Vision Festival Blog

1/11/2022

Winter 2022 Online Events

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Music to Stay Safe during Omicron, Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning January 18, 2022, and featuring Ingrid Laubrock, Ava Mendoza, Sam Newsome, Francisco Mora Catlett, Jaimie Branch, Darius Jones, Brandon Lopez & more.

To continue safely serving our community of artists and audience members, Arts for Art is filming and releasing new performances on Tuesdays and Thursdays in January, February, and March. A pay-what-you-can donation is encouraged to view each video. All donations will go towards AFA’s Artists & Friends Campaign.

A special solo bass performance by William Parker will precede the series on Monday, January 10 to celebrate the master musician’s 70th birthday.

Donate and Watch

Monday, January 10, 2022
William Parker Black Reflection & Meditation
William Parker - bass

Tuesday, January 18, 2022
Francisco Mora Catlett AfroHORN Radical Trio
Salim Washington - tenor saxophone, flute / Rashaan Carter - bass / Francisco Mora Catlett - drums

Thursday, January 20, 2022
Swell / Sewelson / Vatcher
Steve Swell – trombone / Dave Sewelson - baritone saxophone / Michael Vatcher – drums

Tuesday, January 25, 2022
Rob Brown Trio
Rob Brown - alto saxophone / Brandon Lopez - bass / Juan Pablo Carletti- drums

Thursday, January 27, 2022
Sam Newsome’s Free Summit
Sam Newsome - soprano saxophone / Kirk Knuffke - cornet / Hilliard Greene - bass / Satoshi Takeishi - drums

Tuesday, February 1, 2022
Ava Mendoza Quartet
Ava Mendoza - guitar / James Brandon Lewis - tenor saxophone / Devin Hoff - bass / TBA - drums

Thursday, February 3, 2022
Rosenbloom / Newsome / Conly
Mara Rosenbloom - piano / Sam Newsome - soprano saxophone / Sean Conly - bass

Tuesday, February 8, 2022
Karen Borca Ensemble
Karen Borca - bassoon / William Parker - tuba / Hilliard Greene - bass / Jackson Krall - drums

Thursday, February 10, 2022
Laubrock / Davila / Rainey
Ingrid Laubrock - saxophones / Jose Davila - tuba / Tom Rainey - drums

Tuesday, February 15, 2022
Wolper / Dzurinko / Insell
Andrea Wolper - voice / Virg Dzurinko - piano / Judith Insell - viola

Thursday, February 17, 2022
Yoni Kretzmer Trio
Yoni Kretzmer - tenor saxophone / Shanir Blumenkranz - bass / Randy Peterson - drums

Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Darius Jones Trio
Darius Jones - alto saxophone / Dezron Douglas - bass / Ches Smith - drums

Thursday, February 24, 2022
jaimie branch Trio

Tuesday, March 1, 2022
Brandon Lopez / Mat Maneri
Brandon Lopez - bass / Mat Maneri - viola

Thursday, March 3, 2022
Lisa Sokolov Group

Tuesday, March 8, 2022
Jason Kao Hwang’s Human Rites Trio
Jason Kao Hwang - composer, violin, viola / Ken Filiano - bass / Andrew Drury - drums

Thursday, March 10, 2022
Isaiah Collier

12/17/2021

Wadada Leo Smith to Receive 2022 Vision Festival Lifetime Achievement Award

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Arts for Art will present the 26th VISION Festival at Roulette, June 21 - June 25, and the festival finale will once again take place outdoors at The Clemente on June 26.

It is with great excitement that we announce that trumpeter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer, Wadada Leo Smith will receive the Vision Festival’s annual Lifetime Achievement Award on June 21, 2022.

Mr. Smith joins a venerable pantheon of FreeJazz pioneers in receiving the Vision Festival Lifetime Achievement Award including Amina Claudine Myers, Andrew Cyrille, Peter Brotzmann, Henry Grimes, Milford Graves, and Sam Rivers.

On this special occasion, Mr. Smith will present new work for the opening night of the festival. His performance at Vision will serve to punctuate a remarkable milestone, 80 years, in a career full of enough achievements for several lifetimes.

In 2021 alone, Mr. Smith has released five new albums, and plans to release another five in 2022. Acknowledging this feat, Richard Ginell of the SF Classical Voice writes:

“For almost anyone in his 70s, it would be the culmination of a life’s work, but for Smith, it was just the opening of the valve to a flood of new compositions crossing back and forth through the porous membrane between the classical and jazz avant-garde.”

We look forward to the debut of new material at VISION in June.

“Wadada Leo Smith has cut his own path in Creative Music, not defined by color but nonetheless, his story has been deeply impacted by lack of equity and recognition of his achievements. AFA looks forward to doing its small part to correct this.” - Patricia Nicholson Parker, Vision Festival Founder

Additional festival details including performances, schedules, tickets, and more to be announced soon at https://www.artsforart.org/vision

Mr. Smith will celebrate his 80th birthday on December 18, 2021. To mark the occasion he has released a special birthday concert of duet, trio and group performances with Pheeroan akLaff, Sylvie Courvoisier, Erika Dohi, and Lamar Smith on guitar. Watch at wadadaleosmith.com

About Wadada Leo Smith
Trumpeter, multi-instrumentalist and composer Wadada Leo Smith is one of the most boldly original and influential artists of his time. Transcending the bounds of genre or idiom, he distinctly defines his music, tirelessly inventive in both sound and approach, as "Creative Music." For the last five decades, Smith has been a member of the legendary AACM collective, pivotal in its wide-open perspectives on music and art in general. He has carried those all-embracing concepts into his own work, expanding upon them in myriad ways.
Throughout his career, Smith has been recognized for his groundbreaking work. A finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Music, he received the 2016 Doris Duke Artist Award and earned an honorary doctorate from CalArts, where he was also celebrated as Faculty Emeritus. In addition, he received the Hammer Museum's 2016 Mohn Award for Career Achievement "honoring brilliance and resilience." In 2018 he received the Religion and The Arts Award from the American Academy of Religion.

Smith regularly earns multiple spots on the DownBeat International Critics Poll. In 2017 he topped three categories: Best Jazz Artist, Trumpeter of the Year and Jazz Album of the Year, and was featured as the subject of a cover story in August 2017. The Jazz Journalists Association also honored Smith as their 2017 Musician of the Year as well as 2017 Duo of the Year for his work with Vijay Iyer. The JJA named him their 2016 Trumpeter of the Year, 2015 Composer of the Year, and 2013 Musician of theYear, and he has earned top billing in two categories in the JazzTimes Critics Poll as Artist of the Year and Composer of the Year.
In October 2015 The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago presented the first comprehensive exhibition of Smith's Ankhrasmation scores, which use non-standard visual directions, making them works of art in themselves as well as igniting creative sparks in the musicians who perform them. In 2016, these scores were also featured in exhibitions at the Hammer Museum, and the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts and Kadist in San Francisco.

Born December 18, 1941 in Leland, Mississippi, Smith's early musical life began at age thirteen when he became involved with the Delta blues and jazz traditions performing with his stepfather, bluesman Alex Wallace. He received his formal musical education from the U.S. Military band program (1963), the Sherwood School of Music (1967-69), and Wesleyan University (1975-76).
Smith has released more than 50 albums as a leader on labels including ECM, Moers, Black Saint, Tzadik, Pi Recordings, TUM, Leo and Cuneiform. His diverse discography reveals a recorded history centered around important issues that have impacted his world, exploring the social, natural and political environment of his times with passion and fierce intelligence. His most recent recording is 2019’s Rosa Parks: Pure Love, an Oratorio of Seven Songs. His 2016 recording, America’s National Parks earned a place on numerous best of the year lists including the New York Times, NPR Music and many others. Smith’s landmark 2012 civil rights opus Ten Freedom Summers was called “A staggering achievement [that] merits comparison to Coltrane’s A Love Supreme in sobriety and reach.” Writing about Smith’s 2017 album Solo: Reflections and Meditations on Monk in the New York Review of Books, Adam Shatz notes: “For all the minimalism of his sound, Smith has turned out to be a maximalist in his ambitions, evolving into one of our most powerful storytellers, an heir to American chroniclers like Charles Ives and Ornette Coleman.”

About the Vision Festival
In 1996 the First Annual Vision Festival took place at The Learning Alliance on Lafayette near Houston. The idea was to bring together luminaries from the different Avantgarde music scenes and, for the first time since the Sound Unity Festivals in the mid ‘80s, celebrate the important African American leaders of the music. Featuring artist Milford Graves, that first Vision Festival was unique in its multi-arts focus featuring poets such as Amiri Baraka, dancers such as Rod Rogers, and visual artists such as Jeff Schlanger, in collaboration with the music.

Each year the Vision Festival also brought attention to issues of social justice by curating panel discussions, such as “Decolonizing the Music: Reclaiming the Power of Creative Music in Communities of Color” or “How Funding Affects Creative Choices.”

In its totality the Vision Festival created and guaranteed a space for improvisation as a leading creative language, heralded as “one of New York’s most essential art events” (New York Times).

In the current political and cultural climate, Arts for Art’s credo is felt more strongly than ever – using powerful music and art as expressions of commitment to life and justice. Past festival titles have included A Vision Against Violence, Avant Jazz For Peace, Studies in Freedom, The Revolution Continues, The Creative Option and Take a Stand.

The Vision Festival continues to honor and amplify the careers of legendary artists that are too often under-appreciated, such as Fred Anderson, Kidd Jordan, Bill Dixon, Sam Rivers, Connie Crothers, and many others.

About Arts for Art
Founded in 1996, AFA’s work is rooted in a commitment to social justice as equity and the promotion and advancement of FreeJazz, an African 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 as an African
American multicultural art form, but to ensure a vital future through its re-imagination by new generations of artists. AFA offers multi-arts programs throughout the year that fulfill the role of arts in society, that is, to reflect and respond to the world. Our programming brings together multiple generations of vibrant, diverse and highly skilled artists, including the Artists for A Free World project that includes a band directed by William Parker. AFA cultivates new audiences to protect this unique aesthetic so as to remain contemporary and available. To further our goals of diversity and accessibility, we foster education through our youth programs.

Arts for Art Mission
Arts for Art is dedicated to the exceptional creativity that originated in the African American multi-arts jazz culture that utilizes improvisation to express a larger, more positive dream of inclusion and freedom.

AFA is currently running its Artists & Friends year-end fundraising campaign. Donations support artist fees and programming including the Vision Festival and lifetime achievement award.

12/3/2021

December 2021 Events

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Arts for Art is excited to announce the return of its family friendly series FreeJazz on a Saturday Afternoon at the Clemente, as well as two evenings of music at the Lower East Side club Nublu 151.

FreeJazz on a Saturday Afternoon will take place on December 11 and 18 at the Kabayitos Theater in The Clemente, with additional dates to be announced. Both the 2pm & 3:30 shows will be interactive. The 2pm show will focus on child participation with creative activities like drawing, dancing, and other interactions led by the artists. December 18 features a special holiday themed performance with Dave Sewelson.

At Nublu on December 15, Arts for Art will present the record release event for William Parker and Patricia Nicholson’s No Joke!, out now on Esp-Disk. William Parker’s latest release features an all-star cast including Patricia Nicholson’s spoken word speaking about what must be said out loud. The 7pm show will feature a special quartet by the great Cooper-Moore.

On December 22, several of the best artists in FreeJazz will perform on a double bill featuring Joe McPhee’s trio with Michael Marcus and Jay Rosen, and Fay Victor’s trio with jaimie branch and Melvin Gibbs.

AFA is partnering with NuBlu for these two concerts. We feel it is important to have for-profit and not-for-profit partnerships as we work together to ensure the accessibility and sustainability of this precious FreeJazz ecosystem.

Tickets to attend in-person or watch the livestream for all Arts for Art events are available at artsforart.eventbrite.com

These December concerts run concurrently with AFA’s Artists & Friends year-end fundraising campaign.

Arts for Art at NuBlu
151 Avenue C, NYC 10009
Tickets: $20 | Livestream: $10

December 15, 2021
7:00pm: Cooper-Moore Quartet
Brandon Seabrook - guitar / Mara Rosenbloom - keyboard / Cooper-Moore - bass diddley-bow / Michael TA Thompson - drums

8:30pm: No Joke! – an ESP Record Release
William Parker – composition, bass / Patricia Nicholson – voice, text / James Brandon Lewis – tenor sax / Melanie Dyer – viola / William Hooker - drums

December 22, 2021
7:00pm: Joe McPhee Trio
Joe McPhee – sax, trumpet / Jay Rosen – drums / Michael Marcus - reeds

8:30pm: Fay Victor Trio
Fay Victor – voice, composition / jaimie branch – trumpet / Melvin Gibbs - bass guitar

Family Friendly FreeJazz on a Saturday Afternoon
Kabayitos Theater at The Clemente, 107 Suffolk St, NYC 10002
Tickets $15/set

December 11, 2021
2:00pm: Michael T.A. Thompson Trio
Mara Rosenbloom – piano / Ken Filiano – bass / Michael T.A. Thompson - drums

3:30pm: Whit Dickey Trio
Rob Brown - alto saxophone / Brandon Lopez - bass / Whit Dickey - drums

December 18, 2021
2:00pm: Dave Sewelson's HoliDaves
Dave Sewelson – composition, baritone sax / Dave Hofstra – tuba / Bernice "Boom Boom" Brooks - drums

3:30pm: Tony Malaby Trio
Tony Malaby - saxophones / Ben Monder - guitar / Tom Rainey - drums

10/21/2021

Jazz Libre! Celebration

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Arts for Art presents Jazz Libre! in partnership with The Clemente for BORIMIX Puerto Rico Fest

At the Flamboyan Theater in the Clemente
107 Suffolk St, New York, NY 10002

November 11-13, 2021

November 11: Tickets:$25/night | Livestream: $10
Novembr 12 & 13: Free, Donations Encouraged

See the Event Page

Arts for Art is pleased to announce “Jazz Libre!” a three night program in partnership with the Clemente, highlighting the music of the African Diaspora in Latin America. As a special component of the series, audience members are invited to dance to the music, and the musicians are preparing with this in mind:

“The Band DANZAS’ focus connects the danceable aspect of our music and keeps it moving through our bodies touching our heads at the same time working on improvisation as the main force.” - Juan Pablo Carletti

Thanks to support from South Art’s Jazz Road initiative, pianist/composer Michele Rosewoman has curated the opening night, “Una Función en el Cruce: Puente Ancestral, Corrientes Musicales,” an evening of music that explores junctions of contemporary jazz and Cuban cultural traditions. These performances will be filmed for subsequent broadcast through the HotHouseGlobal platforms and via National Cuban TV. Cuban educator Frank Bell will emcee and moderate a post-concert Q&A with ensemble leaders and audience.

All Jazz Libre performances feature music at the intersection of Caribbean, Latin American, and African American traditions. As drummer Willy Rodriguez describes it, "this project will explore what it means to be a free Caribbean native. Expression without chains or colonialism. A free improvisation from the Puerto Rican perspective."

Jazz Libre takes place as part of Borimix Puerto Rico Fest, a month-long celebration of Puerto Rican and Latin American art in a range of mediums and disciplines taking place at the Clemente.

Schedule & Lineups

Thursday, November 11 - Curated by Michele Rosewoman
“Una Función en el Cruce: Puente Ancestral, Corrientes Musicales”

7pm Francisco Mora Catlett’s Afro-Horn
Francisco Mora Catlett - drums / Sam Newsome - soprano saxophone / Román Díaz - percussion / James Weidman - piano / Rashaan Carter - bass / Alex Harding - baritone saxophone

8pm Roman Diaz’s Rumba Ensemble
Román Díaz - percussion, vocals / Clemente Medina - percussion / Rafael Monteagudo - percussion / Barry Cox - percussion, vocals / Abraham Rodriguez - lead vocals / Máximo Gustavo - vocals / Onel Mulet - saxophone, vocals

9pm Michele Rosewoman’s New Yor-Uba
Michele Rosewoman - piano, vocals / Alex Norris - trumpet / Mike Thomas - alto & soprano saxophone / Isaiah Collier - tenor saxophone / Chris Washburne - trombone, bass trombone, tuba / Gregg August - bass / Robby Ameen - drums / Román Díaz - percussion, vocals / Rafael Monteagudo - percussion / Mauricio Herrera - percussion, vocals / Abraham Rodriguez - lead vocals

Frank Bell will emcee & moderate a post-concert Q&A with ensemble leaders & audience.

These performances are made possible with the support of Jazz Road, a national initiative of South Arts, which is funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation with additional support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Presented in partnership with HotHouse: The Center for International Performance & Exhibition.

Habana/Harlem® will offer two 20-minute podcasts for online access; a panel of residency artists and scholars/cultural historians Ivor Miller and Frank Bell, exploring the junctions of Cuban cultural traditions in the diaspora and their impact on U.S.-based musicians.

Friday, November 12
Arts for Art’s Jazz Libre! Celebration

8pm Willy Rodriguez's Exploraciones Ponceñas'
Willy Rodriguez - drums / Dezron Douglas - bass / Santiago Leibson - piano / Yoni Kretzmer - tenor sax

9pm William Parker’s Southern Satellites
Isaiah Barr - sax / Dario Gomez - voice, percussion / Oscar Pena - tambura / Isaiah Parker - piano / William Parker - bass / Francisco Mela - drum set

Saturday, November 13
Arts for Art’s Jazz Libre! Celebration

8pm Juan Pablo Carletti’s Danzas Band
James Brandon Lewis - sax / Ben Stapp - tuba / Juan Pablo Carletti - drums

9pm Brandon Lopez's Die Dreaming (morir soñando)
Matt Nelson - tenor sax / James Brandon Lewis - tenor sax / Brandon Lopez - bass / Buz Donald - drums

Performance Information

New Yor-Uba's distinctive repertoire features Ms. Rosewoman’s original compositions and visionary arrangements that Incorporate a large spectrum of Cuban spiritually-based music, including Yoruba (Nigeria), Arará (Dahomey), Abakuá (Calabar) and rumba/guaguanco, a uniquely Cuban musical form.

An NEA performance grant facilitated the 1983 debut of “New Yor-Uba: A Musical Celebration of Cuba in America” featuring master foklorist Orlando “Puntilla” Rios at NYC’s Public Theater. For 38 years, New Yor-Uba has been a forum for collaboration between masters from the worlds of contemporary jazz & Cuban folkloric music. The concept and sound remain uniquely vital as pianist and composer Rosewoman continues to enhance the ensemble’s repertoire with new music and personnel, further inspiring her to reflect upon and explore the organic links between these deep musical traditions. Of her New Yor-Uba ensemble, Ms. Rosewoman says “We pay homage to the journey of centuries-old Yoruba traditions from Nigeria through Cuba to present-day New York, reflecting its contemporary manifestations”

Román Díaz is a scholar of religious and folkloric music, composer & performer of folklore and contemporary jazz. Considered both a pillar of the New York City jazz avant-garde and one of Afro Cuban music’s great innovators, his Rumba Ensemble displays his vision of the confluence of New York City’s tradition of music of the African diaspora. He has performed and recorded with Merceditas Valdes, Raices Profundas, Paquito D’Rivera, Michele Rosewoman, Henry Threadgill, David Virelles, Jane Bunnett, Juan Carlos Formell, Orlando “Puntilla” Rios, Oriente Lopez, Afro Horn & Danilo Perez among many others.

Afro-Horn is an avant-garde ensemble that highlights the African presence in the Americas through an assemblage of prime musicians and a repertoire of written and improvised jazz expressions and Cuban folkloric influences. Mr. Mora is especially known for his work with Motown, Sun Ra and Max Roach and as co-founder of the Oyu Oro Afro-Cuban Experimental Dance Company (2000) with his wife Danys Perez Prades, performing dance and music from the African Diaspora.

Frank Bell is an educator and seasoned oriate in the Cuban Lukumi tradition for over 26 years, Mr. Bell brings a wealth of knowledge of song tradition from the Afro-Cuban belief system and the divination systems integral to the tradition. Mr. Bell is also a Batá drummer and a performer of the dance traditions of the varied African based belief systems of Cuba.

Willy Rodriguez was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico and began playing drums at age thirteen. He received his musical start playing throughout Puerto Rico in rock and pop bands. When Willy was twenty-one he started working as the Musical Director and drummer for Latin American Idol’s touring group. Willy has studied with a host of famed teachers such as Terri-Lyne Carrington, Yoron Israel, Ralph Peterson, Greg Osby, Miguel Zenon, Jerry Bergonzi, Bob Moses, Billy Hart and Cecil McBee, among others. He has performed alongside some of the premier musicians in jazz including Randy Weston, Dave Holland and Dave Liebman, with whom he has recorded and played extensively.

William Parker’s Southern Satellites uses rhythms, melodies, and harmonies from all over the world, incorporating a concept called universal tonality to blend the Olmec music concepts with modern day Afro-American improvisational music. The musicians in this version come from Argentina, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and New York. The group will be premiering a new dance cycle called “Dance Dance.”

Juan Pablo Carletti was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He grew up in a musical environment in which his father played percussion, and was instantly drawn to the drums. As he performed with a variety of bands, he focused mainly on improvised music and playing mainstream jazz. He began working with his own projects, and created a small label dedicated to new music. In 2005, Juan traveled to New York City and played with the David Haney Group at Cornelia Street Cafe. This trip was a pivotal turning point in his life, as he met influential musicians such as Mat Maneri, Tony Malaby, Mark Helias, Nasheet Waits and Tom Rainey. One year later, he officially moved to America to continue his musical journey. Juan approaches playing in unique ways, influenced by different styles of music, especially the music created in the avant-garde scene in New York City in the last decades. Juan has played with Tony Malaby, Andrew Cyrille, Daniel Levin, Mat Maneri, Chris Hoffman, Angelica Sanchez, Kris Davis, Michael Attias ,Rob Brown, Roman Filiu, Roman Diaz, Aruan Ortiz and William Parker.

Brandon Lopez is a New York-based composer and bassist working at the fringes of jazz, free improvisation, noise and new music. His music has been praised as “brutal” (Chicago Reader) and “relentless” (The New York Times). From the New York Philharmonic's David Geffen Hall to the DIY basements of Brooklyn, Lopez has worked beside many luminaries of jazz, classical, poetry, and experimental music, including Fred Moten, John Zorn, Okkyung Lee, Ingrid Laubrock, Tony Malaby, Tyshawn Sorey, Bill Nace, Chris Potter, Edwin Torres, Tom Rainey, Cecilia Lopez, Sun Ra Arkestra, Susan Alcorn, Mette Rasmussen, and many others.

About BORIMIX
BORIMIX Puerto Rico Fest makes Puerto Rican arts accessible to a multi-ethnic and multi-generational audience, promoting creative collaboration between Latinx artists. This November long festival showcases Puerto Rican and Latin American art in a range of mediums and disciplines.

Thanks to its partnership with The Clemente, Borimix has transformed Puerto Rican Heritage Month into a gathering of Puerto Rico’s diaspora artists with Latin Americans from all over New York. The Festival now takes place citywide and highlights the impact of the Puerto Rican/LatinX community on the arts and cultural life of the City, the Nation, and the Hemisphere.

The 16th annual BORIMIX: Puerto Rico Fest – NYC’s Latinx cultural landmark event – features an array of events that include panels, films, theatre, music and the visual arts. These events highlight the impact of Puerto Rican identity and arts & culture within the City, Nation, and Hemisphere, as it intersects with other Latinx identities. This year’s edition is dedicated to the 500 years of San Juan.

About the Clemente
The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center Inc. is a Puerto Rican/Latinx multi-arts cultural institution that has demonstrated a broad-minded cultural vision and inclusive philosophy rooted in NYC’s Lower East Side/Loisaida. While focused on the cultivation, presentation, and preservation of Puerto Rican and Latinx culture, we are equally committed to a multi-ethnic / international latitude, determined to operate in a polyphonic manner that provides affordable working space and venues to artists, small arts organizations, emergent and independent community producers that reflect the cultural diversity of the LES and our City.

As a downtown Latinx cultural staple for close to three decades, The Clemente is the pulpit where countless New York based Latinx, BIPOC, local LES, and international partners create multi-disciplinary contemporary work and co-productions in a collaborative environment. We are guided by our namesake's legacy of building culturally grounded multigenerational leadership, local power, and mutuality in times of crisis.

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 African 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 as African American multi-cultural art form, but to ensure a vital future through its re-imagination by new generations of artists.

AFA presents performances throughout the year that are designed to deepen engagement with a growing community of diverse artists and audiences.

To further AFA’s goals of diversity and accessibility, we foster education initiatives that are free to all of our students while focusing on those in need.

9/17/2021

Peace & Justice Celebration

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Peace & Justice Celebration

October 8 - 15
The Flamboyan Theater at The Clemente
107 Suffolk St, New York, NY 10002

Arts for Art continues to welcome back regular in-person live performances with a week of music celebrating the cause of Social Justice. All artists and audience members must be vaccinated. The second part of the series focuses on great pianists performing on a Steinway B grand piano that was generously donated to AFA last spring.

In-Person: $15/set, $35/night | Live Stream: $5/set

Go to the Event Web Page

Friday Oct. 8
7 pm: Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few
Isaiah Collier - tenor, soprano sax / Jordan Williams - piano / Jeremiah Hunt - bass / Tim Regis - drums
8 pm: Luke Stewart’s Silt Trio
Brian Settles – tenor / Luke Stewart – bass / Chad Taylor - drums
9 pm: Dave Sewelson’s Freedom Fighters
Dave Sewelson - baritone sax / Dave Ross - guitar / Alexis Marcelo - piano / Eriq Robinson - bass / Cheikh Proctor - drums

Saturday Oct. 9
7 pm: Janice Lowe & NAMAROON
Janice Lowe – piano, vocals / Gwen Laster – violin / Olithea Anglin - vocals, loops, singing bowls
8 pm: Joe McPhee Trio XL
Joe McPhee – sax / Rosie Hertlein – violin, voice / Dominic Duval Jr. – bass / Jay Rosen - drums
9 pm: Greg Murphy Quartet
Greg Murphy – piano / Ben Solomon – tenor sax / Essiet Essiet – bass / Johnathan Blake - drums

Sunday Oct. 10
7 pm: Darius Jones Trio
Darius Jones – alto saxophone / Sam Newsome – soprano saxophone / Chad Taylor - drums
8:30 pm: Jason Kao Hwang / Uprising
w/ 20 piece orchestra

Monday Oct. 11
7 pm: Lewis / Holmes / Werner / Smith
James Brandon Lewis - tenor saxophone/ Patrick Holmes – clarinet / Josh Werner – bass / Ches Smith - drums
8 pm: Afro Algonquin Trio
Lee Mixashawn Rozie - woodwinds, mandolin, voice / Rick Rozie - bass / Pheeroan akLaff - drums
9 pm: William Hooker Trio
William Hooker - drums / Hilliard Greene - bass / J.D. Parran – woodwinds

Focus on PIANO
Wednesday Oct. 13
7 pm: Dave Burrell Solo
Dave Burrell - piano
8 pm: Mara Rosenbloom Bone Labyrinth +
Mara Rosenbloom - piano / Melanie Dyer - viola / Sean Conly - bass / featuring Michael T.A. Thompson - drums
9 pm: Marcelo / Lewis
Alexis Marcelo – piano / James Brandon Lewis – tenor saxophone

Thursday Oct. 14
7 pm: Angelica Sanchez Trio
Angelica Sanchez – piano / Michael Formanek – bass / Michael Sarin - drums
8 pm: Matthew Shipp Solo
Matthew Shipp - piano
9 pm: Gilchrist / Victor
Lafayette Gilchrist - piano / Fay Victor - voice

Friday Oct. 15
7 pm: Vijay Iyer Duo
Vijay Iyer - piano
8 pm: Eri Yamamoto “ Double Drums”
Eri Yamamoto – piano / Matt Lavelle – trumpet / Ikuo Takeuchi, Jackson Hillmer - drums
9 pm: D.D. Jackson & Curtis Stewart
D.D. Jackson – piano / Curtis Stewart - violin

8/27/2021

In Gardens 2021

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In Gardens | Come Together Spread Love

Artists have always made music and art that speaks truth and calls for peace. Every Saturday and Sunday afternoon from September 11 to October 3, Arts for Art will present the series FreeJazz InGardens at the First Street Green Culture Park at Children’s Magical Garden in NYC.

Go to the In Gardens Event Page

First Street Green Art Park - Sept 11
1:30 jaimie branch Trio
jaimie branch – trp, vocals, electronics / Mike Pride – drums / Luke Stewart – el bass
2:30     Mark Dresser Solo Bass
3:30     Miriam & Luke Stewart
4:00     Jason Kao Hwang/Critical Response
Jason Kao Hwang - el. violin / Anders Nilsson – el. guitar / Michael T.A. Thompson - drums

First Street Green Art Park - Sept 12
1:30     Fay Victor Solo
2:30     Joe Morris Trio
Joe Morris – bass / Hery Paz - tenor, soprano sax / Juan Pablo Carletti – drums
3:30     L.I.P.
K.J. Holmes – dance / Jeremy Carlstedt - drums
4:00     Francisco Mora Catlett Trio
Sam Newsome soprano sax / Salim Washington -tenor / Francisco Mora Catlett -drums

Children’s Magical Garden Sept 18
1:30     Lisa Sokolov Solo
2:30     William Parker / Jason Kao Hwang
3:30 Poet Bakar Wilson
4:00     Journey RJD
Reggie Nicholson – drums / Joe Fonda – bass / Daniel Carter – reeds, flute, trup

Children’s Magical Garden - Sept 19
1:30     Sam Newsome Trio
Sam Newsome – soprano sax / Hill Greene – bass / Reggie Nicholson - drums
2:30     Brown/Carletti
Rob Brown – alto sax, Juan Pablo Carletti - drums
3:30     Poet Anne Waldman
4:00     Brandon Lopez Quartet
            Brandon Lopez – bass / James Brandon Lewis – sax / Matt Nelson – soprano /
Brandon "Buz Donald" - drums

First Street Green Art Park - Sept 25
1:30     Lyons Group
Nick Lyons - alto sax / John McCutcheon - drums / Ratzo Harris - bass
2:30     Melanie Dyer Trio
Melanie Dyer – viola / Alex Waterman – cello / Featuring William Parker - bass
3:30     Francisco Mela Solo Drums
4:00     Christi/Mela/Nicholson
            Ellen Christi – voice / Francisco Mela – drums, vocals / Patricia Nicholson - text, movement

First Street Green Art Park - Sept 26
1:30     Alexis Marcelo Trio
Alexis Marcelo – keyboards / Rashaan Carter – bass / Russell Carter - drums
2:30     Michael TA Thompson Trio
TA Thompson – drums / Ken Filiano – bass / Dave Ross - guitar
3:30     Yoshiko Chuma & Lenny Pickett
4:00     Avram Fefer Trio
            Avram Fefer – tenor / Michael Bisio – bass / Michael Wimberly - drums

Children’s Magical Garden - Oct 2
1:30 Daro Behroozi & Francisco Mela
            Daro Behroozi   - reeds / Francisco Mela - drums
2:30     Michael Wimberly Trio
            Kirk Knuffke – cornet / Adam Lane – bass / Michael Wimberly - drums
3:30 Poet Yuko Otomo
4:00     Steve Swell Kende Dreams
Steve Swell – trb / Rob Brown – alto / William Parker – bass / TA Thompson – drums

Children’s Magical Garden - Oct 3
1:30     Ishito/Carter/Nebula
Ayumi Ishito - tenor saxophone/fx / Nebula - theremin /Daniel Carter - reeds, flute, trp
2:30     Patrick Holmes Trio
Patrick Holmes – clarinet / Jesse Dulman – tuba / Ryan Sawyer - drums
3:30 Poet No Land & Luke Stewart
4:00     Sound & Cry
Patricia Nicholson – text, dance / Jean Carla Rodea – vocals / William Parker - gimbre

6/3/2021

Free Outdoor Concerts June 12-13

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A Weekend of Free Music Concerts
Saturday, June 12 & Sunday, June 13
3pm-5pm ET

Free and Open to the Public

First Street Green Culture Park
33 East 1st St, New York, NY 10003

See The Event Page

Arts for Art is excited to present a weekend of free outdoor concerts to celebrate the return of live in-person performances to New York City! This special summertime edition of our annual In Gardens series is a gift to our community - an opportunity to gather together again and share in the healing power of music. These events will be in compliance with all CDC and New York City Guidelines. Admission is free and donations are appreciated.

Saturday, June 12
3:00 Sam Newsome Trio
Sam Newsome - soprano sax / Hilliard Greene - bass / Reggie Nicholson - drums
3:40 Darius Jones/ Francisco Mela
Darius Jones - alto saxophone / Francisco Mela - drums
4:20 Behroozi / Parker / Thompson
Daro Behroozi - tenor saxophone / William Parker - bass / Michael T.A. Thompson - drums

Sunday, June 13
3:00 Trombone Insurgency
Steve Swell - trombone / Joe McPhee - trombone / William Parker - bass / Gerald Cleaver - drums
3:40 Marcelo & Carter x 2
Alexis Marcelo - keyboard / Rashaan Carter - bass / Russell Carter - drums
4:20 Knuffke / Parker / Wollesen
Kirk Knuffke - cornet / William Parker - bass / Kenny Wollesen - drums

This program is presented with support from the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and City Council Member Carlina Rivera.

5/10/2021

Vision Festival 25 Press Release

Read Now

Arts for Art Presents
Vision Festival 25
Breaking Free Coming Home
July 22 - 31
In-Person, Outdoors, Online

July 22-23 & 29-30: Performances at Pioneer Works
159 Pioneer St, Brooklyn, NY 11231

July 24-25 & 31: Performances at The Clemente (outdoors)
114 Norfolk St, New York, NY 10002

Go To The vision festival webpage

This year, Arts for Art proudly celebrates 25 Years of a collective artistic vision. VISION 25, “Breaking Free, Coming Home'' brings together the buoyant voices of hundreds of artists of various disciplines to speak the message of hope and justice with unfettered creativity.

In this spirit of abundant creativity, hope, and justice, AFA is honored, during our milestone anniversary, to acknowledge the singular pianist, organist, composer, and singer Amina Claudine Myers for her lifetime of achievement. Ms. Myers comes from a background steeped in the blues and gospel, and is a founding member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (A.A.C.M.). She took the new freedom approach to her music making, yet stayed close to the roots of the music. She has mentored many young musicians around the globe, and especially for women, she has been a shining and all too rare example. She is an extraordinary artist who has added so much to the important tradition of African American extended musical forms.

Celebrating boundless improvisation and community in the diverse languages of FreeJazz with social justice has been Arts for Art’s credo since 1996. Acknowledging and holding space for the African American voices that defined this aesthetic has been our commitment and our struggle. The artists change, the world changes, but the message remains. This year Vision’s message seeks to break free of fear and oppression, and as we reject a status quo riddled with racism, sexism, and hate. The pandemic gave us time to listen to ourselves and now we are closer to a deeper understanding of who we are. As live shows become safer, we gather and share our creative visions to make space for a more compassionate world.

AFA continues to bring together varied generations of boundary breaking, FreeJazz arts that are expressive of the African American creative lineage, and the multiculturalism that it has embraced. The program is varied and inclusive. The artists define the genre. The genre does not define the artist.

Since the first Vision Festival in 1996, AFA has consistently paired the ideals of the uncompromised, artistic movement we refer to as FreeJazz with social justice. The artists change, the world changes, but the message endures. In these unusual times, Vision’s message is about coming home to our strong self. Our home is within. The pandemic gave us time to listen to ourselves and now we are Home. As things become safer, we can gather and share our Vision - for a better world.

Full Performance Schedule and Lineups

Thursday July 22
Pioneer Works - 159 Pioneer Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231

6pm Opening Healing Ceremony
William Parker - bass / Patricia Nicholson Parker - text, movement / Jean Carla Rodea - voice / Michael T.A. Thompson - drums

7pm Dave Sewelson's Music for a Free World Quintet
Dave Sewelson – baritone sax / Dave Hofstra - tuba / Ava Mendoza - guitar / William Parker - bass / Marvin “Bugalu” Smith - drums

8pm
Matthew Shipp String Trio
Matthew Shipp - piano / Mat Maneri - viola / William Parker - bass

9:00pm Dave Burrell & Darius Jones Duo
Dave Burrell - piano / Darius Jones - alto saxophone

10:00pm Cooper-Moore Solo
Cooper-Moore - piano

Friday July 23
Pioneer Works - 159 Pioneer Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231
Amina Claudine Myers Lifetime of Achievement Celebration

6:30pm The Amina Claudine Myers Voice Octet

7:30pm Poet Patricia Spears Jones

8 pm Generation IV
Amina Claudine Myers – voice, piano / Richarda Abrams – voice / Pyeng Threadgill – voice / Luna Threadgill-Moderbacher - voice

9pm Reflections: A Portrait of Amina Claudine Myers
Documentary film by Moon Lasso, produced by Arts for Art

9:30pm The Amina Claudine Myers Trio
Amina Claudine Myers – piano, Hammond B3 / Jerome Harris - bass
Reggie Nicholson – drums

Saturday July 24
The Clemente, La Plaza Outdoors - 114 Norfolk St, New York NY 10002

3pm Creative Vision Youth Ensemble

4pm Composers Workshop Ensemble
Warren Smith – drums, percussion
Lineup TBA

5pm ElectroFLUTTER
Fay Victor – voice, compositions / Nicole Mitchell – flute / Angelica Sanchez - moog synth / Jamaaladeen Tacuma – bass guitar

6pm Morris & Smith
Tracie Morris - poetry / Cecilia Smith - vibes

6:30pm Joe Morris & Tomas Fujiwara
Joe Morris - guitar / Tomas Fujiwara - drums

7:30pm Tony Malaby's Sabino Quartet
Tony Malaby - tenor, soprano saxophones / Ben Monder - guitar / Michael Formanek - bass / Tom Rainey - drums

Sunday July 25
The Clemente, La Plaza Outdoors - 114 Norfolk St, New York NY 10002

4pm Whit Dickey Trio
Whit Dickey - drums / Rob Brown - alto saxophone / Mat Maneri - viola

5pm Pheeroan akLaff Liberation Unit
Pheeroan akLaff - drums / Adegoke Steve Colson - piano / Jun Miyake - tenor sax, flute

6pm Raymond Nat Turner
Raymond Nat Turner - poetry

6:30pm Third Landing
Ava Mendoza - guitar / Abiodun Oyewole - spoken word / Devin Brahja Waldman – horns / Alexis Marcelo – keyboards / Luke Stewart - bass / Ches Smith - drums

7:30PM James Blood Ulmer ODYSSEY
James Blood Ulmer - guitar / Charles Burnham - violin / Warren Benbow - drums

Thursday July 29
Pioneer Works - 159 Pioneer Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231

6pm Elder Ones
Amirtha Kidambi - voice, harmonium, synthesizer / Matt Nelson - soprano saxophone, effects / Lester St. Louis - cello / Eva Lawitts - bass, effects / Max Jaffe - drums, sensory percussion

7pm James Brandon Lewis Quartet
James Brandon Lewis - tenor saxophone / Aruán Ortiz - piano / Brad Jones - bass / Chad Taylor - drums

8pm Julie Ezelle Patton Rock Paper Twister
Julie Ezelle Patton - sound artist / Janice Lowe - piano / Paul Van Curen - guitar / William Parker - bass / Special Guest - Vinie Burrows

8:45pm Mara Rosenbloom Presents Flyways
Mara Rosenbloom - piano / Anaïs Maviel - voice, surdo / Rashaan Carter - bass

9:45pm Trio 3 + Special Guest
Oliver Lake - alto saxophone / Reggie Workman - bass / Andrew Cyrille - drums + Special Guest - piano

Friday July 30
Pioneer Works - 159 Pioneer Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231

6pm Brandon Lopez Trio
Brandon Lopez – bass / Gerald Cleaver – drums / Steve Baczkowski – woodwinds

7pm Ingrid Laubrock’s Monochromes
Jon Irabagon – saxophones / Ingrid Laubrock - saxophones
/ Zeena Parkins – harp / Tom Rainey – drums / performing with pre-recorded tapes
Commissioned by NYSCA

8pm fly or die
jaimie branch - trumpet, voice, percussion / Lester St. Louis - cello, voice, percussion / Jason Ajemian- bass / Chad Taylor - drums, mbira, voice

9:00pm Moten / Lopez / Cleaver
Fred Moten - poetry / Brandon Lopez - bass / Gerald Cleaver - drums

9:45pm David Murray Octet Revival
David Murray – tenor sax, compositions / Lee Odom – alto sax, clarinet / Vincent Chancey – french horn / Josh Evans – trumpet / Mingus Murray – guitar / DD Jackson – piano / Rashaan Carter – bass / Russell Carter – drums
Commissioned by Chamber Music America

Saturday July 31
The Clemente, La Plaza Outdoors - 114 Norfolk St, New York NY 10002
Tributes to Milford Graves

5pm Andrew Cyrille
Andrew Cyrille - drum set

5:30pm Joe McPhee Octet Tribute to Milford Graves
Warren Smith – vibes / Jay Rosen – drums/ Brandon Lopez, Michael Bisio– bass
James Keepnews – guitar / Jason Kao Hwang, Rosie Hertlein – violin / Joseph McPhee – reeds, brass

6:30pm Shahzad Ismaily
Shahzad Ismaily - multiple instruments

6:45pm John Zorn
John Zorn - alto saxophone / Laura Cromwell - drums

7:30pm Tribute to Milford Graves
William Parker - bass / Lee Mixashawn Rozie - woodwinds / D.D. Jackson - piano  / William Hooker - drums / Francisco Mela - drums

8:30pm Drum, Horn, and Dance Tribute to Milford Graves

5/1/2021

May On_Line Salons

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Every Tuesday and Thursday, Arts for Art’s On_Line Salon series features live streaming performances and conversations by Free Jazz musicians. A minimum donation is required to watch. Register to receive a private viewing link through Eventbrite at http://artsforart.eventbrite.com

Tuesday May 4, 8pm
Francisco Mela - drums
Zoh Ahmba - saxophone
William Parker - bass

Thursday May 6, 8pm
Nasheet Waits - drums
Antoine Roney - tenor sax
Marcos Varela - bass

Tuesday May 11, 8pm
Whit Dickey - drums
Rob Brown - alto saxophone
Brandon Lopez - bass
Mat Maneri - viola

Thursday May 13, 8pm
Ellen Christi - voice
William Parker - bass
Francisco Mela - drums
Patricia Nicholson - text, movement

Tuesday May 18, 8pm
Jason Kao Hwang - violin
Ken Filiano - bass
Andrew Drury - drums

Thursday May 20, 8pm
Masma Dream World
Devi Mambouka - vocals, dance
Haunted Halo - bass
Christian Van Bremen - synth
Tom Delaney - drums

Tuesday May 25, 8pm
Isaiah Barr - saxophones, clarinets
Austin Williamson - drums
TBA - bass

Thursday May 27, 8pm
Patricia Nicholson - text, movement
Ellen Christi - voice
Andrea Wolper - voice
Jean Carla Rodea - voice
Ava Mendoza - guitar

4/1/2021

April On_Line Salons

Read Now

You can find the full schedule for April performances below and on our On_Line Salon page. Salons require a donation to watch, find the link on our On_Line Salon page to register to watch through Eventbrite, where you will receive a private viewing link.

Each performance will be followed by Patricia Nicholson's ongoing discussions with the artists.

View the On_Line Salon Page

Thursday April 1, 8pm
Isaiah Collier - saxophones
Lonnie Plaxico - bass
Michael Ode - drums
Kennedy Banks - dance

Tuesday April 6, 8pm
Marty Ehrlich - woodwinds
Michael Formanek - bass
Tomas Fujiwara - drums

Thursday April 8, 8pm
Reggie Nicholson - drums
Joe Fonda - bass
Daniel Carter - woodwinds, trumpet

Tuesday April 13, 8pm
Patrick Holmes - clarinet
jaimie branch - trumpet
Lester St. Louis - cello
Sarah Sandoval - dance

Thursday April 15, 8pm
Aruán Ortiz - piano
Don Byron - clarinets
Lester St. Louis - cello
Gerald Cleaver - drums

Tuesday April 20, 8pm
Melanie Dyer - viola
Shayna Dulberger - bass
Mara Rosenbloom - piano
Julie Ezelle Patton - art

Thursday April 22, 8pm
Juan Pablo Carletti - drums
Yoni Kretzmer - tenor saxophone
William Parker - bass
Keegan Monaghan - super-8 film

Tuesday April 27, 8pm
James Brandon Lewis - tenor saxophone
Rashaan Carter - bass
Chad Taylor - drums

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Winter 2022 Online Events

Wadada Leo Smith to Receive 2022 Vision Festival Lifetime Achievement Award

December 2021 Events

Jazz Libre! Celebration

Peace & Justice Celebration

In Gardens 2021

Free Outdoor Concerts June 12-13

Vision Festival 25 Press Release

Arts for Art Presents
Vision Festival 25
Breaking Free Coming Home
July 22 - 31
In-Person, Outdoors, Online

May On_Line Salons

April On_Line Salons

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Arts for Art PresentsVision Festival 25 ​Breaking Free Coming HomeJuly 22 - 31In-Person, Outdoors, Online

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Archives

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Contact Us

Arts for Art Presents
Vision Festival 25
Breaking Free Coming Home
July 22 - 31
In-Person, Outdoors, Online