Amirtha Kidambi & Elder Ones

Ars Nova Workshop presents the compellingly original vocalist/composer Amirtha Kidambi and her electroacoustic quintet Elder Ones at Solar Myth on Friday, March 29.

In the words of the New York Times, Amirtha Kidambi “takes a holistic approach to singing, which can mean treating every element as unfixed: Words can be opened up, rendered nonspecific. Melody can be repeated and frozen and stuck in place. Markings of rhythm can become utterly abstract, freed from cadence.” That innovative approach has graced Mary Halvorson’s group Code Girl, collaborations with Lea Bertucci, Darius Jones and Luke Stewart, and Kidambi’s own vocal quartet Lines of Light. Her quartet Elder Ones features a wealth of talented NYC musicians with Jason Nazary on the drums, Lester St. Louis on cello, Matt Nelson on soprano saxophone and Alfredo Colon on tenor saxophone. The band’s bold improvisations push the boundaries of jazz and electronic forms, while Kidambi’s astonishing vocals confront topics of anticolonialism, global fascism, violence against Asian Americans, and continuing inequalities in the growing shadow of late stage capitalism. Ben Ratliff called the band’s debut Holy Science, “a kind of gauge for how strong and flexible the scene of young musicians in New York’s improvised and experimental music world can be.”