Music and Migration Presents

Origins, Ep. 3 - Karen Borca

This episode focuses on bassoonist and composer, Karen Borca. Ms. Borca has been active on the New York music scene since the 1970s. She details her early years in northern Wisconsin where she first studied music and how she met pianist Cecil Taylor at the University of Wisconsin in 1970. She joined his circle of improvisers, which included Jimmy Lyons, Andrew Cyrille, and many others. She joined Taylor at Antioch College and then moved to New York City where she joined the community of musicians. Her work has transformed the bassoon as an improvisatory instrument. The interview included in this episode was recorded on October 15, 2020.

Origins, Ep. 2 - Joe Daley

This episode features tuba player and composer Joe Daley. Mr. Daley has been active on the New York music scene since the 1970s. He talks about growing up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, his early exposure to Latin music, and how he first got involved with the music scene in New York during the jazz oft era. The interview included in this episode was recorded on September 28, 2021.

Origins, Ep. 1 - Dave Burrell

This episode features pianist and composer Dave Burrell, one of the great luminaries of the music over the past 60 years, who has appeared on over 250 records. In this episode, he talks about his early years in Ohio and Harlem before moving with his family to Honolulu, where he grew up. He talks about the music that had been passed down in his family and how he discovered jazz, opera, and other forms of music as a kid in Hawaii. He enrolled at Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1960 and moved to New York in 1965, where he began playing professionally with figures such as Archie Shepp, Marion Brown, Grachan Moncur III, Sunny Murray, and Alan Silva.