Steve Dyer – Freedom Melody world premiere & US tour--performance at The Center at Orchard Hill, October 19, 2025

Quartet.
Steve Dyer - saxophones, flute, voice
Aaron Rimbui - piano
Jimmy Mngwandi - bass
Matthew Fu - drums

South African composer, saxophonist and visionary artist Steve Dyer premieres his latest project “Freedom Melody” and tours the US as his latest album, “Multipolar”, is released on Ropeadope.

“Freedom Melody”, co-commissioned by Lincoln Center, UCLA and University of Arizona, will be presented following 3-day residencies in three states and collaborative engagements with local vocal ensembles. The performance, featuring the reeds-led quartet or sextet (NYC), and a vocal ensemble, looks back at a particular moment in history, while celebrating the present and the future, and the unbreakable human spirit, creativity, and universal values.

40 years ago in Gaborone, Botswana, April 1985 a Freedom Melody festival was held. Musicians based in Botswana as well as other parts of Southern Africa and from other locations converged for a memorable weekend of cultural events headlined by Hugh Masekela and Jonas Gwangwa. The repertoire performed included vocal and instrumental music that was symbolic of the liberation struggle. Through this festival the power of music to become a decisive unifying force for change became apparent.

2 months later on June 14th 1985 the apartheid SADF (South African Defence Force) raided Gaborone killing 12 people. The cultural initiatives over a number of years by the Medu Art Ensemble collective (who had organized the festival) were abruptly terminated as a result.

Conceptualized by Steve Dyer, who was part of the original Freedom Melody, the concert will draw on the rich heritage of South and Southern African vocal and instrumental music within a contemporary setting. What does freedom mean and symbolize in our globalized and fractured world today? In Dyer’s vision, these performances are to be times of cultural intersection and celebration.

Additionally, on October 31, 2025 Steve Dyer releases on the label Ropeadope an album where he reflects on the urgent need for new and/or alternative ways of thinking and acting. Following the 2024 “Enhlizweni – song stories from my heartland” (SAMA winner for Best Jazz Album), released on AfricArise / Ropeadope, this is Dyer’s second release on an American label, and the 11th under his name. The title, “Multipolar”, refers to the global world shift from the falsehood perception of a unipolar power dynamic world to one with many centers of decentralized spheres of influence and power. The music on “Multipolar” reflects different elements of Steve Dyer’s cultural makeup as an Anglo-African. Born into, and influenced and shaped by Africa, this music originates here and casts its creative eyes outward to a global world of accessibility and connection. We all have our stories to tell, and we can all learn from each other’s stories. While the title track represents diversity of musical influence, a worldly groove going thru various ‘sections’, Dyer also remembers learning that multipolar neurons are nerve cells that carry messages all around the body enabling us to breathe, think eat. This interconnectedness will be reflected in quartet and duo performances which make up part of the tour.

Presented in conjunction with Continuum Culture & Arts, Inc. and City of Gold Arts, Inc.

DATES 2025:

October 18, Newport Live: Channing Memorial Church, Newport, RI (ticket link) – Quartet only October 19, COHAR Center at Orchard Hill, Alstead, NH (ticket link) – Quartet only
October 20, Jazz Shares: Community Music School of Springfield, Springfield MA (ticket link) – Quartet only
October 25, Freedom Melody world premiere – Lincoln Center, Atrium, New York, NY (free event) – featuring the Young People’s Chorus of New York City

October 29, Freedom Melody – UCLA, Lani Hall, Los Angeles, CA (free) – feat. the vocal ensemble of UCLA
November 2, Freedom Melody – La Rosa, Tucson, AZ (ticket link) featuring 8 singers from Tucson's Desert Voices
November 8 – Piedmont Piano Company, Oakland, CA (ticket link) – duo performance Steve Dyer & Aaron Rimbui
November 9 – Sam Mazza Foundation, Pacifica, CA (ticket link) – duo performance Steve Dyer & Aaron Rimbui
November 10 – Sonoma State University, Sonoma, CA – workshop Steve Dyer & Aaron Rimbui

Quartet line-up Oct 18 – 20:
Steve Dyer - saxophones, flute, voice Aaron Rimbui - piano
Jimmy Mngwandi - bass
Matthew Fu - drums
Biography note:
Please see - Steve Dyer EPK here:

https://www.outwardvisions.com/steve-dyer-epk

Long biography note is available upon request or a version of it via https://stevedyermusic.com/