The Juke Box Suite

An album by the ROVA Saxophone Quartet, the long-running San Francisco group that has been among the most important saxophone-only ensembles in creative music since 1977. The Juke Box Suite presents a seven-part composition by member Jon Raskin, conceived around the idea of an idealized jukebox where music of any culture or era might surface and combine — a concept dedicated to the spirit of folklorist Alan Lomax. A characteristically ambitious meeting of composition and improvisation from a foundational ensemble.

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The seven compositions on this recording where composed with an idealized Juke Box in mind, where any kind of music might show up from any culture or time and be combined for the next “Play”. My music listening has been informed by the spirit and work of Alan Lomax, from blues to raga, ragtime to avant-garde, pygmy chants to Korean court music, following styles and esthetics as they rubbed up against each other in the mingling of culture that was made available by intrepid searchers of music. The “sides” aren’t a direct borrowing but a weaving of the common threads that occur in all music’s.

(Jon Raskin)