Blog Posts

5/20/2020

Ingrid Laubrock Artist Profile

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Originally from Germany, Ingrid Laubrock is a saxophonist/composer based in Brooklyn since 2009. Laubrock is interested in exploring the borders between musical realms and creating multi-layered, dense and often evocative sound worlds.
She’s worked with: Anthony Braxton, Muhal Richards Abrams, Dave Douglas, Kenny Wheeler, Jason Moran, Tim Berne, William Parker, Tom Rainey, Mary Halvorson, Kris Davis, Tyshawn Sorey, Craig Taborn, Luc Ex, Django Bates’ Human Chain, The Continuum Ensemble, Wet Ink and many others.
Laubrock's main projects as a leader are Anti-House, Sleepthief, Ingrid Laubrock Septet and Ubatuba. Collaborations include Paradoxical Frog, Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey Duo and Crump/Smythe/Laubrock. She is a member of Anthony Braxton's Falling River Music Quartet, Nonet and 12+1tet, Tom Rainey Trio and Obbligato, Mary Halvorson Septet, Kris’ Davis Quintet, Nate Wooley’s Battle Pieces and Luc Ex’ Assemblée. She was one of the featured soloists in Anthony Braxton’s opera Trillium J.

Recent AFA Performances:
June 17, 2020 On_Line Salon w/ Nick Dunston & Tom Rainey

Website: http://www.ingridlaubrock.com/

Ingrid Laubrock / Nate Wooley / Chris Corsano | AFA Evolving Series 2014

Performed July 28, 2014 at the Clemente, NYC as part of Arts for Art’s Evolving series, New York City, NY... More

5/20/2020

Andrew Drury Artist Profile

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Andrew Drury is a drummer, composer, and organizer who has performed in 30 countries and on 70 recordings, recently recognized by All About Jazz as “one of the most adventurous drummer/percussionists in creative music today, and a dedicated humanitarian.” A long-time student of the legendary drummer Ed Blackwell, he performs as a soloist and leads ensembles of all sizes—most recently Content Provider featuring Ingrid Laubrock, Briggan Krauss, Brandon Seabrook. In addition to his work with Jason Kao Hwang and Ken Filiano he has worked in the last decade with J. D. Parran, Ku-umba Frank Lacy/1032K, Stephanie Richards, Robert Dick, Kris Davis, Alan Braufman, Cooper-Moore, Satoko Fujii, Thomas Buckner, Joseph Daley, Aruán Ortiz, Tomeka Reid, Roswell Rudd, Jack Wright, Bonita Oliver, and many more.

Recent AFA Performances:
June 10 2020 On_Line Salon

Website: http://soupandsound.org/about/

Jason Kao Hwang’s Spontaneous River Orchestra | AFA Under_Line Salon

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

5/20/2020

Rob Brown Artist Profile

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Rob Brown was born in 1962 in Hampton VA. Rob took up the saxophone at age 12. Early on he was introduced to the music of Charlie Parker and Eric Dolphy by his older brother who also played the saxophone.

Rob moved to New York in 1984 and established the musical relationships that came to define his career. Immediately he re-established ties with pianist Matthew Shipp whom he met in Boston in 1982 and continued to develop an improvising language with him.

Rob also began working with William Parker’s many ensembles and has continued to be very active with him for almost 30 years, touring Europe and the US and recording at least 18 albums.

Rob has been collaborating with visual artist Jo Wood-Brown since they met in 1996. Often performing live with Jo’s frequent collaborator dancer/choreographer Miriam Parker and/or creating sound for video and other installations.

Recent AFA performances:
May 8, 2020 On_Line Salon with Steve Swell

Website: https://www.robbrownmusic.com/

Jo Wood-Brown & Rob Brown Artist Diary

"During sheltering in place, I made several small videos, one at the South Street Seaport and the other in the studio that interfaced two realities, one of which was painted...More

5/20/2020

Steve Swell Artist Profile

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Born in Newark, NJ, Steve Swell has been an active member of the NYC music community since 1975. His breadth of versatility has allowed him to tour and record with such mainstream artists as Lionel Hampton and Buddy Rich in the past, as well as more contemporary artists like Anthony Braxton, Bill Dixon, Cecil Taylor and William Parker. He has over 50 CDs as a leader or co-leader and is a featured artists on more than 125 other releases. He runs workshops around the world and is a teaching artist in the NYC public school system focusing on special needs children.

Recent AFA performances;
May 8, 2020 On_Line Salon with Rob Brown

Steve Swell Artist Diary

Steve Swell’s contribution to AFA Artist Diaries features his piece “With the Morning, Hope” performed by his band Slammin’ the Infinite, along with his paintings and photographs...More

5/20/2020

Gerald Cleaver Artist Profile

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Born May 4, 1963 and raised in Detroit, Gerald Cleaver is a product of the city’s rich music tradition. Inspired by his father, drummer John Cleaver, he began playing the drums at an early age. He also played violin in elementary school, and trumpet in junior high school and high school. As a teenager he gained invaluable experience playing with Detroit jazz masters Ali Muhammad Jackson, Lamont Hamilton, Earl Van Riper, and Pancho Hagood. While attending the University of Michigan as a music education major, he was awarded a Jazz Study Grant, from the National Endowment for the Arts, to study with drummer Victor Lewis. He graduated in 1992 and began teaching in Detroit where he worked with Rodney Whitaker, A. Spencer Barefield, Marcus Belgrave, Donald Walden, Wendell Harrison, and with visiting musicians Hank Jones, Tommy Flanagan, Barry Harris, Kenny Burrell, Frank Foster, Cecil Bridgewater, Ray Bryant, Eddie Harris, Dennis Rowland, Howard Johnson, Diana Krall and Don Byron. In 1995 he accepted an appointment as assistant professor of Jazz Studies at the University of Michigan, and in 1998 also joined the jazz faculty at Michigan State University. He moved to New York in 2002. He has performed or recorded with Franck Amsallem, Henry Threadgill, Roscoe Mitchell, Lotte Anker, Reggie Workman, Marilyn Crispell, Matt Shipp, William Parker, Craig Taborn, Kevin Mahogany, Charles Gayle, Mario Pavone, Ralph Alessi, Jacky Terrasson, Jimmy Scott, Muhal Richard Abrams, Dave Douglas, Tim Berne, Jeremy Pelt, Ellery Eskelin, David Torn and Miroslav Vitous, among others. Cleaver has released two recordings as a leader. His 2001 recording Adjust (Fresh Sound New Talent) was nominated in the Best Debut Recording category by the Jazz Journalists Association.

Recent AFA Performances:
June 12, 2020 On_Line Salon w/ Brandon Lopez & Matt Nelson
June 24, 2020 On_Line Salon w/ James Brandon Lewis & Kirk Knuffke

https://www.577records.com/gerald-cleaver

Gerald Cleaver & Rob Brown at the Under_Line Salon

5/20/2020

William Parker Artist Profile

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William Parker is a musician, improviser, composer, educator, and author. He plays the bass, shakuhachi, double reeds, tuba, donso ngoni and gembri. Born in 1952 in the Bronx, New York, he studied bass with Richard Davis, Art Davis, Milt Hinton, Wilber Ware, Jimmy Garrison, and Paul West. During Parker’s prolific career, he has recorded over 150 albums, had countless celebrated stage appearances, and helped shaped the jazz scene for both his peers and the youth. In 2013, Parker received the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award in recognition of his influence and impact on the creative jazz scene over the last 40 years.

William entered the music scene in 1971, playing at Studio We, Studio Rivbea, Hilly’s on The Bowery, and The Baby Grand. By the age of 20, Parker quickly became a highly sought after bassist, playing with established musicians such as Ed Blackwell, Don Cherry, Bill Dixon, Milford Graves, Billy Higgins, and Sunny Murray. Projects with dancer and choreographer Patricia Nicholson have created a huge repertoire of composed music for multiple ensembles ranging from solo works to big band projects. In 1980, he became a member of the Cecil Taylor Unit, in which he played a prominent role for over a decade.

Since the beginning of his career, William Parker has commanded a unique degree of respect from his fellow musicians and critics alike. In 1995, the Village Voice characterized William Parker as "the most consistently brilliant free jazz bassist of all time." In addition to his work with artists in the United States, he has developed a strong relationship with musicians in the European Improvised Music scene such as Peter Kowald, Peter Brotzmann, Han Bennink, Tony Oxley, Derek Bailey, John Tchicai, Louis Sclavis, and Louis Moholo.

William Parker began recording in 1994 and founded the ensembles In Order To Survive and The Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra. In 2001, he released O’Neal’s Porch, which marked a turn toward a more universal sound working with drummer Hamid Drake. The Raining on the Moon Quintet followed, adding vocalist Leena Conquest and the Quartet from O’Neal’s Porch. Most notable among many recent projects is the Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield.

As Steve Greenlee of the Boston Globe stated in July 2002, “William Parker has emerged as the most important leader of the current avant-garde scene in jazz.” Parker has consistently worked in many of the most important groups within this genre, including his own. He currently leads The Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra, In Order to Survive, Raining on the Moon, Stan’s Hat Flapping in the Wind, and The Cosmic Mountain Quartet with Hamid Drake, Kidd Jordan, and Cooper-Moore.

Parker has released over 20 albums under his leadership, most reaching #1 on the CMJ charts. In 1995, he debuted The Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra with the release of Flowers Grow In My Room on the Centering label. Recent years saw the release of several monumental box sets, including 2013’s Wood Flute Songs and 2015’s For Those Who Are, Still, highlighting the work of Parker’s many groups and large ensembles. His recordings appear on the Aum Fidelity label and his own Centering Music, among others.

These releases and their success showcase William Parker as an outstanding composer and bandleader. From the beginning of his musical career, William Parker has been prolific; composing music for almost every group with whom he has performed. His compositions span the range of operas, oratorios, ballets, film scores, and soliloquies for solo instruments. He has also successfully explored diverse concepts in instrumentation for large and small ensembles.

A passionate educator, William Parker has taught at Bennington College, NYU, The New England Conservatory of Music, Cal Arts, New School University and Rotterdam Conservatory of Music. He has also taught music workshops throughout the world including Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, and the Lower East Side. Parker is a theorist and author of several books including Who Owns Music?, Conversations I & II, Voices in the First Person, Scrapbook: Notes and Blueprints, Sound Journal, and The Mayor of Punkville. Additionally, he has released three volumes of poetry and a theatre piece titled Music and the Shadow People.

Recent AFA performances:
May 22 2020 On_Line Salon w/ Isaiah Parker
July 3 2020 On_Line Salon w/ Patricia Nicholson, Ellen Christi, Jean Carla Rodea
July 8 2020 On_Line Salon w/ Dave Sewelson, Steve Swell, Marvin Bugalu Smith
July 31 2020 On_Line Salon w/ James Brandon Lewis, Devin Brahja Waldman, Francisco Mela

Website: http://www.williamparker.net/

Patricia Nicholson & William Parker Artist Diary

Arts for Art (AFA) founder Patricia Nicholson and Core Vision Artist William Parker present Life Is Simple, a music and dance collage for AFA Artist Diaries...More

5/20/2020

Andrea Wolper Artist Profile

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Described as both "utterly original" and "a singer with an uncanny emotional touch for the past 50 years of jazz," Andrea Wolper, "brings songs to life, whatever their source, working in a milieu that begins with jazz and reaches out to embrace an expressive area that is uniquely her own."

Andrea appears in clubs, festivals, and concert spaces in the U.S. and abroad. Performance credits as a leader in her New York home base include the Blue Note, Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola (Jazz at Lincoln Center), Mezzrow, JVC New York Jazz Festival, Kitano, Arts for Arts Evolving Series, and more, and she has toured across the U.S., in Europe, and beyond. Working frequently as both leader and side-person, Andrea is "an audacious artist [who] flouts genre limitations, singing songs for the love of it and delivering an inventive, thrilling, appealing musical vision."

Recent AFA Performances:
June 3, 2020 On_Line Salon with Ken Filiano

Website: https://www.andreawolper.com/

5/20/2020

Whit Dickey Artist Profile

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Free jazz drummer Whit Dickey, known for his work with Matthew Shipp and David S. Ware among others, first stepped into the spotlight as a leader with the release of his 1998 album Transonic in 1998, on Aum Fidelity. In 2000, Wobbly Rail issued 'Big Top'. And in 2020, Dickey launched Tao Forms, a new recording label devoted to contemporary free jazz of an elevated & enlightened nature with Dickey as creative director & executive producer, with label management & distribution by AUM Fidelity.

Recent AFA Performances:
July 1, 2020 with Rob Brown & Brandon Lopez

Website: http://www.aumfidelity.com/dickey.html

Whit Dickey Trio Plus Karen Borca & Jackson Krall | Vision Festival 23

Performed and recorded on May 24, 2018 at Arts for Art Vision Festival 23, Roulette, Brooklyn...More

5/20/2020

Mark Dresser Artist Profile

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Mark Dresser is a Grammy nominated, internationally renowned bass player, improviser, and composer. At the core of his music is an obsession and commitment to expanding the sonic, musical, and expressive possibilities of the contrabass. He has recorded over one hundred-fifty CDs including ten CDs as composer/bandleader, five solo recordings and a DVD and his most recent solo LP Modicana (2017). From 1985 to 1994, he was a member of Anthony Braxton’s Quartet. He has also performed and recorded music of Ray Anderson, Jane Ira Bloom, Tim Berne, Anthony Davis, Dave Douglas, Osvaldo Golijov, Gerry Hemingway, Lei Liang, Bob Ostertag, Joe Lovano, Roger Reynolds, Henry Threadgill, Dawn Upshaw, John Zorn. Since 2007 he has been deeply involved in telematic music performance and education. He was awarded a 2015 & 2018 Shifting Foundation Award and 2015 Doris Duke Impact Award. He is Professor of Music at University of California, San Diego.

"Calling contrabassist Mark Dresser a virtuoso is like saying Albert Einstein was good at math." San Diego City Times “Mr. Dresser, a bassist who is one of the great instrumental forces in recent American jazz outside of the mainstream... New York Times

Recent AFA Performances:
July 22, 2020 On_Line Salon w/ Anthony Davis & Michael Dessen

Website: www.mark-dresser.com

5/20/2020

Matthew Shipp Artist Profile

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Matthew Shipp has reached the holy grail of jazz in that he possesses a unique style on his instrument that is all of his own, and he's one of the few in jazz that can say so. Shipp has recorded a lot of albums with many labels but his 2 most enduring relationships have been with two labels. In the 1990s he recorded a number of chamber jazz cds with Hatology, a group of cds that charted a new course for jazz that, to this day, the jazz world has not realized. In the 2000s Mr. Shipp has been curator and director of the label Thirsty Ear's "Blue Series" and has also recorded for them. In this collection of recordings he has generated a whole body of work that is visionary, far reaching and many faceted. Matthew Shipp is truly one of the leading lights of a new generation of jazz giants.

Recent AFA Performances
August 20, 2020 with Bobby Kapp, William Parker

Website: http://www.aumfidelity.com/TAO01.htm

Yoshiko Chuma and Matthew Shipp | Vision Festival 20

Performed and recorded on July 7, 2015 at Arts for Art Vision Festival 20, Judson Memorial Church NYC...More

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Ingrid Laubrock Artist Profile

Ingrid Laubrock / Nate Wooley / Chris Corsano | AFA Evolving Series 2014

Andrew Drury Artist Profile

Jason Kao Hwang’s Spontaneous River Orchestra | AFA Under_Line Salon

Rob Brown Artist Profile

Steve Swell Artist Profile

Steve Swell Artist Diary

Gerald Cleaver Artist Profile

Gerald Cleaver & Rob Brown at the Under_Line Salon

William Parker Artist Profile

Patricia Nicholson & William Parker Artist Diary

Andrea Wolper Artist Profile

Whit Dickey Artist Profile

Whit Dickey Trio Plus Karen Borca & Jackson Krall | Vision Festival 23

Mark Dresser Artist Profile

Matthew Shipp Artist Profile

Yoshiko Chuma and Matthew Shipp | Vision Festival 20

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