Ben Stapp Launches Uzmic Ro’Samg — A Visionary Solo Album for Tuba and Sousaphone. Internationally recognized tubist and composer Ben Stapp announces the release of Uzmic Ro’Samg, his first-ever album of unaccompanied tuba and sousaphone. A daring, world-building statement, the recording blends technical mastery with storytelling rooted in Stapp’s original science fiction narrative.  Stapp has long been a distinctive voice in the avant-garde and creative music scenes. He has created and recorded a full opera (Myrrha’s Red Book), led acclaimed small ensembles, and collaborated with leading improvisers including Stephen Haynes, Joe Morris, Steve Swell, and William Parker. With Uzmic Ro’Samg, he turns to the solo format, showcasing the sheer breadth of sonic possibilities within low brass while embedding the music inside a deeply imaginative conceptual framework. 

 

Each of the ten tracks on Uzmic Ro’Samg is tied to figures and events in Stapp’s long-developing science fiction opus—a meditation on consciousness, transformation, and encounters with extraterrestrial entities he calls “Keepers.” These connections give the album a rare depth: a balance of physical intensity and narrative mystery.
Highlights include: "Klonopod” — A startling opener where reeds balanced in the tuba’s mouthpiece create squeaks and tonal instability, evoking subcontrabass clarinet colors and planetary wobble. “Sciastica Neon” — A rhythmic tour de force driven by circular breathing and multiphonics, launching the listener into interstellar velocity.  “Freya” — A nine-minute exploration of human-to-Keeper transformation, layering high-pitched buzz, electroacoustic feedback, and chattering vocal cries into a dense, dramatic soundscape.  “Errathemuel” and “Egdon” — Shorter, jazz-inflected pieces that display Stapp’s deep grounding in improvisational tradition.