Tarbaby

Ars Nova Workshop presents a very special two-night residency by Tarbaby, the provocative and risk-taking trio of pianist Orrin Evans, bassist Eric Revis, and drummer Nasheet Waits, joined by the powerhouse Ursula Rucker and Philadelphia poet laureate Kai Davis at Solar Myth on May 10-11, 2024.

“Tarbaby does what it wants,” is how the New York Times sums up the dauntless trio, which brings together three of the boldest voices in modern jazz and unleashes them on the music’s full lineage. Pianist Orrin Evans is a “poised artist with . . . ideas at his command,” again according to the Times. Drummer Nasheet Waits, son of jazz legend Freddie Waits, is a key member of Jason Moran’s Bandwagon, while JazzTimes writes that bassist Eric Revis, a longtime Branford Marsalis collaborator, “stretches the jazz fabric without ripping it apart.” Together, Tarbaby absorbs everything from Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus to John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman, sending it all back in torrents of molten musicianship. For this special two-night stay at Solar Myth, the borderless trio will be joined by Philly’s current Poet Laureate Kai Davis and Ursula Rucker, the acclaimed poet and performance artist whose soft spoken eloquence and undeterred honesty have become her signature, with high-profile collaborators including King Britt and The Roots.