Ben and Yoko play Lincoln City

Experience the “genre-bending collaboration” of internationally recognized jazz pianist and accordionist Ben Rosenblum and Japanese visual artist Yoko Sano at the Lincoln City Cultural Center on Thursday, Sept. 25.

The husband-and-wife duo will present a program in which Rosenblum’s music and Sano’s live painting interact and evolve together.

The project has been performed at venues across the United States and Japan. Each performance is unique, as Rosenblum’s improvisations inspire Sano’s brushwork, while her artistic choices, in turn, influence the music being created.

Rosenblum has toured in more than 25 countries, performing in settings ranging from Carnegie Hall to international jazz festivals. He has appeared with artists such as Rickie Lee Jones, Catherine Russell and Kiran Ahluwalia, and has shared stages with jazz luminaries Bobby Watson, Sean Jones and Warren Wolf. In 2020, his sextet, the Nebula Project, was recognized in the Jazz Times readers’ poll as runner-up in the Best New Artist category.

Sano, who studied traditional Japanese painting and later became a certified instructor with the Japan Pastel Nagomi Art Association, has exhibited her work internationally and sold hundreds of pieces. Since relocating to New York, she has expanded her practice to include multimedia work and design projects for musicians. Her live collaborations with Rosenblum allow her to transform sound into visual form, offering audiences a rare synthesis of the two art forms.

The September 25 show begins at 7 pm at the Lincoln City Cultural Center, located at 540 NE Hwy. 101.

For more information, go to lincolncity-culturalcenter.org or call 541-994-9994.