The Wands is an international collaborative quartet making original music exploring the varied musical worlds of the Caribbean. Featuring drummer Juanz Clarke from Barbados, bassist Edgar Marun from Colombia, and US saxophonist Byron Asher based in New Orleans, with vocals and synths by Sasha Vinogradova from Russia, the group formed at global music residency OneBeat, an initiative of the US State Department, in 2022. Tonight, they will present all new music written during this years’ fall residency in New Orleans.

Byron Asher is a saxophonist and clarinetist and composer based in New Orleans and working at the intersection of broadly experimental composition and jazz and improvised music. 

His practice is dedicated to exploring new sounds across genre, and he is committed to building community through assembling and participating in ensembles that bring together musicians from a diversity of training and aesthetic backgrounds.

He is also an adjunct professor here at UNO School of the Arts.