We Free Strings/Melanie Dyer & Larry Roland at South Oxford Space

We Free Strings, founded by Melanie Dyer, in 2011, an unfettered improvising ensemble that re-imagines the string sextet as a boundless vehicle for Free Jazz. The versatile, at times, visceral voices the ensemble members journey listeners through original and spontaneous compositions, and arrangements of works by celebrated, emerging and under-recognized masters.  Musicians include Charles Burnham (violin), Gwen Laster (violin), Melanie Dyer (viola), Lester St. Louis (cello), Ken Filiano (bass) and Michael Wimberly (percussion).

Larry Roland, bassist, composer, and poet, has often merged his poetry with the acoustic bass to form a unique combination of art and commentary that blends the European literal, and the "African in America" oral tradition....

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We Free Strings, founded by Melanie Dyer, in 2011, an unfettered improvising ensemble that re-imagines the string sextet as a boundless vehicle for Free Jazz. The versatile, at times, visceral voices the ensemble members journey listeners through original and spontaneous compositions, and arrangements of works by celebrated, emerging and under-recognized masters.  Musicians include Charles Burnham (violin), Gwen Laster (violin), Melanie Dyer (viola), Lester St. Louis (cello), Ken Filiano (bass) and Michael Wimberly (percussion).

Larry Roland, bassist, composer, and poet, has often merged his poetry with the acoustic bass to form a unique combination of art and commentary that blends the European literal, and the "African in America" oral tradition.

As a poet and writer, Larry's been involved in performances with the "Jazz Poetry Choir"; The Arts For Arts Collective, The Annual Visions Festival of Free Improvisational Music, Dance, and Poetry; and basic freelancing and open mic. situations.

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