2010 NYC Winter Jazzfest Previews
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At Ground Level, Taking Jazz’s Pulse
By NATE CHINEN
Published: January 7, 2010
A lot of people at the Winter Jazzfest this weekend will be ticking off names on a mental checklist, or filing them away for later. This two-day festival, now in its sixth year, is expressly made for them: the prowlers and perusers, many seeking talent for hire. But tickets are also available to the public, at $25 a night or $30 for both, which gives the Winter Jazzfest another, more fascinating purpose. It is for the moment the only real mainstream jazz festival in New York, and its lineup amounts to a temperature reading of the scene at ground level, where it’s most vibrant and volatile.
What then does the festival’s roster say about jazz at the start of this new decade? Mostly that the aesthetic center of the music has broadened and loosened, yielding to many different strategies of rhythm, harmony and texture. A dozen years ago it might have made sense to call this a cross-genre approach, but that very notion now feels quaint.
“When you look at the history of jazz,” the pianist Vijay Iyer said recently, “everybody who made significant contributions to that music never really saw it as a kind of music.” Mr. Iyer, who played the inaugural Winter Jazzfest, is back again with his superb trio, whose “Historicity” (ACT) was the consensus pick among critics for best jazz album of 2009. “Historicity” imposes no hierarchies where style is concerned, absorbing protocols from myriad sources. A similar openness illuminates the music of Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, an ultramodern big band, and the Claudia Quintet, an improvising chamber group, and, really, most of the others here, from Lionel Loueke, a guitarist from Benin, to the Northern California-raised violinist Jenny Scheinman. Hybridism is the new norm.
What about swing? There’s still staunch representation in the form of the soul-jazz organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, who will perform at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday at Sullivan Hall, and in a handful of bright inheritors, like the boppish alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw, who holds down roughly the same time slot on Friday at Zinc Bar. But that feeling will also proliferate in sets by the Matt Wilson Quartet, the William Parker Quartet and the J. D. Allen Trio, excellent bands working freely within what everyone can recognize, broadly, as the jazz tradition. And there’s no disputing the jazz credentials of the effervescent young vocalists Gretchen Parlato and Sachal Vasandani, musical omnivores who appear in back-to-back slots (7:30 and 8:30) on Saturday night at Sullivan Hall.
So the old argument has proved false: open borders don’t necessarily spell calamity for the music’s foundations. Consider the trumpeter Nicholas Payton, who appears on at 9:20 p.m. Friday at Le Poisson Rouge with a group he unwisely calls SeXXXtet. His major appearances on record last year were on a traditional New Orleans jazz project (Allen Toussaint’s “Bright Mississippi”) and a hard-bop repertory band (the Blue Note 7’s “Mosaic”). However explicitly funky his intentions with the new group, he has roots.
You’ll find many more roots, tangled and gnarled, among this year’s festivities, spread out across five Greenwich Village clubs (up from three last year). The itinerary below is a flexible guide: pick and choose from these options, or create your own from a full schedule at winterjazzfest.com. And bring a notepad, if you’re feeling ambitious. You’ll probably want to book some of these artists on a calendar of your own. (A list of club addresses appears below.)
Full article here...
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/08/arts/music/08jazzfest.html?pagewanted=2
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| Vijay Iyer is to perform with his trio on Saturday night at Le Poisson Rouge on Saturday. |
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| Jenny Scheinman and Jason Moran will perform at Le Poisson Rouge on Saturday. |
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| New York warms to Winter Jazzfest
The weekend event hopes to fill the void created by the loss of the International Assn. of Jazz Educators.
by Geoffrey Himes
January 8, 2010
Violinist Jenny Scheinman is eagerly anticipating this weekend's Winter Jazzfest in Manhattan -- not only because she'll be introducing her new duo with pianist Jason Moran but also because she'll have a chance to catch up with friends that she rarely gets to see.
"Often I avoid the mayhem of festivals," said Scheinman, an up-and-coming talent who in the past has collaborated with musicians such as Bill Frisell and John Zorn, speaking by phone from New York. "But for this festival I'm going to find a baby-sitter for my 4-month-old son and go see a lot of people I haven't seen a while. It's really important to stay connected with people, and that's hard in this business."
A musical community needs an annual gathering where its members know they'll find one another -- record-company representatives, managers, agents, publicists and journalists as well as artists. The South by Southwest Music Conference, held every March in Austin, is the most successful of these get-togethers in the world of indie rock and pop music, and smaller conferences mimic various pieces of the SXSW formula: multiple, simultaneous showcases, workshops, panels, private parties and a trade show.
The annual gathering for jazz used to be the International Assn. of Jazz Educators' January conference, held more often than not at the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan. But the organization declared bankruptcy in 2008 and was forced to cancel its 2009 conference in New York.
The Winter Jazzfest is hoping to fill the void created by the IAJE's absence. Launched in 2005, the event last year moved from its original home at the Knitting Factory to the West Village in Manhattan, occupying three different clubs on two nights. This year it expands to five clubs, where it will present such jazz notables as Nicholas Payton, Matt Wilson, Lionel Loueke, James Blood Ulmer, Marco Benevento, Lonnie Smith, DJ Logic and Roseanna Vitro.
"Every year at Winter Jazzfest there's a lot of networking," said the event's founder and producer, Brice Rosenbloom. "Last year there was more of it because there was no IAJE. I liked the IAJE, but I was always disappointed that it didn't showcase musicians outside the Hilton. If you're going to appreciate jazz, you need to see it where it lives, in a downtown nightclub, not in a sterile hotel conference room."
A critically acclaimed pianist since his 1999 Blue Note debut, "Soundtrack to Human Motion," Moran said he enjoys the intimacy of the experience of playing Winter Jazzfest, and that his Knitting Factory appearance in 2005 led to his booking a number of other gigs.
"It's not like most jazz festivals, which tend to be overly corporate with sponsorships and big stars on big stages -- these are all young, hungry bands playing for presenters in tiny clubs," Moran said. "Unlike a Downbeat Critics Poll Award, where you just get some mythical applause, here the applause is real and the people who are applauding have the power to say, 'I want to bring you to my venue so my audience can applaud.' "
Both Scheinman and Moran suggest that the financial hard times in jazz could force the music to reinvent itself in creative ways. Already the violinist is finding ways to incorporate the country and folk music of her rural California childhood into her improvisation, and the Houston-raised pianist is doing the same with the funk and hip-hop from his youth.
When they put those elements together in their duo show at the Winter Jazzfest Saturday, the sound of worlds colliding is likely to be eye-opening, if not as immediately lucrative as such debuts can be for bands who have made a big splash at SXSW.
"Jazz is never going to be so popular that there'll be too much money in it, so anyone who sticks with it is hungry," Moran said. "Everyone's trying to be better than the group that was just on or the one that's coming on after -- you know all these guys and girls and you know what you have to do. That kind of competition can only be good for the music."
calendar@latimes.com
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times
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| Winter Jazzfest is "not like most jazz festivals, which tend to be overly corporate," Jason Moran says. (Clay Patrick McBride / January 7, 2010) |
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| The Week Ahead: Jan. 3 — Jan. 9
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: December 30, 2009
Pop by Nate Chinen
For New York City jazz fans the WINTER JAZZFEST has become a perennial postholiday splurge and a righteous kick-start to the new year. Timed to coincide with the annual conference of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters — the people who book concert halls and festivals all over the globe — it puts forth a profusion of available talent with an unspoken emphasis on cosmopolitan chic. The artists and bookers (and critics) are all on the job, but all others are free to come and go as they please, drifting among a handful of cozy Greenwich Village clubs well into the morning hours.
If you’ve never seen the Vijay Iyer Trio or Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society — state-of-the-art bands that recently landed on Top 10 lists in The New York Times and elsewhere — here’s your chance. The same goes for the Matt Wilson Quartet, the J. D. Allen Trio and Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition, all of which released fine albums last year, and all of which sound even better in person.
Maybe you’ve been hearing about some of the bright new contenders like the bassists Linda Oh and Ben Williams (who will feature original music for their groups) or the singers Sachal Vasandani and Gretchen Parlato (who will appear one after the other on Saturday night). Maybe you keep wondering about all the fuss over the pianist Jason Moran and the violinist Jenny Scheinman (who will perform as a duo).
Then again, maybe these names and the dozens of others mean nothing to you yet. Even better. Come hungry and graze, or binge, until you’re done. Friday and Saturday at various locations; $25, or $30 for a two-day pass. For tickets and a full schedule: winterjazzfest.com.
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| NYC Winter Jazzfest
Date/Time:Fri., January 8, Sat., January 9
Price: $25-$30
WARM HEARTHS
The coziest clubs in town present an invigorating fest
BY STACEY ANDERSON
Bleecker is rarely so electric as during NYC Winter Jazzfest, an elegantly curated festival of fine experimental jazz that encompasses the best venues in the West Village radius: (le) poisson rouge, Kenny’s Castaways and Zinc Bar on Friday, and additionally Sullivan Hall and the Bitter End on Saturday. This sixth annual forum’s lineup spans New York, South Africa, France, and more; Mary Halvorson, Bobby Previte’s New Bump Quartet, Ibrahim Maalouf, Occidental Brothers Dance Band International, and Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition are just a few of the dizzyingly rad options.
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| Occidental Brothers Dance Band International |
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| Music
Top live show
2010 NYC Winter Jazzfest
The Bitter End, Kenny’s Castaways, (Le) Poisson Rouge, Sullivan Hall, Zinc Bar; Fri 8, Sat 9
During this weekend’s sixth annual NYC Winter Jazzfest, some of the city’s best jazz will move from pricey historic venues and fire-hazard holes-in-the-wall and onto the streets of Greenwich Village, where countless significant stylistic movements were born. More than 40 artists and bands from across the spectrum will share stages, swap riffs and burn up the long midwinter nights. On each evening—or both, since a two-night pass is a steal at $30—you can meander from venue to venue with the exploratory zeal that makes festivals like this one incubators for discovery and collaborative energy.
A concentrated dose of highlights can be found at (Le) Poisson Rouge on Saturday night. New York native Ben Allison, playing at 7pm in support of his latest album, Think Free (Palmetto), will be joined by violinist Jenny Scheinman and guitarist Steve Cardenas. Scheinman performs twice more this weekend; her duet with admired pianist Jason Moran at 9pm will provide further evidence of the respect she’s rightly earned. Later, at midnight, Bitches Brew Revisited—a septet featuring cornetist Graham Haynes, guitarist James Blood Ulmer, keyboardist Marco Benevento and DJ Logic—revives Miles Davis’s experimental futurism, to mark the 40th anniversary of his seminal fusion session. Factor in stellar acts like Dr. Lonnie Smith, Nicholas Payton, the Claudia Quintet and the Joel Harrison Sextet, and it’s clear that the Village is the place to be this weekend for jazz fans of all creeds.—Joseph DeFranceschi
Read more: http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/music/81602/2010-nyc-winter-jazzfest-concert-preview#ixzz0aNlQyXkM
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| Ben Allison, Photograph by Todd Chalfant |
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| NYC Winter Jazz Festival - January 2010 @ various venues
by Andrew Frisicano
NYC's Winter Jazz Fest will be happening Friday, January 8th and Saturday, January 9th at a handful of Village venues. Both nights include more than a few worth-while acts (Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, Jamie Saft's Whoopie Pie, Vijay Iyer Trio, Jenny Scheinman & Jason Moran, the late-night triple-play of Mary Halvorson, Rudresh Mahanthappa's Indo-Pak Coalition and Tyshawn Sorrey Guitar Trio). Tickets for Friday-only and Saturday-only are on sale, and two-day passes are available too.
Read More: http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2009/12/nyc_winter_jazz.html
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| These three guys will be there (one w/ Jenny Scheinman, also on the cover) |
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| 12/01/09
NYC Winter Jazzfest Hits West Village Jan. 8, 9
By Aubrey Everett
The 2010 NYC Winter Jazzfest will descend on the West Village this Jan. 8 and 9, with more than 40 different groups scheduled to perform over the course of the jam-packed two-day event. Organized and run by Brice Rosenbloom of boomBOOM Presents, the sixth annual Jazzfest will feature two showcases on Friday. Guest curator Meghan Stabile of Revive Da Live will host her showcase at Zinc Bar, while fellow guest curator Adam Schatz of Search & Restore will present at nearby Kenny’s Castaways. This year the event will be held in West Village venues, as opposed to last year’s Tribeca locations.
“Everyone is going to be unbelievable,” said Schatz, a New York City-based jazz event producer. “There really is an offensive amount of talent. It is almost too much, in the best way.”
Le Poisson Rouge, Sullivan Hall and the Bitter End will host the remaining shows not included in the two headlining showcases.
Schatz said he is enthusiastically spreading the word through his Web site, SearchandRestore.com, various posters throughout the city, and word of mouth among the jazz community.
This year the Jazzfest coincides with the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) conference, which gives the artists a chance to showcase their skills in front of presenters, promoters, talent buyers, educators, musicians and avid fans. This provides a potentially fruitful platform for the artists, as an estimated 5,000 arts professionals are expected to be in New York City for the annual APAP conference which runs through Jan. 12.
APAP conference badge-holders are invited to RSVP at rsvp@winterjazzfest.com in order to receive a complimentary full-festival pass. Single-day passes are available to the general public for $25, while two-day full-festival passes cost $30. For tickets and more information, visit www.winterjazzfest.com.
Jazzfest 2010 performers include Amanda Monaco’s Deathblow, Ambrose Akinmusire Quintet, Baptiste Trotignon, Ben Allison, Bitches Brew Project, Bobby Previte’s New Bump Quartet, Briggan Krauss, Chelsea Baratz, the Claudia Quintet, Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Dr. Lonnie Smith, ELEW, Elliott Sharp’s Terraplane, Emile Parisien, the Fotojo String Band, Gretchen Parlato, Ibrahim Maalouf, Jaleel Shaw, Jamie Leonhart, Jamie Saft’s Whoopie Pie, Jayme Stone presents Africa to Appalachia, JD Allen Trio, Jenny Scheinman & Jason Moran, Jeremy Udden’s Plainville, Ken Thomson’s Slow/Fast, Linda Oh, Lionel Loueke, Marco Benevento, Mark Giuliana’s THING, Mary Halvorson, Matt Wilson Quartet, Michael Bellar’s As-Is Ensemble, Mike Reed’s People, Places & Things, Nicholas Payton, Peter Apfelbaum and the New York Hieroglyphics, RAAQ (Rez Abbasi’s Acoustic Quartet w/ Bill Ware), Rudder, Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition, Sachal Vasandani, Somi, Todd Sickafoose’s Tiny Resistors, Vijay Iyer Trio and Zim Ngqawana.
Read more: http://jazztimes.com/articles/25379-nyc-winter-jazzfest-hits-west-village-jan-8-9
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| Jason Moran, By Clay Patrick Mcbride |
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| Music: Festival
2010 NYC Winter Jazzfest
Winter Jazzfest lifts the music out of stuffy, overpriced clubs and sets it in more casual Village venues such as Kenny's Castaways. The fest adds an extra day this year to accommodate a particularly strong lineup, one featuring a set by legendary Hammond B3 organist Dr. Lonnie Smith. Other highlights include bebop saxophonist JD Allen, experimental pianist Vijay Iyer, and B*tches Brew Revisited, a tribute to the landmark fusion album. Arrive early to catch Gretchen Parlato, a charming new singer whose fans include Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock.
– Chris Kompanek
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| HOT JAZZ, COLD WEATHER The Winter Jazzfest returns to New York for its sixth year, presenting an insane lineup of artists at five venues over the course of two nights. This evening, most of our favorites from both evenings play. Organist Dr. Lonnie Smith is at Sullivan Hall, pianist Vijay Iyer is at LPR, sax player JD Allen is at Kenny's Castaway's, and the little-known Michael Bellar and his As-Is Ensemble play a late slot at The Bitter End, and if you are clever and quick, you can catch every single one of them, for $25 at that.
at multiple village-based locations // Manhattan // 5.45p - 4a // $25 for one night, $30 for both nights // more info
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The 2010 New York City Jazzfest is just around the corner! This year’s festivities will take place on January 8th and 9th, and feature over 40 jazz groups during the Arts Presenters (APAP) conference. According to the festival coordinators, “Bleecker Street and Greenwich Village provide for an ideal festival experience as jazz and experimental music groups perform all night at five of the area's esteemed club venues, including Kenny's Castaways, Bitter End and others.”
-Lauren Hafley
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