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