Racer Session #433 | Rhonda Taylor | July 29, 2018

Fans of the Avant,

We are incredibly excited to be hosting the incredible saxophonist Rhonda Taylor this Sunday. Rhonda hails from La Cruces, where she is the College Associate Professor of Saxophone and Music Theory at New Mexico State University. Her improvisatory work is focused primarily on exploring the extremes of the parameters of sound and perception for long durations of time: clear sound/distortion, low/high frequencies, soft/loud volume, etc. Her work is also often concerned with varying states of activity and intelligibility, of evoking a particular experience for the listener using both traditional and extended techniques on the saxophone.

She released her first album of fully improvised solo music with electronic processing using Ableton Live 9, Nocturne, in 2013. Since then, she has released three more solo albums of free improvisation: Necropolis (2015), NTH, Volume 1 (2016), and most recently, NTH, Volume 2 (2017), from which the performance will be derived. Rhonda comes to us with glowing recommendations from friends and heroes, so we are incredibly excited to have her with us.

Rhonda has written to you below, so keep reading on, and make sure to find yourself at Cafe Racer this Sunday at 8pm. It's going to be a hot one, so dress comfortably and drink lots of water. We'll see you there!

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"Hello Racer People!

I can’t wait to come perform in Seattle for the first time this weekend. For July 29th, I’ll be presenting a live, improvised version of my most recent album, NTH Vol. 2. '

NTH Vol. 2 is about transformation through destruction, introspection, desire, intuition, and hope. You can stream it for free here.

My work is very personal. I figure that as an artist, if I’m honestly sharing something that sounds like whatever is inside of me, then maybe someone else who hears it might recognize it as what their insides feel like too, and feel less alone.

What else would you like to know?

I bought CA Conrad’s While Waiting in Line For Death last fall and I’m still not done because his poetry is so good and intense - I read a poem or three and then just have to kind of lie down and think for a bit.

I’m a comedy nerd currently crushing on John Mulaney, Bill Hader, Gary Gulman, Tig Notaro, and Ron Funches.

I’m a saxophone professor at a state university and a volunteer at a no-kill animal sanctuary, and those two things have more in common than you might imagine.

I’m pretty introverted and live in a small desert city, so I easily (happily) go 36-48 hours without speaking out loud to anyone during the summertime.

Lately I’m listening to Frank Ocean’s Blonde on repeat.

I like looking at the sky at night.

Did I mention that I am excited to share some sounds with you? I am. I hope you’ll stop by and listen on Sunday. Come say hi afterwards.

- Rhonda"