Rosta and Kool B

Rosta has been making a name for itself with numerous performances around town, including a soon-to-be-defunct weekly Sunday-night gig at No tsu oH. Now, the jazz improvisers are teaming up with poet and spoken-word performance artist Kool B to present "Chaos and Control," an evening of what they call "Jazzoetry."

Combining Kool B's lyrical prose with partially improvised riffs composed by Rosta leader John Edward Ross, "Chaos and Control" has some highfalutin goals: to take folks on a journey away from the illusions of life and toward the truth. A series of six pieces, resembling vignettes, will follow the story's protagonist -- a crazy street person named Nixon Little -- whose neurotic behavior is meant to be an exaggerated reflection of humanity's insanity. Through their art, Rosta and Kool B hope to elicit sympathy for the insanity that exists throughout the world. Employing a chorus to help tell and clarify the universal story, the show is evocative of Greek tragedy.

Improvisation is at the heart of "Chaos and Control," with the band looking to play off of Ross's traditional and avant-garde compositions, while Kool B will use his memorized verses as a basis for spontaneous lyrical rhymes. The whole thing reminds us of an old quote by Bob Dylan: "I accept chaos. I'm not sure whether it accepts me." Will you accept this "Chaos"? Will it accept you?