Pianist and electronic musician Rod Williams will be joined by his new ensemble Options: Mark Helias (bass), Bruce Cox (percussion), Ray Spiegel (tabla), and special guests Neel Murgai (sitar) and Aditi Bhagwat (Kathak dance). Rod Williams began in the jazz world, but now composes mainly for multimedia often integrated with electronics.
Rod Williams came to New York from Detroit, Michigan in 1981 to study jazz piano on an NEA Grant. He has worked with Cassandra Wilson, Lester Bowie, David Murray, Dewey Redman, Oliver Lake, Billy Higgins, Henry Threadgill, Wadada Leo Smith, James Carter, Greg Osby, Steve Coleman, Marty Ehrlich and Olu Dara. Williams has received an Interdisciplinary B.A in Electro/Acoustic Music from CUNY and an M.F.A. in Performance Interactive Media Arts from Brooklyn College. He is currently composes for multimedia.
American double bassist and composer Mark Helias is an improviser and proponent of extended techniques for upright bass. A graduate of Yale School of Music, he is trained as both an orchestral musician and an improviser. He has worked with Anthony Braxton, Edward Blackwell, Dewey Redman, Don Cherry, Cecil Taylor, and Marilyn Crispell.
Bruce Cox began playing drums at 12 years old. He enrolled in the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts where he studied percussion with Anthony Orlando of the Philadelphia Orchestra and worked with jazz drummer Philly Joe Jones. He joined the Intergalactic Sun Ra Arkestra in 1980, toured for six months, and landed in Paris where he studied West African drumming with Brice Wasi. Cox then moved to New York and released his debut recording STICK TO IT (1996). He has performed and toured with with Sonny Rollins, Jon Hendricks, The J. J. Johnson Quintet, and Dee Dee Bridgewater.
Ray Spiegel is a disciple of the late tabla master Ustad Alla Rakha, specializing in the Punjab Gharana style of Tabla playing. He has also studied with Ustad Zakir Hussain from 1973 to 1980. Ray began his formal training at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, California, under Sri Shankar Ghosh in 1970. He studied with Sri B.S. Ramanna, (a disciple of Sheik Dawoodkhan of Hydrabad) in New Delhi in 1971 and 1972.
Neel Murgai is a multi-instrumental performer, composer and teacher. He has studied sitar for over 15 years, currently with Pundit Krishna Bhatt. Neel has performed around the world at venues ranging from the Blue Note to the Kennedy Center to the David Letterman Show. He is a graduate of Goddard College's MFA program in Interdisciplinary Arts. He has worked a diverse array of artists including Bill T. Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Wyclef Jean, Samir Chatterjee, Daniel Bernard Romain, Sameer Gupta, Mat Maneri, Laraaji, Yuerba Buena, Baba Israel, Raz Mesinai, Mission on Mars, Akim Funk Buddha, Loren Conners, Suzanne Langille, Louis Bellogenis and Cosmo Vinyl. Neel has composed original music for the films "The Yes Men Fix the World", "A Decent Arrangement" and "Crossing Lines", as well as BBC and TBS televsion productions. http://neelmurgai.com
A graded National Artist of India, Kathak dance exponent Aditi Bhagwat studied with Padmashree Dr. Roshan Kumari. She has an M.A. in dance from Mahagandharva Mahavidyalaya (National School of Dance) and is an empanelled artist of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. Aditi has performed internationally at dance festivals, including fusion projects with musicians from the U.S., U.K., East Africa, Australia and Maldives. She was recently honored by the Nalanda Dance Research Center in India for her excellence in dance performance. She is an instructor of Kathak, Odissi and various Indian folk dance styles.