Devin Brahja Waldman is a New York saxophonist, drummer, synthesizer player and composer who leads the band BRAHJA, whose sixth album was released by RRGEMS Records in September, 2019. Waldman has accompanied his aunt, outrider poet Anne Waldman, since the age of ten. He has performed with Patti Smith, William Parker, Nadah El Shazly, Malcolm Mooney, Thurston Moore, Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Charles Hayward, Mette Rasmussen and Yoshiko Chuma. Waldman is a member of New York City’s Heroes Are Gang Leaders (led by poet Thomas Sayers Ellis and saxophonist James Brandon Lewis) as well as Sam Shalabi’s Land of Kush (Constellation Records), and the Norwegian hardcore group MoE; he is a co-founder and producer for the Moroccan music ensemble Ziad Qoulaii Allstars— whose debut album will be released by Akuphone in 2020— and the NYC/Philly duo Notable Deaths. As a youngster, Waldman was taken under the wing of pianist Paul Bley. Waldman is a co-producer for Fast Speaking Music —a NYC poetry and music label which has released the works of Amiri Baraka, Meredith Monk, Eileen Myles, CAConrad, Fred Moten, Daniel Carter, Thurston Moore, Joanne Kyger and many others. 

Website: ​http://www.brahjawaldman.com/

Hilliard Greene has been studying music for more than 30 years and has been playing professionally over twenty. His emphasis is in classical, jazz, rock, blues, R&B, Tango as well as the music of other continents and US regions, and solo performances.

Greene studied at the University of Northern Iowa and at Berklee College of Music in Boston and has been teaching private students and classes for over 25 years. He continues to teach privately and to do workshops and master classes in upright and electric bass for both children and adults.

He performs widely in the New York City area: recitals, nightclubs, concert halls (including Carnegie Hall), recording studios, radio and television. Also performs in major cities throughout the United States, Canada, Europe east and west, Asia, the West Indies, and South America.

Greene performed and recorded with Jimmy Scott for 20+ years, serving as his Musical Director from 1995 to 2013. Greene was also Cecil Taylor’s Concert Master for his group “Phtongos”. He was in residence at Minton’s a.k.a. legendary Minton’s Playhouse as the house bassist.

Greene works / worked with Rashied Ali, Barry Altschul, Lucian Ban, Billy Bang, Kenny Barron, David Berger, Karl Berger, Cindy Blackman, T.K. Blue, Dougie Bowen, Joanne Brackeen, Oscar Brown Jr., Uri Caine, Roy Campbell, Carnival Cruise Lines Carnival Skin, Daniel Carter, James Carter, Carla Cook, Akua Dixon, Dave Douglas, John Esposito, Bobby Few, Erik Friedlander, Camille Gainer, Eddie Gale, Charles Gayle, Eddie Gladden, Electric Symphony, Alex Harding, George Haslam, Jon Hendricks, John Hicks, Jason Kao Hwang, The Inkspots, Yoron Israel, Vijay Iyer, Klaus Kugel, Leroy Jenkins, Howard Johnson, Frank Lacy, Gloria Lynne, Michael Marcus, Sabir Mateen, Jason Moran, Bern Nix, Greg Osby, Jimmy Ponder, Don Pullen, Lenore Raphael, Matana Roberts, Perry Robinson, Josh Roseman, Vanessa Rubin, Nipsy Russell, Warren Smith, Steve Swell, Grady Tate,  Jacky Terrasson, Gebhard Ullman, Marlene VerPlanck, Village Vanguard Orchestra, Petras Vysniauskas, Jack Walrath, Bobby Watson, Mars Williams

​Website: hilliardgreene.com

In December 2016, Arts for Art hosted a holiday fundraiser at the Lowline Lab in NYC featuring Jason Kao Hwang’s Spontaneous River Orchestra performing the compositions “New York” by Leroy Jenkins...More  

Pianist/Composer/Educator Angelica Sanchez moved to New York from Arizona in 1994. Since moving to the East Coast Sanchez has collaborated with such notable artists as: Wadada Leo Smith, Paul Motian, Richard Davis, Jamaladeen Tacuma, Nicole Mitchell, Rob Mazurek, Tim Berne, Mario Pavone, Ben Monder amongst others. Sanchez leads numerous groups, the most recent being her Nonet which features Chris Speed, Michael Attais, Thomas Heberer, Kenny Warren, Ben Goldberg, John Hebert, Omar Tamez and Sam Ospavot.

Her music has been recognized in national and international publications including Jazz Times,The New York Times,Chicago Tribune amongst others. She was also the 2008 recipient of a French/American Chamber Music America grant and the 2011 Rockefeller Brothers Pocantico artist residency. Sanchez’ debut solo CD “A Little House” was featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition and her recording “Wires & Moss” featuring her Quintet was chosen as one of best Releases of 2012 in “The New York City Jazz Record (formerly All About Jazz-New York).”  Her recording “Twine Forest” a duo with Wadada Leo Smith received Honorable Mention as one of the best releases of 2013 in "The New York City Jazz Record." Her latest trio project “Float The Edge” features Michael Formanek and Tyshawn Sorey and has garnered wide critical acclaim. Sanchez has a Master's degree from Willam Paterson University in Jazz Arranging. She is currently a lecturer at Princeton University.
      
Recent AFA performances:
May 1, 2020 On_Line Salon w/ Tony Malaby

Website: http://www.angelicasanchez.com/home.html

​Michael Bisio, bassist/composer, has eighty five recordings in his discography, twenty four of these are split evenly between leader/co-leader, ten of them document his extraordinary association with modern piano icon Matthew Shipp. Michael has been called a poet, a wonder and one of the most virtuosic and imaginative performers on the double bass. Nate Chinen in the New York Times writes : "The physicality of Mr. Bisio's bass playing puts him in touch with numerous predecessors in the avant-garde, but his expressive touch is distinctive;..." As a composer Michael has been awarded nine grants and an Artist Trust Fellowship Collaborators include Matthew Shipp, Joe McPhee, Charles Gayle, Connie Crothers, Whit Dickey, Ivo Perelman, Barbara Donald, Newman Taylor Baker, Rob Brown, Sonny Simmons and Sabir Mateen.

Nasheet Waits, drummer/music educator, is a New York native. His interest in playing the drums was encouraged by his father, legendary percussionist, Frederick Waits. Over the course of his career, Freddie Waits played with such legendary artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Sonny Rollins, Max Roach, McCoy Tyner, and countless others.
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Nasheet’s college education began at Morehouse in Atlanta, GA, where he majored in Psychology and History. Deciding that music would be his main focus, he continued his college studies in New York at Long Island University, where he graduated with honors, receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Music. While attending Long Island University, Waits studied privately with renowned percussionist, Michael Carvin. Carvin’s tutelage provided a vast foundation upon which Waits added influences from his father, as well as mentor Max Roach. It was Max that first gave Nasheet’s formidable talent international spotlight, hiring him as a member of the famed percussion ensemble M’BOOM. One highlight of Nasheet’s tenure with M’BOOM was the live concert performance of M’BOOM with special guests Tony Williams and Ginger Baker.

Most recently Nasheet has been a member of Andrew Hill’s various bands, Jason Moran’s Bandwagon, and Fred Hersch’s trio. As an originating member of pianist Jason Moran’s Bandwagon, Jason, bassist Tarus Mateen, and Nasheet have been deemed, “the most exciting rhythm section in jazz” by JazzTimes, The 2001 recording “Black Stars” with the Bandwagon, featuring Sam Rivers was named the “Best CD of 2001” in (Jazz Times, Jan 2002) and “The New York Times”.

Nasheet’s recording and performing discography is a veritable who’s who in Jazz, boasting stints with jazz notables such as Geri Allen, Mario Bauza, Hamiett Bluiett, Abraham Burton, Ron Carter, Marc Cary, Steve Coleman, Stanley Cowell, Orrin Evans, Stefon Harris, Andrew Hill, Bill Lee, Jackie McLean, The Mingus Big Band, The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Greg Osby, Joshua Redman, Vanessa Rubin, Antoine Roney, Wallace Roney, Jacky Terrason, Bunky Green, and Mark Turner. Waits has recorded and toured extensively in Africa, Europe, Japan, Canada, South America and the United States.

Recent AFA Performances:
July 10, 2020 On_Line Salon w/ Antoine Roney & Taurus Mateen

“Patt'n Mouth, like cat and mouse, is a 17th Century English language idiom meaning "constant pursuit, near captures and repeated escapes stemming from a contrived action"...More

Wadada Leo Smith, trumpeter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser is one of the most acclaimed creative artists of his time, both for his music and his writings. For the last five decades, Mr. Smith has been a member of the historical and legendary AACM collective. He distinctly defines his music as “Creative Music.” Mr. Smith’s diverse discography reveals a recorded history centered around important issues that have impacted his world. Mr. Smith’s awards and commissions include: DownBeat Magazine’s 65th Annual Critics Poll: Artist, Trumpet, and Album of the Year (America’s National Parks). Mr. Smith is featured on the cover of the August 2017 issue of DownBeat. And in the 2016 Jazz Times’ Critics Poll, he was honored the Artist of the Year. His America’s National Parks earned wide praise as one of the best albums of 2016 from media like The New York Times, the NPR Jazz Critics Poll, The Wire and many other publications. 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.

Recent AFA Performance: October 8, 2020 Vision Festival Healing Soul
Website: https://wadadaleosmith.com/

Wadada Leo Smith shares his philosophy on music, leadership and successful collective models, education, and more in this interview for AFA Artist Talks...More

Joe McPhee, born November 3, 1939 in Miami, Florida, USA, is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, improviser, conceptualist and theoretician.
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He began playing the trumpet at age eight, taught by his father, himself a trumpet player. He continued on that instrument through his formative school years and later in a U.S. Army band stationed in Germany, at which time he was introduced to performing traditional jazz. Clifford Thornton’s Freedom and Unity, released in 1969 on the Third World label, is the first recording on which he appears as a side man. In 1968, inspired by the music of Albert Ayler, he took up the saxophone and began an active involvement in both acoustic and electronic music.
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His first recordings as leader appeared on the CJ Records label, founded in 1969
by painter Craig Johnson. These include Underground Railroad by the Joe McPhee Quartet (1969), Nation Time (1970), Trinity (1971) and Pieces of Light (1974). In 1975, Swiss entrepreneur Werner X. Uehlinger release Black Magic Man by McPhee, on what was to become Hat Hut Records
In 1981, he met composer, accordionist, performer, and educator Pauline Oliveros, whose theories of “deep listening” strengthened his interests in extended instrumental and electronic techniques. he also discovered Edward de Bono’s book Lateral Thinking: A Textbook of Creativity, which presents concepts for solving problems by “disrupting an apparent sequence and arriving at the solution from another angle.” de Bono’s theories inspired McPhee to apply this “sideways thinking” to his own work in creative improvisation, resulting in the concept of “Po Music.” McPhee describes “Po Music” as a “process of provocation” (Po is a language indicator to show that provocation is being used) to “move from one fixed set of ideas in an attempt to discover new ones.” He concludes, “It is a Positive, Possible, Poetic Hypothesis.” The results of this application of Po principles to creative improvisation can be heard on several Hat Art recordings, including Topology, Linear B, and Oleo & a Future Retrospective.

In 1997, McPhee discovered two like-minded improvisers in bassist Dominic Duval and drummer Jay Rosen. The trio premiered at the Vision Jazz Festival in 1998 but the concert went unnoticed by the press. McPhee, Duval, and Rosen therefore decided that an apt title for the group would be Trio X. In 2004 he created Survival Unit III with Fred Lonberg-Holm and Michael Zerang to expand his musical horizons and with a career spanning nearly 50 years and over 100 recordings, he continues to tour internationally, forge new connections while reaching for music’s outer limits.

In 2012 he was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Vision Festival

Recent AFA Performances:
June 5, 2020 On_Line Salon

Website: ​http://joemcphee.com/

Daniel Carter is an American experimental saxophone, flute, clarinet, and trumpet player active mainly in New York City since the early 1970s. One of the legendary masters of creative music. Born in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania in 1945.
Carter is a prolific performer and has recorded or performed with William Parker, Federico Ughi, DJ Logic, Thurston Moore, Yo La Tengo, Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, scientist/musician Matthew Putman, Patrick Holmes, Sabir Mateen, Cooper-Moore, Sam Rivers, David S. Ware, Yoko Ono, Medesky Martin and Wood and Jaco Pastorius among others. He is a member of the cooperative free jazz groups TEST and Other Dimensions In Music.

Recent AFA Performances:
August 13, 2020 On_Line Salon w/ Matt Lavelle, Mara Rosenbloom, Warren Smith

Website: https://www.577records.com/danielcarter

K.J. Holmes is an independent dance artist, singer, poet, and actor based in Brooklyn, New York.  Her training began as a child with ballet and musical theater as well as judo and fencing. This blend of approaches is a basis for her consistent expression and art making.  Her dance studies at the New School for Social Research and with Andre Bernard (1979 -81) led her to improvisation and new dance techniques that were being explored at that time.  K.J. has helped to define, first as a student and now as a teacher and performer, many contemporary improvisational and somatic practices, collaborating with forerunners Simone Forti, Lisa Nelson and Image Lab, and Steve Paxton.  She continues to push into new frontiers of dance and theater with her love of research and experience.   Her dance/theater pieces have been presented in NYC at the Chocolate Factory Theater,  Danspace Project, The Kitchen, P.S. 122, Movement Research at the Judson Church, D.T.W., Dixon Place, University Settlement, Warren Street Performance Loft, The Present Company, The Thalia Theater at Symphony Space, the Joyce Soho and the Vision Jazz Festival, as well as nationally and internationally.

Website: http://www.kjholmes.info/​

Cooper-Moore came of age as a musician and active member of the civil rights and peace movements. He became a pivotal member of the Free Jazz movement beginning with the collective Apogee with David S. Ware in the 70s. He has led his own bands Triptych Myth and Digital Primitives and has also been a central figure in William Parker’s In Order to Survive and Gerald Cleaver’s Black Host. Cooper-Moore has written and performed for playwrights such as Rita Dove and Laurie Carlos, and choreographers Joan Miller, Rod Rogers, Marlies Yearby, and Judith Jackson. He is also an important educator, inspiring generations of young artists through Head Start and other music programs around the world. At the Vision Festival in 2017, Arts for Art celebrated Cooper-Moore's lifetime of Achievement with performances by In Order to Survive, Digital Primitives, and Black Host.

Recent AFA Performances:
July 17, 2020 On_Line Salon

​Website: ​http://www.aumfidelity.com/cooper-moore.html

​Cooper-Moore has been a pivotal member of the Free Jazz movement since the early 70s. His primary instrument is the piano, though the variety of instruments he has designed and built are part of his trademark...More