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Sounds of Justice
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7:00pm William Parker's Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield
Music by Curtis Mayfield, William Parker Lyrics by Curtis Mayfield, William Parker Poetry by Amiri Baraka, Thomas Sayers Ellis William Parker - arranger, director, bassist Leena Conquest - lead vocals Leila Adu-Gilmore - vocals Raina Sokolov Gonzalez - vocals Ronald Peet - vocals Thomas Sayers Ellis - voice Lewis Barnes - trumpet Darryl Foster - soprano saxophone Rob Brown - alto saxophone James Brandon Lewis - tenor saxophone Dave Sewelson - baritone saxophone Steve Swell - trombone Dave Burrell - piano Cooper-Moore - organ Hamid Drake - drums Moon Lasso - video art 8:30pm The Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of Marshall Allen Music & Lyrics by Sun Ra Marshall Allen - director, arranger, alto sax, flute Tara Middleton - vocals D. Hotep - guitar Melanie Dyer - viola Nina Bogomas - harp Knoel Scott - vocals, saxes Robert Landham - alto sax James Stewart - tenor sax Danny Ray Thompson - baritone sax Michael Ray - trumpet Dave Davis - trombone Emmett McDonald - trombone Robert Stringer - trombone Vincent Chancey - french horn Elson Nascimento - percussion, surdo Ron McBee - percussion Tyler Mitchell - bass Wayne A. Smith - drums Marvin Bugalu Smith - drums William Mazza - live video painting Vertical Divider
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photos by Eva Kapandaze
Arts for Art celebrates 25 years of programming with Sounds of Justice, a night of intergenerational FreeJazz/AfroFuturism, on March 4th at NYC’s historic The Town Hall. Both the Sun Ra Arkestra under direction of Marshall Allen and William Parker’s Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield are steeped in a commitment to the ideals of music and art as agents of social change, exemplifying the very ethos of Arts for Art. This boundary-breaking blend of FreeJazz, funk, R&B, and soul aesthetics looks both back and into the future, bridging time and space to share warnings, hope, and inspiration.
Under the leadership of Marshall Allen, the Arkestra carries the Sun Ra experience of sound, dance, song, light, and color into the present. Having joined the Arkestra in the 1950s, Allen is uniquely positioned to move this performance tradition forward, further cementing Sun Ra and the Arkestra’s twinned legacies as both progenitors and practitioners of the genre now called AfroFuturism. The Town Hall performance will include video art and painting by NYC artist William Mazza to create a synesthetic sight/sound experience of Sun Ra and his mind-bending view of the universe. William Parker’s highly acclaimed, intensely free Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield builds upon both the text and music of the politically engaged and activist singer-songwriter. This latest version of Parker’s ongoing project includes an expanded band with vocalist Leena Conquest joined by Thomas Sayers Ellis performing Amiri Baraka’s and his own poetry. Filmmaker Moon Lasso’a impressionistic video portrayal of the texts and sounds of Curtis Mayfield and William Parker will complete the experience. |
