2016-17 Flint & Steel Resident Byron Asher is embarking on a tour of “Skrontch Music”, an iterative composition project that explores the histories and lineages of jazz in New Orleans through contemporary composition and improvisation. The piece was researched and composed during Asher’s Flint & Steel Residency. The initial composition was written for a 10-piece ensemble. Incorporating elements of sound collage and primary source documents, the piece addresses the intertwined histories of the formation of New Orleans jazz and anti-Jim Crow activism, setting them in a contemporary soundscape that resonates with today’s musical and political landscape.

March 4-7, 2020, SKRONTCH MUSIC TOUR, supported by an inaugural Jazz Road touring grant from South Arts!
March 4, 2020, University of Mississippi, 7:30pm, Oxford, MS
March 5, 2020, Rudy’s Jazz Room, 9pm, Nashville, TN
March 6, 2020, AND Gallery, 8pm, Jackson, MS
March 7, 2020, Church of the Sacred Ear at Electric Magnolia Studio, 8pm, Grand Coteau, LA