In May 2020, we introduced the On_Line Salon series to provide performance opportunities for our artists who lost all in-person gigs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, we've presented over 30 performances featuring 100 artists. Starting in January 2021, we will be presenting two livestream performances per week. See the schedule below, or go to our On_Line Salon webpage to watch and make donations. These streams are free, but donations are encouraged and go towards funding artist fees. 

All January performances will reflect on themes from R&B music.

January 5

James Brandon Lewis - tenor saxophone
Kirk Knuffke - cornet
Gerald Cleaver - drums

January 7
Fay Victor's Chamber Trio
Fay Victor - voice, compositions
Darius Jones - alto sax
Marika Hughes - cello

This special group feels connected to that school of music growing up in a time when R&B was as innovative as ever. We will perform a selection or two from the late-60’s-early seventies, representative of the period I know and love the best in R&B. - Fay Victor

January 12
Tony Malaby's Turnpike Trio
Tony Malaby - tenor, soprano sax
John Hébert - bass
Billy Mintz - drums

January 14
Mara Rosenbloom Affinity Trio
Mara Rosenbloom - piano
special guest LaFrae Sci - drums, electronics
Melanie Dyer - viola

Holy Water: Improvisations on Erykah Badu
also known as The Cypher Keeps Moving
also known as Analogue Meditations on a Digital World

January 19
Cooper-Moore Trio
Cooper-Moore - instruments
Matthew Mottel - keyboard
Francisco Mela

January 21
Dave Sewelson Fat Foot R&B Revue
Dave Sewelson - baritone sax
Dave Hofstra - bass
Mike Neer - lap steel guitar
Bernice "Boom Boom" Brooks - drums

The pure ineffable joy of R&B has lifted my spirit since my youth and that music continues to flow through the world as truth. Our band will share the joy and freedom that have been so freely shared with us in this special concert. - Dave Sewelson

January 26
Gerald Cleaver Quartet Plays the Music of Stevie Wonder and Burt Bacharach
Gerald Cleaver - drums
Darius Jones - alto sax
Brandon Seabrook - guitar
​Brandon Lopez - bass

January 28
The Soul of Freedom
Luke Stewart - bass
Jaimie Branch - trumpet
Devin Brahja Waldman - alto sax

Presenting renditions of sweet soul music in the style of New York R&B. Dedicated to the spirit of Cecil Taylor.

Artists, please help us collect information on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on working musicians. This information will help us apply for funding to support programs to present more performances. 

Bringing on the Hallelujah is a biopic film featuring interviews with Kidd Jordan, his family, students, and artists with whom he has collaborated over the years. The film includes live performance footage. On November 22 at 3pm, we will premiere an early cut of this ongoing film project on Edward “Kidd" Jordan, edited and filmed by Michael Lucio Sternbach, with additional archival footage. This video will be available to watch until November 24 at midnight.
​
In conjunction with this special preview, AFA will host a public Zoom chat with Kidd Jordan, William Parker, Hamid Drake, Marshall Allen, and Joel Futterman on Sunday at 3:30pm.

Donations are highly encouraged. Funds raised will benefit the completion of the film.

Watch on demand video of all Vision Festival: Healing Soul performances! This is your opportunity to catch the performances you missed, or to relive your favorite moments from the original livestream. Watch anytime and anywhere. See the release schedule below to know when each video will become available. ​

Press Release Below:
​
“In the dark of these times, art lights the way,” says Patricia Nicholson Parker, co-founder of Arts for Art (AFA).  Nicholson, William Parker and AFA team have reimagined the renowned Vision Festival as a limited-capacity outdoor event with a professionally filmed livestream.  Vision Festival:  Healing Soul will begin Thursday, October 8 at 7:00pm ET with a livestream solo performance by Wadada Leo Smith, followed by in-person / livestream events October 9 through October 12, all taking place outdoors at La Plaza at the Clemente in NYC (the parking lot on Norfolk Street, north of Delancey).  Artists include Oliver Lake, Andrew Cyrille, Amina Claudine Myers, William Parker, with the full schedule below.
 
The outdoor Vision Festival will be limited capacity, socially-distanced and in compliance with all CDC and New York City guidelines.  Daily outdoor tickets are $75, and virtual tickets are $15.  Both are available here.
 
Founded in 1996, AFA and Vision has held the belief that music and the arts can inspire and uplift people.  It has been rooted in a commitment to social justice and equity. This is evident in all of AFA’s festivals and events where the focus is on the work of groundbreaking African American artists. AFA has been organizing conferences and panel discussions that respond or foretell issues around social justice and equity.  In January 2017, AFA initiated the Artists for A Free World project. (https://www.artsforart.org/advocacy)   
 
Vision Festival will return in 2021.
 
VISION FESTIVAL:  HEALING SOUL
 
THURS, OCTOBER 8
VIRTUAL
7:00pm ET  Wadada Leo Smith - solo trumpet, solo piano
 
8:00pm  Panel discussion on protest and jazz with Amirtha Kidambi, JD Allen, Jean Carla Rodea, Arturo O'Farrill, William Parker, Lee Mixashawn Rozie
                       
FRI, OCTOBER 9
LIVE Outdoors in La Plaza at The Clemente, 114 Norfolk St, NYC
5:00pm ET The Healing Force
Patricia Nicholson – text, movement, voice
Voices: Ellen Christi, Jean Carla Rodea, Amirtha Kidambi, Andrea Wolper
Ava Mendoza - guitar / Val Jeanty - electronics, percussion
 
6:00pm Afro-Algonquin Trio 
Lee Mixashawn Rozie – voice, sax, mandolin / Rick Rozie – bass / Royal Hartigan – drums
 
7:00pm  Oliver Lake Organ Quartet
Oliver Lake - alto sax / Jared Gold - organ / Freddie Hendrix – trumpet /Chris Beck- drums
 
SAT, OCTOBER 10
LIVE Outdoors in La Plaza at The Clemente, 114 Norfolk St, NYC
 
1:00pm ET Children’s Music is Mine Workshop (free) CANCELLED

4:00pm Lewis / Lopez / Marcelo / Waits
James Brandon Lewis – sax / Brandon Lopez – bass / 
Alexis Marcelo – keyboards / Nasheet Waits - drums
 
5:00pm Fay Victor's Mutations for Justice
 Fay Victor - voice, composition / Mazz Swift – violin / Chris Williams - trumpet
 Luke Stewart – bass / Jason Nazary - drums
 
6:00pm Amina Claudine Myers Trio
Amina Claudine Myers – Keyboards / Jerome Harris – bass, voice / Reggie Nicholson
                       
SUN, OCTOBER 11
LIVE Outdoors in La Plaza at The Clemente, 114 Norfolk St, NYC
 
1:00pm ET  Children's Music is Mine Workshop (free) CANCELLED
                       
4:00pm Andrew Cyrille Quartet
Bill Frisell -guitar / David Virelles – piano /  Ben Street – bass / Andrew Cyrille - drums
 
5:30pm POET Tyehimba Jess
 
6:00pm Gerald Cleaver's Black Host
Gerald Cleaver - drums / Darius Jones - alto sax / Brandon Seabrook - guitar / Cooper-Moore - piano / Brandon Lopez - bass    
                       
MON, OCTOBER 12
LIVE Outdoors in La Plaza at The Clemente, 114 Norfolk St, NYC
 
4:00pm ET David Murray Trio
David Murray - tenor sax, bass clarinet / Luke Stewart – bass / Ronnie Burrage – drums
 
5:30pm POET Latasha Diggs
 
6:00pm William Parker’s In Order to Survive Quintet
Rob Brown – alto sax / James Brandon Lewis – tenor sax / Matthew Shipp – keyboards /
​Gerald Cleaver - drums

“In the dark of these times, art lights the way,” says Patricia Nicholson Parker, co-founder of Arts for Art.  She and William Parker have expanded AFA to include the activist arm Artists for a Free World (AFFW).  Its purpose is to take a stand for racial and economic justice to create a world where peace is possible. 
 
Artists for a Free World is announcing the September Music and Poetry Protest Performances, an outdoor event series that will take place in downtown New York City at the Clemente, La Plaza (the parking lot on Norfolk Street north of Delancey). The events will be socially-distanced and in compliance with all CDC and New York City guidelines.  Admission is free and donations are appreciated.   Additional information can be found here. 
 

Artists for a Free World Outdoor Protest Concerts
Outdoor at The Clemente La Plaza (Norfolk St. between Delancey and Rivington)
107 Suffolk St, New York, NY 10002 

Mon, September 7
3:00pm: Bisio / Lewis / Knuffke / Holmes
James Brandon Lewis, sax / Michael Bisio, bass / Patrick Holmes, clarinet
/ Kirk Knuffke, trumpet 
4:00pm: Thomas Sayers Ellis / Steve Swell
Thomas Sayers Ellis, poet / Steve Swell, trombone  
4:30pm: William Parker’s Celestial Lighthouse performs Urban Revolution  
William Parker, composition, bass / Rob Brown, alto sax / Darius Jones, alto sax / Isaiah Barr, tenor sax / Steve Swell, trombone / Francisco Mela, drums 
 
Saturday, September 12 
1:00pm: Music is Mine co-produced with The Clemente Outdoors in La Plaza 
Free workshop for young musicians age 5-10 
3:00pm: Dickey / Swell
Whit Dickey, drums / Steve Swell, trombone
4:00pm: Larry Roland Trio
JD Parran - reeds / Larry Roland - bass, poetry / Jackson Krall - drums 
5:00pm: Sam Newsome Trio 
Sam Newsome, soprano sax / Hilliard Greene, bass / Reggie Nicholson, drums
 
Saturday, September 26 
Outdoor Event at St. Mark’s Churchyard (131 E. 10th St.)
Co-produced with the Poetry Project 
1:30pm  Poetry Reading
Sheila Maldonado - poetry
1:45pm Tomato & Peach  
Sana Nagano - violin / Leonor Falcon - violin
2:30pm Poetry Reading
Jesus Papoleto Melendez - poetry
2:45pm  Melanie Dyer Trio
Melanie Dyer - viola / Gwen Laster - violin / Ken Filano - bass
3:30pm Poetry Reading  
Patricia Spears Jones - poetry
3:45pm Jason Kao Hwang's Human Rites Trio
Andrew Drury, drums / Ken Filiano,  bass/ Jason Kao Hwang, composer/violin/viola
4:30pm Jason Hwang / Melanie Dyer / Ken Filiano / Andrew Drury

New York City based collective Arts for Art (AFA) is proud to present FreeJazz Works in a Time of
Crisis, a weekly livestream series that celebrates and acknowledges the music and art that emerged
from the Civil Rights movement by African American artists as part of the great tradition of aesthetic and social liberation.   Every Thursday in August (and beyond), Arts for Art will stream performances from legendary FreeJazz musicians with socially relevant conversations on Zoom and its YouTube channel.
 
All of the events are free with an optional donation, and all performers are paid.  Register for free
at https://www.artsforart.org/onlinesalon.
 
“Arts for Art brings the power of FreeJazz to lead and inspire in the face of attacks on truth, freedom,
democracy and on justice for all people, especially people of color,” says co-founder and curator, Patricia Nicholson.  
 
Arts for Art is also presenting the weekly Artist Diaries series, featuring multimedia videos by AFA
artists that reflect their artistic practice in isolation. Watch the diary of William Parker &  Patricia
Nicholson on Facebook / YouTube. 
 
Upcoming Artist Diaries:
August 11 Jaimie Branch
August 18 Zak Sherzad

The Screening Vision series on YouTube features content from Arts for Art’s extensive 25-year
archives.  Here’s one from the vaults: Amiri Baraka’s “Something in the Way of Things (in Town)” from
Vision 4 in NYC, 1999.  
 
New from the Archives: 
Out now:  Hamid Drake Solo Drum, Under_Line Salon, 2015
Out now:  Song of Silver Geese, Vision Festival 21, 2016
August 16:  Andrew Cyrille & Stefan Roloff, Vision Festival 24, 2019 
 
About Arts for Art 
Founded in 1996, AFA’s work is rooted in a commitment to social justice as equity and the promotion and advancement of FreeJazz, an African American indigenous art form in which improvisation is principle. FreeJazz embodies music, dance, poetry and visual arts. It is recognized for its variety of highly developed and personalized improvisational languages. AFA works not only to preserve the legacy of FreeJazz as an African American multicultural art form, but to ensure a vital future through its re-imagination by new generations of artists. AFA offers multi-arts programs throughout the year that fulfill the role of arts in society, that is, to reflect and respond to the world. Our programming brings together multiple generations of vibrant, diverse and highly skilled artists, including the Artists for A Free World project that includes a band directed by William Parker.  AFA cultivates new audiences to protect this unique aesthetic so as to remain contemporary and available. To further our goals of diversity and accessibility, we foster education through our youth programs.

emergency funding opportunities, health and safety guidance, and other resources in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

THE LATEST

RENT HELP
The deadline for New York State’s new COVID Rent Relief Program is July 30. Tenants who have lost income during the COVID-19 crisis are eligible to apply and will benefit from a one-time rental subsidy paid directly to landlords. Learn more and apply here. 

HEALTH INSURANCE
The deadline for NYS health insurance special enrollment has been extended to August 15. New Yorkers without health insurance can apply for coverage through the NY State of Health / Health Plan Marketplace.

GRANTS AVAILABLE
The Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency COVID 19 Grants

​Equal Sound Corona Relief Fund – musicians who have lost income due to a canceled gig as a result of the coronavirus outbreak can apply to receive money.

Artist Rescue Trust (A.R.T.) exists to provide support to musicians and artists whose ability to perform, tour and earn a living has been negatively affected by COVID-19. A.R.T. will provide $1,500 over three months to artists in need and amplify the stories, performances and creations they had hoped to share with the world before the pandemic limited their ability to do so.

Artist Relief will distribute $5,000 grants to artists facing dire financial emergencies due to COVID-19; serve as an ongoing informational resource; and co-launch the COVID-19 Impact Survey for Artists and Creative Workers, designed by Americans for the Arts, to better identify and address the needs of artists.

Arts and Culture Leaders of Color Emergency Fund  is intended to help those pursuing careers as artists or arts administrators whose income has been directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This fund is for those who self-identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color).

CERF+ COVID-19 Relief Grant - As part of CERF+’s broader COVID-19 crisis response strategies, this special program will provide one-time $1,000 grants to meet urgent food, housing and/or health insecurities. The grants will be awarded in two cycles: the application opens July 8th and the deadline for the first round will be July 29th, the second round will open August 19th and the deadline will be September 9th. The program will focus on those facing the most severe financial pressures.

Emerging Artist Relief Fund - To be eligible you must be under 30 (OR) within three years of receiving a degree or certification (OR) within three years of beginning work as an arts professional; involved in making art (from any discipline) happen, whether you create or administrate; have been displaced as a result of COVID-19: cancelled internship, apprenticeship, events, performances, readings, exhibitions, fairs, and any other arts position (OR) You lost a "survival job" outside of the arts or experienced a significant reduction in hours; be in dire financial need. Deadline: July 23. 

leveler: peer to peer wealth distribution - leveler is a tool for people with job security to help people whose work status has been impacted by COVID-19. The list includes freelancers, service industry, and gig economy workers. Click the "receive" button if you're seeking assistance.

TrickleUp - An artists helping artists network. With 10,000 subscribers at $10 a month, they can give $10,000 to 10 different artists affected by the Covid-19 cancelations. And every month 10 new artists in need will get $10,000. If the goal is surpassed, more people will get help.

​MORE RESOURCES
Get involved with the NYC Artist Coalition and join the Music Workers Alliance.

More Grant News on:
SoundExchange site
NYFA HERE
Emergency Funding Database - Compiled by Music Works International
International Opportunities - Compiled by Composers Forum
Artist Resources - Compiled by Creative Capital

Jazz Near You - Complimentary advertisements for live streaming events uploaded to their event calendar
For reliable health information
NYC Well, for trouble coping
NYC Department of Health
New York State Dept of Health
The Centers for Disease Control

Donate to the AFA CRISIS FUND today.

Arts for Art takes a Stand for Racial & Economic Justice to create a World where Peace is possible. 

AFA stands in solidarity and support of the current protests against the ongoing dehumanization, violence, and murder targeting Black men and women. There is no room for ambivalence in a society that criminalizes the daily lives of any segment of its population.

No one is Free unless All are Free

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/