In the midst of his career as a jazz bassist/composer/bandleader, Alexis Cuadrado began writing music for The New Yorker Radio Hour podcast in 2015. Since then, Cuadrado’s media music brain has gradually infiltrated his jazz work. The same year he started writing the New Yorker music, Cuadrado completed a new score for Charlie Chaplin’s iconic silent film The Immigrant (which you can check out below), followed by a score for Lois Weber’s Shoes, premiered at Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2018.

This weekend, Cuadrado convenes his large ensemble at The Jazz Gallery to play his score for The Immigrant, plus scores to films by Alice Guy-Blaché and Harold M.Shaw. While these films are 100 years old, they deal with timely issues: immigration, women’s rights, poverty, inequality, and LGTBQ rights. Cuadrado writes that writing new music to old films “opens up new ways to frame, discuss, and activate subjects we must confront.” With collaborators like saxophonist Caroline Davis, trombonist Ryan Keberle, and violinist Sara Caswell, the group is sure to make the music speak with a striking immediacy.

Alexis Cuadrado presents Silent Films for Social Justice at The Jazz Gallery on Friday, June 3, and Saturday, June 4, 2022. The ensemble features Mr. Cuadrado on bass, Linda Briceño on trumpet & flugelhorn, Román Filiu on, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, and flute; Caroline Davis on tenor saxophone; Ryan Keberle on trombone; Sara Caswell on violin; Yuhan Su on vibraphone; Ed Cherry on guitar; Martha Kato on piano; and Shirazette Tinnin on drums. Sets are at 7:30 and 9:30 P.M. E.D.T. each night. $25 general admission ($10 for members), $35 reserved cabaret seating ($20 for members), $20 for Saturday livestream access ($5 for members) for each set. Purchase tickets here.