One of the most unfettered and important musical spaces in the sound schedule of every artist is the jam session, where production and planning are eschewed in favor of spontaneity and organic creation in the moment. This Thursday, March 14, Dr. Guy and frequent collaborator Ursula Rucker will offer a window into the live process as part of World Café’s ongoing 21Soul Sessions series.
The free series, developed by Ropeadope, the “interdependent” local label that began twenty years ago with the acclaimed and exploratory Project Logic release from DJ Logic and fuses streetwear and branding in addition to cross-genre musical releases from artists including Questlove, Antibalas, Snarky Puppy, Lalah Hathaway, and countless others. With more than 400 recordings released to date, the label’s impact on the industry is without question. But further, Ropeadope’s mission is an artists-first one, where musicians retain creative control over their releases while still receiving support from the label.
Read a bio of Ursula Rucker HERE and a sustained Q&A with her HERE.
Ropeadope hosts a monthly World Café residency titled The 21Soul Sessions, hoping to give artists the space and platform to “break new ground in musical exploration.” Named for the label’s new media programming platform, the sessions (and the platform for that matter) prioritize intimacy and specificity in a digital age. For Philly crowds, Ursula Rucker—one of MusiQology’s great collaborators who has featured prominently in Hide/Melt/Ghost and other acclaimed performances—needs little introduction. She’s an artist whose poetics and performance practice can bring a spark to any musical conversation. Also featured on Thursday evening will be soul singer Stephanie McKay, who has a recent release on Ropeadope.
“There’s the act of liberating yourself that I think is the real essence of it,” Rucker told MusiQology contributor Izzy Lopez in a recent interview. “You’re liberating yourself of any kind of censorship to tell your story, to tell a story authentically, bravely, not really worrying about what other people think. You don’t want to be insulting or disrespectful of anyone’s religion or sexuality, you know. There are things you have to do but outside of that, you’re free. There’s no other feeling like it. I just can’t compare it to anything. It’s the freest place I’ve ever been is in that moment when I’m “Ursula the Poet.” Whatever way I chose to do my poetry, just ‘Ursula the Poet.’ I’m free.”
Listen to Ursula on The MusiQology Podcast on Spotify.
For Dr. Guy, who’s been so focused on the studio and structured performance of Hide/Melt/Ghost these past few months, we’re excited to watch him enter into the creative jam session space. Studio records are long-gestating products and Hide/Melt/Ghost’s thoughtful and precise staging leaves less room for improvisation than an event like Thursday will. In some ways, this is the ideal opportunity: To create something new.
Dr. Guy and Ursula Rucker will perform at World Café’s The 21Soul Sessions on Thursday, March 14. The event is FREE.
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