Mandorla Music couldn’t be more excited about their forthcoming second release, Sweet Cane from Dorchester-based trombone and tuba player Bill Lowe’s Signifyin’ Natives Ensemble.  This is a wide-ranging and joyous recording by a top-shelf multi-generational band, a beautiful document of the unique musical vision of this veteran player, composer, teacher and mentor to generations of younger musicians.

Don’t just take it from me though.  Bill’s onetime student and longtime co-conspirator Taylor Ho Bynum writes: “Bill’s musical experience speaks for itself; he has worked with most of the masters of Black creative music across all genres and cliques… How many albums jump from tuba-driven back-beat funk to a searching full ensemble free improvisation, to a sweetly swinging yet harmonically complex gem from Bill Barron’s underexplored oeuvre? And that’s just the first three tracks – we haven’t gotten to the interdisciplinary suite digging into one of the most challenging works of the Harlem Renaissance yet. This album knits together the various strands of Bill’s broad interests and experiences, and in doing so, presents an interpretation of the past, present, and future of Black creative music that is rich in creativity and community, integrity and innovation.”

For this performance, Bill's Signifyin' Natives Ensemble will be comprised of:

Bill Lowe - bass trombone & tuba

Taylor Ho Bynum - cornet & flugelhorn

Hafez Modirzadeh - reeds

Naledi Masilo - voice

Jesse Taitt - piano

Ken Filiano - bass

Luther Gray - drums