We’ve been proud to have celebrated poet, critical theorist, and author Fred Moten contribute greatly to AFA as both a performer and board member for the past few years, reading his groundbreaking poetry, presenting  academic keynotes, and collaborating with William Parker on several occasions. At Weeksville, hear Moten shed light on the black radical tradition through his unaccompanied poetry.

Check out the above video of Fred Moten reading at the 2017 Vision Festival.

Fred Moten - poetry

Multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter was the first musician with whom bassist William Parker performed when he committed himself to music in 1970.  Through their decades long artistic relationship they still manage to surprise and excite with new approaches to music making. This quartet finds Parker and Carter joined by a relative newcomer, electronic percussionist Val Jeanty, and their stalwart longtime collaborator, dancer and poet Patricia Nicholson.  Before the quartet performance, Parker will perform a short solo set.   

Check out William Parker's What It Is ensemble from our 2018 Evolving series in the video above.

William Parker - bass / Daniel Carter - reeds / Val Jeanty - percussion / Patricia Nicholson - dance, text

Building on their 2018 collaboration, Arts for Art returns to Weeksville Heritage Center to bring the contemporary sound of free jazz which, like Weeksville Heritage Center, was first birthed in black communities during the Civil Rights era. AFA and Weeksville have partnered together to ensure that New York’s jazz history is not only respected, but extended into the future and in the service of the neighborhood and communities who helped birth it. ​

David Mills' art lies at the intersection of poetry and theater.  For three years, he resided in Langston Hughes' landmark home, authoring a one-man dramatic interpretation of Hughes' poetry and short stories.  We are excited to welcome Mills to open our series at Weeksville to share another energetic, insightful, and often hilarious reading.  

Check out the above video of David Mills reading at AFA's 2016 Evolving series.

David Mills - poetry

Drummer Gerald Cleaver will lead a trio with his frequent collaborators, bassist Brandon Lopez and guitarist Brandon Seabrook.  Cleaver and Lopez have proven to be a particularly versatile tandem, delivering many standout sets over the past few years of AFA programs. At the last two Vision Festivals they have performed together in a quartet with pianist David Virelles and saxophonist Chris Potter, and in an interdisciplinary ensemble with poets Fred Moten and Edwin Torres.  Throw guitarist Brandon Seabrook into the mix, who shares deep history with both players - including in Cleaver's popular Black Host band - and this ensemble's potential for wildly inventive improvisation is unmatched. 

Check out the quartet performance with Cleaver, Lopez, Virelles, and Potter in the video above.

Gerald Cleaver - drums / Brandon Lopez - bass / Brandon Seabrook - guitar

Celebrating Patricia Nicholson
A 70th Birthday Night of Performances
​
Tuesday November 19, 6-11pm

The Clemente
107 Suffolk St, NYC 10002

Arts For Art is proud to announce a celebration and benefit honoring dancer-choreographer Patricia Nicholson, the founder and guiding light of Arts For Art (AFA) and The Vision Festival, on the occasion of her 70th birthday. The evening will include performances and artwork from some of the hundreds of artists she has supported over the years, as well as catered food and fine wine. As we enter Arts For Art’s 25th year of programming, now is the time to shine a spotlight on a dedicated artist and programmer who has helped shaped the cultural landscape of her community, the city of New York, and the world.

The community to which Patricia Nicholson has devoted her life is rallying together in celebration. After an hour of food, wine, and conviviality, the event will feature musical performances by her long-time partner in art and life William Parker, as well as Cooper-Moore, Dave Burrell, Oliver Lake, John Zorn, Fay Victor, Matthew Shipp, Ingrid Laubrock, Darius Jones, Rob Brown, James Brandon Lewis, William Hooker, Ava Mendoza, Lisa Sokolov, Val Jeanty, Daniel Carter, Ellen Christi and many more.  Dancers performing include K.J. Holmes, Yoshiko Chuma, Jason Jordan, Douglas Dunn, Miriam Parker.  Poets reading include Bob Holman, Patricia Spears Jones, and Tracie Morris.  Visual artists displaying their work include William Mazza, Jo Wood Brown, Jeff Schlanger, and Katy Martin.  
​
At the heart of the evening will be honoree Patricia Nicholson, performing with her projects Revolution/Resurrection, What It Is, and BLUE, plus a grand finale featuring a multi-disciplinary performance by over 20 members of the AFA community.

This celebration will raise funds to support Arts for Art’s programs, artist fees, and staff growth; the evening also kicks off the annual Artists and Friends fundraising campaign. The goal is to raise the funds to keep AFA going and make it stronger. For Patricia Nicholson, the uncompromised creative arts are essential to creating a world worth living in.
 
Patricia Nicholson’s dance is steeped in the free jazz aesthetic and an attention to spiritual and social responsibility. Beginning with the belief that dance is the visual manifestation of sound and energy, Nicholson has developed a singular practice, drawing from both traditional and unconventional techniques to create an eclectic yet intuitive approach to movement and composition.

Nicholson's dance and poetry are featured through her active projects: What It Is, co-led with William Parker and featuring James Brandon Lewis, Melanie Dyer, Devin Waldman, and Gerald Cleaver; Revolution/Resurrection, with TA Thompson, Jason Hwang, and William Mazza; BLUE with William Mazza, and Val Jeanty; and Hope Cries for Justice, duos and trios with William Parker and Hamid Drake.

Patricia Nicholson has been writing and publicly sharing her poetry since childhood. Though she gives occasional readings, Nicholson's poems are most often tied to performance, whether serving as a written score for dancers or accompanying, rather than guiding, creative movement.

There is choreography to Nicholson's approach to programming as well. She curates evenings with a deliberate arc, while also emphasizing a dynamic flow and messaging. Her goal is to design nights that create a complete experience and engage audiences in active, and creative, witnessing.

Nicholson's widest-reaching influence has perhaps been in her capacity as an artistic and community organizer. In 1981, Ms. Nicholson choreographed and organized A Thousand Cranes Peace Opera, with 1,000 children performing in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza for the opening of the Special Sessions on Disarmament; in the mid and late-1980s, she responded to a lack of visibility for free jazz by helping to organize the Sound Unity Festivals. In 1994, Nicholson brought together fifty artists to form The Improvisors Collective, whose highlights over the next two years included weekly events at Context Studios, 28 Ave A. Following that success, Nicholson founded Arts For Art and the Vision Festival in 1996 to promote and advocate for free jazz, raising awareness through this notable and uncommonly visible platform. Since, AFA has grown to be a movement annually supporting hundreds of artists working with the free jazz aesthetic.
​
After decades of creative production, programming, and organization, Nicholson’s focus is on developing strategies for the future: how to better the world in which we live; how to inspire, grow, and build a diverse community of uncompromising artists and audiences; and, most immediately, how to build a sustainable structure for AFA that will outlive her service and serve as a fitting legacy, one steeped in the ideals of artistic excellence and community responsibility she holds most dear. In her own words, “This is my 70th birthday; there is both a community to sustain, and the creative expression of my own art, yet to be shared. I am humbled by the collective creativity waiting to be expressed.”
 
About Arts for Art
 
Founded in 1996, Arts For Art (AFA) is a New York City based tax-exempt organization dedicated to the promotion and advancement of FreeJazz - an American indigenous art form in which improvisation is principle. FreeJazz embodies music, dance, poetry, and visual arts. It is recognized for its variety of highly developed and personalized improvisational languages. AFA works not only to preserve the legacy of FreeJazz, but also to ensure a vital future through its re-imagination by new generations of artists. Spearheaded by the internationally renowned Vision Festival, AFA's programming brings together multiple generations of vibrant, diverse and highly skilled artists. To further our goals of diversity and accessibility, we foster education initiatives and produce events that build community amongst artists and audiences.
 
Facebook: facebook.com/artsforart
Twitter: twitter.com/artsforart
Instagram: instagram.com/artsforart
 
Press Contact
 
For more information please contact Sean Madigan at sean@artsforart.org

Papoleto Melendez | Joe McPhee & Jay Rosen | Laubrock, Dunston, Mela
October 13, 2019 4:00pm
El Taller Latino Americano

The final day of our annual partnership with El Taller in East Harlem features poet Papoleto Melendez, multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee and drummer Jay Rosen, and saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, leading a new trio with bassist Nick Dunston and drummer Francisco Mela.

Click the button to buy tickets, and read below for more from these artists.​

Nuyorican poet and El Barrio mainstay Papoleto Melendez returns to read his poetry at El Taller, in the PS 109 building where he also serves as poet-in-residence.  Papoleto's poetry has become tradition during our partnerships at El Taller, and we are glad to have him back. If you haven't seen him yet, don't miss out!

Papoleto Melendez - poetry

Vision Festival Lifetime Achievement honoree and free jazz legend Joe McPhee will perform in duo with longtime collaborator, drummer Jay Rosen. McPhee and Rosen first connected through the ensemble Trio X, also featuring bassist Dominic Duval, which debuted at the 1998 Vision Festival.  Although McPhee is no stranger to the duo, this is a rare opportunity to see him one-on-one with his longtime battery mate Rosen. 

Check out McPhee and Rosen in the above video in a tribute performance to Duval at AFA's Evolving series.

Joe McPhee - saxophones / Jay Rosen - drums

Opening the series is pianist/composer Aruan Ortiz, who will continue his tendency to put a twist on the piano trio at AFA events by featuring saxophonist Jure Pukl and cellist Lester St. Louis.  We've always come to expect something different from Aruan, and his ability to combine Cuban-Haitian, avant-garde, and contemporary classical language into his work, creates a reliably exciting and unpredictable result. 

Check out the video above, with Darius Jones and Marika Hughes from AFA's Evolving series in 2017.

Aruan Ortiz - piano / Jure Pukl - tenor saxophone / Lester St. Louis - cello

Angelica Sanchez will follow up with her own piano trio, this time featuring the traditional piano, drum, and bass instrumentation.  While the format may be traditional, don't expect the sound to be, with the wholly original bassist William Parker and drummer Randy Peterson. Angelica has recently been performing with her mighty nonet, but we're excited to have her back with a trio, a format she's documented well on records featuring great musicians like Tyshawn Sorey, Michael Formanek, Tony Malaby, and Tom Rainey. 

Above, check out another video from AFA's 2017 Evolving Series, showcasing Angelica's compositions with Formanek and drummer Kenny Wollesen.

Angelica Sanchez - piano / William Parker - bass / Randy Peterson - drums

Rounding out the evening is violist Melanie Dyer presenting a trio with bassist Shayna Dulberger and multi-instrumentalist Kali Z. Fasteau on drums and piano.  Dyer has been making an impact on the creative music scene primarily through her group We Free Strings, but is assembling this unique one-off ensemble for this performance.  See We Free Strings in action in the video above from our Nublu series this past January. 

Melanie Dyer - viola / Shayna Dulberger - bass / Kali Z. Fasteau - piano, drums

Building on their 2018 collaboration, Arts for Art returns to Weeksville Heritage Center to bring the contemporary sound of free jazz which, like Weeksville Heritage Center, was first birthed in black communities during the Civil Rights era.  In addition to an improvisation workshop, the partnership features performances by poets Tracie Morris, Fred Moten and David Mills along with noted musicians Gerald Cleaver, William Parker, and Pheeroan akLaff, to name a few.

Just as AFA is dedicated to maintaining the presence of this innovative music and art, Weeksville has similarly worked to document and preserve Brooklyn jazz history through their Lost Jazz Shrines of Brooklyn project, which covers the cultural legacy of jazz history in in Central Brooklyn and contains oral history interviews, jazz ephemera, primary and secondary research documents, musical recordings, publications, and photographs. During the mid 20th century, jazz venues in Brooklyn - largely African-American owned and operated - outnumbered those in Manhattan. Venues like The East and the Kingston Lounge specifically catered to black audiences, and brought in radical artists such as Pharoah Sanders, Leroy Jenkins, and Max Roach.  Many artists within AFA’s close circle have roots in Central Brooklyn, including 2019 Vision Festival honoree Andrew Cyrille. 

AFA and Weeksville have partnered together to ensure that New York’s jazz history is not only respected, but extended into the future and in the service of the neighborhood and communities who helped birth it. 
 
The partnership begins on October 12 with a free education workshop to introduce local student musicians to improvisation, featuring AFA’s Visionary Youth Orchestra under the leadership of composer and bassist, William Parker.
 
Later in October, poets, critical thinkers and musicians will gather for three evenings in the Weeksville Center’s performance space.
 
Friday October 18
7:30 David Mills - poetry
8:30 Gerald Cleaver Trio
Gerald Cleaver - drums / Brandon Seabrook - guitar / Brandon Lopez - bass
           
Saturday October 19
7:30 Fred Moten - poetry  
8:00 William Parker Solo & Quartet
William Parker – bass, gimbre / Val Jeanty – percussion, electronics / Daniel Carter – reeds, trumpet
​Patricia Nicholson – words, dance
 
Sunday October 20
4:00 Tracie Morris - poetry
5:00 Mixashawn Trio
Mixashawn – sax, voice, mandolin / William Parker – bass / Pheeroan akLaff - drums

Arts for Art Returns to El Taller in East Harlem
October 11-13, 2019
 
For the 4th consecutive year, Arts for Art partners with El Taller Latino Americano to present a program of creative music in East Harlem.  This series serves to amplify both organizations’ missions by assembling a diverse group of artists and audiences as part of a continued effort to bridge East Harlem and the Lower East Side. To fulfill this goal, the programming emphasizes African-American and Latinx artists working within the free tradition of improvised music. 
 
Artists selected for this series take particular care in combining disparate approaches to music making, employing improvisation, composition, traditional and novel systems to create a unique sound.  Such inclusive approaches are representative of the best America has to offer, and a lens through which we can identify ourselves and learn to extend empathy and embrace tolerance in troubling times.  El Taller offers the perfect communal atmosphere to gather in the creative spirit of these performances.
 
Among the artists performing include:
 
Violist Melanie Dyer, known for extending the tradition of the Afro-Atlantic string band, will appear with an intergenerational trio of female musicians including bassist Shayna Dulberger and multi-instrumentalist polymath Kali Z. Fasteau.  
 
Multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee, known for his uncompromising approach to free improvisation throughout his long iconoclastic career, will appear in duo with longtime collaborator Jay Rosen. 
 
Saxophonist Tony Malaby will be joined by his hardworking quartet of Leo Genovese, William Parker, and Billy Mintz.  While Malaby has been known to draw explicit connections to his Mexican heritage, expect a different sort of homage with a freely improvised set illustrating musical universality.
 
Nuyorican poet Papoleto Melendez, who lives in the PS109 building housing El Taller, will also make his annual appearance.
 
Also performing are pianist Angelica Sanchez, saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock in two ensembles, and pianist Aruan Ortiz.
 
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online at afaeltaller.brownpapertickets.com or at the door
​
Schedule and Lineups
El Taller Latino Americano
215 E. 99th St. New York, NY 10029

Friday October 11
7:00 Aruan Ortiz Trio
Aruan Ortiz - piano / Jure Pukl - tenor sax / Lester St. Louis - cello
8:00 Angelica Sanchez Trio
Angelica Sanchez - piano / William Parker – bass / Randy Peterson - drums
9:00 Melanie Dyer Trio
Melanie Dyer - viola / Kali Z. Fasteau - piano, drums / Shayna Dulberger - bass
 
Saturday October 12
7:00 Lopez / Laubrock / Seabrook / Rainey
Brandon Lopez – bass / Ingrid Laubrock - tenor, soprano sax / Brandon Seabrook – guitar / Tom Rainey - drums
8:00 Tony Malaby Quartet
Tony Malaby – tenor sax / Leo Genovese – piano / William Parker – bass / Billy Mintz - drums
9:00 James Brandon Lewis Trio
James Brandon Lewis - tenor sax / Luke Stewart - bass / Warren Trae Crudup - drums
 
Sunday October 13
4:00 Papoleto Melendez - poetry
5:00 Joe McPhee & Jay Rosen
Joe McPhee - saxophones / Jay Rosen - drums
6:00 Laubrock / Dunston / Mela 
Ingrid Laubrock - tenor, soprano sax / Nick Dunston - bass / Francisco Mela - drums
 
 About Arts for Art
 
Founded in 1996, Arts For Art (AFA) is a New York City based tax-exempt organization dedicated to the promotion and advancement of FreeJazz - an American indigenous art form in which improvisation is principle. FreeJazz embodies music, dance, poetry, and visual arts. It is recognized for its variety of highly developed and personalized improvisational languages. AFA works not only to preserve the legacy of FreeJazz, but also to ensure a vital future through its re-imagination by new generations of artists. Spearheaded by the internationally renowned Vision Festival, AFA's programming brings together multiple generations of vibrant, diverse and highly skilled artists. To further our goals of diversity and accessibility, we foster education initiatives and produce events that build community amongst artists and audiences.
 
Facebook: facebook.com/artsforart
Twitter: twitter.com/artsforart
Instagram: instagram.com/artsforart
 
About El Taller
 
El Taller Latino Americano (The Latin American Workshop) is a 501(c)(3) community-based non-profit arts and education institution founded in New York City in 1979 to bridge the gap between Latin Americans and North Americans through the language of art, dance and music. 
 
Funding Credits
 
Funding for Arts for Art at El Taller is provided by the Tinker Foundation.
General operating support is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts
 
Press Contact
 
For more information please contact Sean Madigan at sean@artsforart.org.

Arts for Art’s annual In Gardens series returns over five weekends, September 7-October 5, in three community gardens in Manhattan's Lower East Side.  Featuring music, poetry, and dance performances, the series is offered free of cost and open to the public.
 
In Gardens is one of AFA’s longest running programs and is hosted at home in the Lower East Side by some of our most consistent institutional partners: Children’s Magical Garden, 6BC Garden, and First Street Green Art Park.
 
In Gardens provides a unique opportunity for artists and audience to be surrounded by the extravagance of nature. Even in NYC, the bounty of our beautiful community gardens invites the dedicated, the newly initiated, and the curious to join together in an accessible and relaxed listening environment. 
 
AFA is partnering with A Gathering of the Tribes to pay tribute to the iconic Steve Cannon with poetry readings at each In Gardens event.  Steve not only supported a wide community of poets and writers, but also artists and musicians, including members of AFA and the Vision Festival.  
 
On September 29 at First Street Green, AFA will celebrate the birthday of an original member of the Vision Community, the late, great, trumpeter Roy Campbell Jr.

The Birthday Tribute to Roy Campbell Jr. will feature an afternoon of performances by Campbell’s old band mates and collaborators including Charles Downs, K.J. Holmes, and William Parker; plus an offering by rising trumpet star Jaimie Branch. Of particular note is Parker’s premiere of the piece Circulation of Celestial Triangles Leaving Imhotep Facing East, featuring a five-trumpet salute to his musical partner.
 
Schedule and Lineups
Saturday, September 7 at 6BC Garden
630 E 6th St between Ave B and C
1:30     Lisa Sokolov - voice, piano
2:30     Sheila Maldonado - poetry // Danny Shot - poetry
3:30     Patrick Holmes - clarinet / Adam Lane - bass / Ryan Sawyer - drums
4:30     Daniel Carter - woodwinds / William Parker - bass
 
Sunday, September 8 at 6BC Garden
630 E 6th St between Ave B and C
1:30    Steve Swell - trombone / Frode Gjerstad - clarinet, alto sax / William Parker - bass
2:30    Frank Perez - poetry // Mariposa - poetry
3:30    Sarah Bernstein Veer Quartet
            Sarah Bernstein - violin, composition / Sana Nagano - violin
            Leonor Falcon - viola / Nick Jozwiak - cello
4:30    Aquiles Navarro - trumpet / Tcheser Holmes - drums
 
Saturday September 14 at Children's Magical Garden
129 Stanton St, just east of Essex
1:30     Rob Brown - alto sax / Juan Pablo Carletti - drums
2:30     Luciann Berrios - poetry // Janice Lowe - poetry
3:30     Val Jeanty - percussion / Patricia Nicholson - dance
4:30     Michael Wimberly - drums / Waldron Ricks - trumpet / Larry Roland - bass
 
Sunday September 15 at Children's Magical Garden
129 Stanton St, just east of Essex
1:30    Nick Lyons - alto sax / Bill Payne - clarinet / Adam Lane - bass
            Michael Wimberly - percussion
2:30    Nancy Mercado - poetry // Poonam Srivastava - poetry
3:30    Karen Borca Trio
            Karen Borca - bassoon / Jackson Krall - drums / Hilliard Greene - bass
4:30    We Feel ­­Quartet
            Luke Stewart - bass / Daniel Carter - multi instruments / No Land – poetry 
            Miriam Parker – dance
 
Saturday September 21 at Children's Magical Garden
129 Stanton St, just east of Essex
1:30     Mara Rosenbloom - synth / Sam Newsome - soprano sax / Andrew Drury - drums
2:30     Melanie Marie Goodreaux - poetry // David Henderson - poetry
3:30     Jason Kao Hwang - violin / Anders Nilsson - guitar / TA Thompson - drums
4:30     Amirtha Kidambi - voice / Mazz Swift - violin
 
Sunday September 22 at First St Green
33 E. 1st St
1:30    Dave Sewelson - baritone sax / William Parker - bass
            Steve Swell - trombone / Marvin Bugalu Smith - drums
2:30    Bob Holman - poetry, with Dave Sewelson + Friends // Papoleto Melendez - poetry
3:30    Sam Newsome Trio
            Sam Newsome - soprano sax / Hilliard Greene - bass
            Reggie Nicholson - drums
4:30    Michael Bisio - bass / Kirk Knuffke - cornet / Fred Lonberg-Holm - cello
 
Saturday September 28 at First St Green
33 E. 1st St
1:30    Matt Lavelle - trumpet / Daniel Carter - woodwinds / Tom Cabrera - drums
2:30    Latasha Diggs - poetry // No Land - poetry
3:30    Michael TA Thompson Quartet
            TA Thompson - drums / Christopher Dean Sullivan - bass
            Bill Pernice - piano / Lee Odom - clarinet, alto sax, soprano sax
4:30    Whit Dickey - drums / Brandon Lopez - bass / Rob Brown - alto sax
 
Sunday September 29 at First St Green | Tribute to Roy Campbell
33 E. 1st St
1:30    Charles Downs - drums / Will Greene - tenor sax
            Jonah Rosenberg - keyboard / Henry Fraser - bass
2:30    L.I.P.
            K.J. Holmes - dance / Matt Lavelle - trumpet / Jeremy Carlstedt - drums
3:30    Jaimie Branch Trio
            Jaimie Branch - trumpet / Luke Stewart - bass / Mike Pride - drums
4:30    For Roy: “Circulation of Celestial Triangles Leaving Imhotep Facing the East"
            Lewis Barnes - trumpet / Jaimie Branch - trumpet / Ryan Fraiser - trumpet
            Matt Lavelle - trumpet / Kirk Knuffke - trumpet / Dave Hofstra - tuba
            Dave Sewelson - baritone sax / TA Thompson - drums / Michael Wimberly - percussion
            William Parker - composition, bass
 
Saturday October 5 at Children's Magical Garden
129 Stanton St, just east of Essex
1:30    The Rasslers 
            Mark Ehrhardt - drums / Chet Mazur - vocals / Tim Mullins - guitar
            Nick Romanenko - bass
2:30    Patricia Spears Jones - poetry // Nicole Wallace - poetry
3:30    Ava Mendoza - guitar / James Brandon Lewis - tenor sax
            Shayna Dulberger - bass / Daniel Carter - woodwinds
4:30    Welf Dorr Unit
            Welf Dorr - alto sax / Keisuke Matsuno - guitar / Dmitry Ishenko - bass
            Kevin Shea – drums

Arts for Art, in partnership with A Gathering of the Tribes, presents a special evening of performances in tribute to Poet Laureate of the Lower East Side, Steve Cannon.

An iconoclastic mainstay in the Lower East Side, Cannon was known for opening his apartment as a gathering space for poets, artists, musicians, and people from all walks of life. He served as a mentor to many young artists and provided space and visibility for all generations of creatives. His impact as a literary publisher and artistic incubator elevated the Lower East Side as a cultural haven. He helped nurture many careers through the founding of his multi-disciplinary arts and culture non-profit, A Gathering of the Tribes, which he started in 1990 with help from visual artist David Hammons and writer Ishmael Reed. 
​
Cannon was a consistent supporter of Arts for Art, and was a featured performer at the first Vision Festival in 1996 as well as subsequent years. Steve also helped curate the poetry programming at the festival in the early 2000s.

The Sun Ra Arkestra, who will perform a full set on September 6, performed in Cannon’s backyard. Sun Ra used to seek Cannon out to tell him stories about flying around in space. (“If he says he flew into space, then I guess he flew into space,” Cannon said.)

William Parker who will also perform, was presented by Steve Cannon as early as 1985. Over the years, Patricia and William Parker kept in touch with Steve to support each other’s work.
​
A Gathering of the Tribes has curated a group of poets with close ties to Cannon for this event. These include Yuko Otomo, Lydia Cortes, Edwin Torres, Steve Dalachinsky, Anne Waldman, Tracie Morris and Julie Ezelle Patton.  They, like so many of us, owe a debt of gratitude to Steve Cannon.  The City of New York and especially the Lower East Side, has lost a cultural icon.  

Schedule

6:30     Opening by Melanie Goodreaux and Patricia Nicholson
6:45     Poetry Readings
Yuko Otomo // Lydia Cortes // Edwin Torres // Steve Dalachinsky 
7:30     What It Is
William Parker - bass / Patricia Nicholson Parker - dance / James Brandon Lewis - tenor sax
Devin Brahja Waldman - alto sax / Melanie Dyer - viola / Val Jeanty - percussion, electronics
8:30     Poetry Readings
Julie Ezelle Patton // Anne Waldman // Tracie Morris w/ Graham Haynes and Elliott Sharp
9:00     Sun Ra Arkestra

Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online at stevecannon.brownpapertickets.com, or when event doors open at 6pm.