Arts for Art Presents
Vision Festival 25
Breaking Free Coming Home
July 22 - 31
In-Person, Outdoors, Online
159 Pioneer St, Brooklyn, NY 11231
July 24-25 & 31: Performances at The Clemente (outdoors)
114 Norfolk St, New York, NY 10002
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.
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