the way of the number one killer of American children today: firearms. This bounce around being dangerously shouted from conservative rooftops about trans bodies is just an extension of this reproductive rights fight.”
We at Twistedsoul are definitely looking forward to hearing more music from the album, but for now, enjoy the trio of tracks.
Matana Roberts Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the garden… Tracklist:
1. we said
2. different rings
3. unbeknownst
4. predestined confessions
5. how prophetic
6. a caged dance
7. i have long been fascinated
8. enthralled not by her curious blend
9. no way chastened
10. but i never heard a sound so long
11. the promise
12. shake my bones
13. a(way) is not an option
14. for they do not know
15. others each
16. …ain’t i. …your mystery is our history
