Karen Borca

Karen Borca ( born September 5, 1948 in Green Bay, Wisconsin) is an American bassoonist of free jazz.

Borca grew up in the iron belt of the United States. Her mother, a school teacher who first took their musical education. For 10 years, she played alto saxophone before switching to bassoon in high school. She studied music at the University of Wisconsin, where she was encouraged by Alec Wilder and members of the New York Woodwind Quintet to continue her studies in New York City. Then she joined in 1971 at the University of Wisconsin with a Bachelor of teaching license. There, she met Cecil Taylor, who taught there in the academic year 1970/71; she played in his teaching Ensemble and became his assistant. In the next few years she was the teaching assistant to Taylor at Antioch College and went with him on in different contexts. She also led her own group. In addition, she was a part-time music teacher in Antioch (since 1972) and in New York ( since 1974). In the fall of 1974, she was at Bennington College teaching assistant to Jimmy Lyons, whom she married then. She was a member of his group to the early death of saxophonist. In 1984, she was with Taylor on a European tour.

Borca continued to play with the group of Joel Futterman, Paul Murphy, William Parker, Joe Morris, the Cosmosamatics by Sonny Simmons and Alan Silva. In 1998, she could not imagine at the Berlin Jazz Festival in her quintet with Susie Ibarra, Rob Brown and two bassists. Later she undertook further tours and in 1999 played in Switzerland with Brown, Reggie Workman and Pheeroan akLaff. 1998 and 2003 they played at the Vision Festival. In 2004, she was involved in Paul Murphy's album Red Snapper.