Other musical genres

The Master and Margarita Meets Jazz - 2014

LaFrae Sci

LaFrae Olivia Sci is a creative arts activist, composer and drummer from Brooklyn, New York. Since ditching law school in 1995 to become a drummer, she has toured, recorded and worked with a myriad of Jazz, Blues, Pop, Rock, world music and Hip-hop artists including Cyndi Lauper, Nancy Sinatra, Bumblefoot and Irene Cara. As a drummer, LaFrae is known for her hard hitting style, sensitivity and groove and adventurous and imaginative compositions.

LaFrae plays with her band The 13th Amendment?, which interprets Negro spirituals through the modern languages of Jazz, Blues and World Fusion. She also acts as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. Department of State through the Rhythm Road American Music Abroad programme.

When she read The Master and Margarita, LaFrae was intrigued that there was a jazz band at Woland’s ball. She started imagining that her own jazz band was invited there and wrote music for orchestra, jazz ensemble and voices. She shared her music with the Molodezhny Big Band of the P.I. Ivanov-Radkevich College of Arts in Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation, and the director of the college agreed to let the students work on the music as part of their curriculum.

On June 27 and 29, 2014, LaFrae Sci and The 13th Amendment? played two concerts with the Molodezhny Big Band and guest lead chanteuse Tamar Kali at the IVth Krasnoyarsk International Music Festival. There were 36 musicians on stage and a group of dancers. Actors interacted with the public as they entered the lobby, where Master and Margarita inspired art was exhibited by local students. The music ranged from classical to big band, rock, acappella vocals, tango, swinging jazz and improvisation.

In the winter of 2014, LaFrae and her band performed already songs of the project in Tirana, Albania, and at the Festival Sons d'Hiver 2014 in Paris, France. In 2012, they also played at the Independence Day Celebration in the Spaso House in Moscow, the place where Mikhail Bulgakov situated the Great Ball of Satan in The Master and Margarita.

LaFrae Sci

Technical details

Album
None

Musicians
LaFrae Sci - drums
Alex Blake - bass
Mazz Swift - violin and vocals
Micah Jaugh - alto saxophone and vocals
Tamar Kali - lead vocals

Venue
P.I. Ivanov-Radkevich College of Arts
Kommunalnaya ulitsa 14
660095 Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation

Dates
June 27 and 29, 2014

Video

Click on the arrow below to watch LaFrae Sci and The 13th Amendment? performing the song Margarita's Theme in Paris.