Marielle V Jakobsons

Marielle V Jakobsons is a classically trained multi-instrumentalist and intermedia artist based in Oakland, California. Her rich, melodic drones incorporate synthesizers as well as acoustic instruments such as strings and flutes, and they generally have a meditative, mystical quality to them, recalling minimalist composers such as Terry Riley. Jakobsons is especially interested in sensory awareness and constructing immersive experiences involving light and sound. She has held residencies at numerous art organizations, and her photography, installations, and videos have been showcased at several universities and galleries. Jakobsons took courses in contemporary piano performance at Case Western and the Cleveland Institute of Music before studying computer music composition at the Center for Computer Composition of Iannis Xenakis in Paris. She earned her Master of Fine Arts degree at Mills College in Oakland, where she was given the Elizabeth Mills Crawford Award in Composition. She appeared on several solo releases by experimental composer Gregg Kowalsky, and the duo formed Date Palms in 2008. Under the solo moniker Darwinsbitch, Jakobsons released an album titled Ore on the Digitalis label in 2009. During the same year, the label also issued The Amber Sea, the debut album by Myrmyr, a duo consisting of Jakobsons and Agnes Szelag. Jakobsons contributed to Barn Owl's 2010 Thrill Jockey debut, Ancestral Star, and Date Palms released albums on labels such as Root Strata and Mexican Summer. Myrmyr's second album, Fire Star, appeared on Under the Spire in 2011, and Jakobsons and Kowalsky contributed to the self-titled 2012 album by Portraits, a Bay Area experimental supergroup also featuring members of Barn Owl, Tarentel, En, and others. Also in 2012, Alex Cobb's Students of Decay label issued Glass Canyon, Jakobsons' first solo studio album under her own name. In 2013, Date Palms (now expanded to a quintet) released The Dusted Sessions on Thrill Jockey. Jakobsons contributed to recordings by the Norman Conquest and guitarist Chuck Johnson, and developed the Macro Cymatic Visual Music Instrument, which creates audio-visual art by transducing sound waves through water and light. Jakobsons utilized the instrument in her performances as well as her visual art, including the sleeve for her album Star Core, which was issued by Thrill Jockey in 2016. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi