Miss America

Description

Qasim Naqvi and Steph Richards are two major figures in contemporary experimental music, each at the crossroads of jazz, improvisation, and interdisciplinary arts. Qasim Naqvi, a Brooklyn-based percussionist, composer, and synthesist, first gained recognition as a member of the cult trio Dawn of Midi before developing a notable solo career on the Erased Tapes label. With nearly thirty years of involvement in the New York improvisation scene, he multiplies collaborations across film, dance, and orchestral music. His project Two Centuries, with Andrew Cyrille and Wadada Leo Smith, illustrates his search for a sonic language between jazz, electronics, and contemporary composition. Steph Richards, a trumpeter and composer praised for her "audacious inventiveness," explores the fusion of jazz and multimedia performance, integrating electronics, choreography, film, and olfaction. A collaborator of figures such as Yoko Ono, Laurie Anderson, and Anthony Braxton, she is also a founding member of the Asphalt Orchestra and the Tricentric Orchestra. Her albums, such as Supersense and Zephyr, have been widely acclaimed by international critics. Together, Naqvi and Richards represent a generation of artists pushing the boundaries between improvisation, technology, and total art.