017. Jessie Cox and Isaac Jean-François
This week, Isaac Jean-François interviews Jessie Cox about his TV series, "Space Travel from Home." About Jessie: “...some of the most experimental music of not just the day but the season... held a listener’s attention with surprises and delights aplenty.“ — LA Times Jessie Cox is a composer, drummer, and scholar, currently in pursuit of his Doctorate Degree at Columbia University. Growing up in Switzerland, and also having roots in Trinidad and Tobago, he is currently residing in NYC. He has written over 100 works for various musical ensembles including electroacoustic works, solo works, chamber- and orchestral works, works for jazz ensembles and choirs. As a performer he has played in Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and the USA; with musicians from all over the world. His scholarly writing has been published in the journal Sound American, and Castle Of Our Skins’ blog, a publication is forthcoming in Critical Studies in Improvisation; and he has presented his work at numerous conferences and festivals. For more about Jessie, visit: https://www.jessiecoxmusic.com/ Space Travel from Home, the complete series, can be viewed at: https://www.jessiecoxmusic.com/space-travel About Isaac: Isaac Jean-François (he/him) is a doctoral student in the joint degree program with African-American Studies and American Studies at Yale University. Jean-François’s research interests include black studies, phenomenology, psychoanalysis, queer theory, and sound studies. His research on composer and performer Julius Eastman is featured in an upcoming issue of Current Musicology in an essay titled, “Julius Eastman: The Sonority of Blackness Otherwise” (July 2020). Jean-François is committed to the intersection between academia and advocacy work and serves as the Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Stonewall Community Foundation based in New York City. Jean-François earned his B.A. from Columbia University in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Cum Laude. He holds a Certificate of Study from the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland. Upcoming for Jessie Cox: 3/31/21, premiere at Issue Project Room: https://issueprojectroom.org/event/propositions-deadwip-sound-listening-jessie-cox 3/20/21: premiere at Maerzmusik on March 20th: https://www.berlinerfestspiele.de/en/berliner-festspiele/programm/bfs-gesamtprogramm/programmdetail_334357.html 3/26/21: record release with Infrequent Seams on March 26th: https://stringnoise.bandcamp.com/album/alien-stories This episode was recorded and produced by Jessie Cox and Isaac Jean-François, in collaboration with TAK Ensemble, and edited by Marina Kifferstein.