The Fractal In Concert
Improvisational Music, Improvisational Dance
MusicThe Studio@620 invites you to experience an unique evening of live improvisational music and dance with The Fractal on Thursday November 30, 2023 at 7PM.
“A free exploration into the musically improbable” is the way bassist Robert Strickland describes The Fractal.
Strickland is a native Floridian who has been playing the bass for over 40 years, and has an affinity for jazz and the avant-garde – two musical labels that probably best describe the direction of this project that he helped birth.
The Fractal also features saxophonist David Pate – a well-known name in the Tampa Bay music scene. Pate was immersed in the 1980s New York City loft scene and has appeared with Sam Rivers, Nat Adderley, and even makes regular appearances with The Temptations.
Early this year Pate contacted Strickland and asked if he’d be interested in collaborating with him and a drummer to play some completely spontaneous, improvised music. The drummer Pate had in mind was lifelong Pinellas County, resident and drummer Jim Stewart. Locals may recognize him from his work with Helios Jazz Orchestra. He also has performed with Evan Parker and Sam Rivers.
The fourth member of The Fractal is not a musician at all, but a dancer – Helen French. She studied at the Juilliard school and has performed at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Pieve International School in Italy.
Because Strickland, who is also a published poet, has always been interested in the intersection of various artistic media, he recruited French to round out the ensemble in a unique expression of improvisational dance and sound.”
The Fractal
David Pate: Saxophones, flute, bass clarinet
Jim Stewart: Percussion
Robert Strickland: Acoustic upright bass
Helen French: Movement and dance
