Chicago-born, New York-based extraordinary alto saxophonist, composer, improviser and sound experimentalist Matana Roberts releases today the second instalment from her ongoing experimental project Coin Coin, following her 2011’s Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens de couleur libres.
Coin Coin Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile is driven by an aesthetic practice that Matana calls ‘panoramic sound quilting’ and conjures “some of the most nuanced, thoughtful and substantial American liberation music of the 21st century” as the press release notes.

Chapter One: Gens de couleur libres saw Matana collaborating with more than a dozen Montréal musicians involved in the experimental and avant-rock scenes, including label mates Godspeed You! Black Emperor!. Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile is a more intimate affair featuring a New York jazz sextet comprising pianist Shoko Nagai, trumpeter Jason Palmer, double bass player Thomson Kneeland, drummer Tomas Fujiwara and operatic tenor singer Jeremiah Abiah.

The long running Coin Coin project is far from finished, and Matana plans to release another 10 chapters. Right now, we can indulge our ears with Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile, available on vinyl, CD and digitally via Constellation. You can also head over to The Wire to stream the entire album, and listen to two magnificent cuts, ‘amma jerusalem school’ and ‘for this is’ beneath.