​The Sun Ra Arkestra and William Parker’s Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield
 
March 4, 2020 7pm, at The Town Hall
123 West 43rd Street, NYC
                                                             
TICKETS: ticketmaster.com
                                   
Arts for Art celebrates 25 years of programming with Sounds of Justice, a night of intergenerational FreeJazz/AfroFuturism, on March 4th at NYC’s historic The Town Hall. Both the Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of Marshall Allen and William Parker’s Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield are steeped in a commitment to the ideals of music and art as agents of social change, exemplifying the very ethos of Arts for Art. This boundary-breaking blend of FreeJazz, funk, R&B, and soul aesthetics looks both back and into the future, bridging time and space to share warnings, hope, and inspiration. 

Under the leadership of Marshall Allen, the Arkestra carries the Sun Ra experience of sound, dance, song, light, and color into the present. Having joined the Arkestra in the 1950s, Allen is uniquely positioned to move this performance tradition forward, further cementing Sun Ra and the Arkestra’s twinned legacies as both progenitors and practitioners of the genre now called AfroFuturism. The Town Hall performance will include video art and painting by NYC artist William Mazza to create a synesthetic sight/sound experience of Sun Ra and his mind-bending view of the universe.

William Parker’s highly acclaimed, intensely free Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield builds upon both the text and music of the politically engaged and activist singer-songwriter. This latest version of Parker’s ongoing project includes an expanded band with vocalist Leena Conquest joined by Thomas Sayers Ellis performing Amiri Baraka’s and his own poetry. Filmmaker Moon Lasso’a impressionistic video portrayal of the texts and sounds of Curtis Mayfield and William Parker will complete the experience.
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Arts for Art, presenter of the internationally renowned Vision Festival, is focused on developing strategies for the future as it enters its 25th year: how to better the world in which we live, and how to inspire, grow, and build a diverse community of uncompromising artists and audiences. 

Whit Dickey Biography

Whit Dickey grew up in Bennington, VT, where he was introduced to the music of Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald through his father’s record collection.  He was also exposed to the music of The Doors and Jimi Hendrix, and was captivated by the drumming of Mitch Mitchell and Jack deJohnette. Seeing Sam Rivers perform with drummer Freddie Waits while studying at UMass in 1974 opened his mind to the possibilities of creative improvisation.  Le Roi Jones’ compilation of writings on 60s jazz scene, Black Music, and the music of John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, Elvin Jones, and Sunny Murray, further pushed Dickey’s interest toward the avant-garde.  He became a regular audience member during the NYC “loft scene” of ‘76 and ‘77, and in 1978 began to seriously pursue the drums.  

Whit joined the Creative Music Studio, where he studied combinations of rhythm units – taki and gamala – invented by Don Cherry and Karl Berger, played with many visiting artists, and in Karl Berger’s free jazz ensembles.  He would move to NYC, where he continued to play with musicians from CMS, and spent time studying with Andrew Cyrille. He later attended Bennington College, where he studied and performed with professors Milford Graves and Bill Dixon.  During this time, Dickey began developing his free approach to drumming.  

After earning a Masters in Third Stream Studies at the New England Conservatory of Music, Whit met fellow NEC alum and pianist Matthew Shipp, who would introduce him to alto saxophonist Rob Brown. Whit and Rob were formative members of the Matthew Shipp Quartet, who along with William Parker, would release the album Points in 1990.  In 1992, the trio of Dickey, Shipp, and Parker put out the recording Circular Temple, inspired by a mutual love for the short story, “The Circular Ruins,” by Jorge Luis Borges.

Whit soon joined Matthew and William in the David S. Ware Quartet.  He recorded 5 albums and toured frequently as part of the quartet until 1996. In 1997, Whit recorded his first album as leader, the trio date Transonic with Rob Brown and bassist Chris Lightcap. He soon moved north of NYC to refocus his studies in private.  He continued to record while developing a personal style cradling syncopation and free improvisation, drawing from Billy Higgins, Milford Graves, and Elvin Jones. Dickey linked back up with Matthew Shipp and joined his trio in 2007, resulting in several critically acclaimed records.  In 2014, Whit retreated from the scene in pursuit of stillness, which lead him to embrace silence and space in his playing. Fierce Silence and Drone Dream, duo records with cornetist Kirk Knuffke, exemplify this approach. In 2019, Aum Fidelity released the 2-CD set, Peace Planet -&- Box of Light.

Whit Dickey - drums / Brandon Lopez - bass / Daniel Carter - horns

​Patricia Nicholson Parker
Founder, Artistic Director

Andrew Lamb a.k.a. The Black Lamb, plays saxophones, flutes, clarinet, oboe, and woodwind instruments from various indigenous societies. Also a composer, Lamb is known as an individual artist, with his own style and his own story. Lamb came into New York’s once heralded Loft Jazz scene and the avant-garde community in the mid seventies, and over time became an active presence in the vibrant Bedford-Stuyvesant arts world during the 90’s through 2004. He recently released the album Casbah of Love with his working trio of bassist Tom Abbs and drummer Ryan Jewell. Andrew Lamb’s Circadian Spheres Of Light, is a special ensemble of interest, a multidisciplinary outfit with works created to help heal those with Autism, Dementia, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

For this performance, Lamb welcomes heavy hitters Cooper-Moore, Hilliard Greene, and Marvin "Bugulu" Smith. 

Andrew Lamb - tenor sax, clarinet / Cooper-Moore - piano / Hilliard Greene - bass / Marvin "Bugulu" Smith- drums

​New York State Council on the Arts Awards Arts for Art $15,000
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New York State Council on the Arts Grants Support Vital Cultural Programs Statewide
New York, NY— Arts for Art today announced that it has been awarded a $15,000 grant from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) for FY2020 with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. NYSCA grants support the transformative impact of the performing, literary, visual and media arts in New York State.

Arts for Art is one of 462 arts organizations across New York State receiving a total of $8,383,993 million in grants through NYSCA’s Round II FY2020 funding to support arts programs that drive New York State’s economic growth and community health.

“The arts and culture are a critical driver of health in people and places,” said Mara Manus, Executive Director, New York State Council on the Arts. “Our state’s creative industries generate a total of $120 billion to the state economy, account for 466,000 jobs, and play a significant role in revitalization, education and social justice.”
NYSCA will award a total of $41 million to arts organizations across New York State for FY2020. The second of three rounds of NYSCA funding for FY2020 includes support for museums, theatres, and arts organizations that drive tourism and anchor communities and arts education programs essential to learning for all ages, including public school students, aging populations and at-risk youth.

NYSCA Round II grants also support creative arts programs promoting physical and mental health and personal and professional development in historically underserved and vulnerable communities, including those in geographically remote areas; disabled communities; impoverished and homeless populations; and justice-involved youth and adults. Arts for Art received funding through NYSCA’s Music program support General Operations.

Annually, NYSCA grants are awarded in 15 discipline programs and the Regional Economic Development Council initiative. Over the last two years, NYSCA has awarded an additional $30 million in capital funding to 71 organizations statewide fueling community development and tourism, and will announce additional capital grant awards this year.

“New York’s cultural sector is a driving force in our state’s economy,” said Katherine Nicholls, Chair, New York State Council on the Arts.  “As our arts organizations expand their audiences and programs with NYSCA support, we will serve many more New Yorkers and build the vitality of our communities statewide.”    
NYSCA Round II grant awards were made through the agency’s Arts Education, Special Arts Services, Museum, Theatre, Music, Dance, Literature, and Visual Arts Programs. A list of NYSCA grantees searchable by program and location is available here.
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Additional NYSCA funding will be announced in late 2019, including support for presenting organizations, individual artist commissions, and, through the Regional Economic Development Council, programs driving economic growth and building New York State’s workforce.

About The New York State Council on the Arts
 
The New York State Council on the Arts champions community and creativity by preserving and advancing numerous aspects of the cultural heritage that makes New York State an exceptional place to live, work and visit.
NYSCA upholds the right of all New Yorkers to experience the vital contributions the arts make to our communities, education, economic development and quality of life. Through its core grantmaking activity, NYSCA awarded $51M in FY2019 to 2,400 organizations statewide through direct grants and regrants in our 15 programs, the Regional Economic Development Council initiative and the Mid-Size Capital Project Fund. NYSCA funding supports the visual, literary, media and performing arts and includes dedicated support for arts education and underserved communities. NYSCA further advances New York's creative culture by hosting convenings with leaders in the field and providing organizational and professional development opportunities and informational resources.

Created by Governor Nelson Rockefeller in 1960, and continued and expanded to the present day with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, NYSCA is an agency of the Executive Branch of the New York State Government. For more information on NYSCA, please visit: www.arts.ny.gov. 

The inspiration behind Atomic Pigeons, in Nagano's words:

"I wanted to write my compositions that I can take time to really figure out what I like to write. I wanted us to rehearse as much as we can to make our sounds strong and unique. I just wanted to develop my own, kind of nerdy hardcore sounds and the world so bad because, that could be fun."

Sana Nagano has been a mainstay of free jazz giant Karl Berger’s Improvisers Orchestra and world-renowned, innovative percussionist Adam Rudolph’s Go: Organic Orchestra. Nagano also worked with Joseph Jarman, Yusef  Lateef, William Parker, Daniel Carter, Oliver Lake, and many more.

“Nagano is the kind of improviser that recalls the very best of avant-jazz-rock violin, resurrecting the spirit of Billy Bang, Mahavishnu Orchestra, and the full breadth of modernism all in one. Nagano’s acoustic violin is clean, cutting, sinewy, regal, magical. Yet nothing seems to please her more than ripping into a lightning bolt like, electric sounding improvisation using her pedals intermittently. This die-hard improviser grew from many years of formal classical and jazz training, all put to excellent use. She clearly musses the conservatory up with the intentional/unintentional chaos and musical play in the best imaginable way.” - John Pietaro (Dissident Arts)

Sana Nagano - violin / Keisuke Matsuno - guitar / Paolo Cantarella - drums / Tyler Luppi - bass

The Music was Inspired. The Art was Beautiful. The Poetry was Profound. The Dance was Patricia Nicholson in community.

We rejoiced together. We had cake, fine wine, and delicious food. 

We did this together and we raised some money.

Thanks to all who attended our birthday celebration and benefit, in recognition of our Founder and Artistic Director, Patricia Nicholson Parker. If you were there, you experienced the heart of this community. In performing, the musicians exhibited a depth, commitment, and a unified statement in support for the woman who started it all and has continued to make it happen, staying strong, for decades.

We are grateful to New York City Councilmember Carlina Rivera, her chief of staff Pedro Carrillo, and staff member Sheila Rodriguez for presenting Patricia with a citation in recognition of her work in service to the cultural community, and the community at large.

Thank you,

Todd Nicholson
Executive Director, Arts for Art

Photos by Eva Kapanadze