Festival Review: NYC Winter Jazzfest The highlights from the 20th annual showcase of jazz talent from New York City and beyond.

WRITTEN BY JESS WILLIAMS

26 FEB, 2024

Jazzfest sets the New York winter alight with the presence of performers and attendees alike, who venture across the city for a choice of vivacious lineups at multi-venue events spread over Brooklyn and Manhattan. 

The Manhattan Marathon, the first multi-venue event, took us into the centre of Greenwich Village, starting at Le Poisson Rouge. Samora Pinderhughes was one of the most special performances of the  festival, with a choir of fully individuated vocalists who radiated both joy and emotional ardor as they beamed across to Samora at the piano on the other side of the stage. This was one of those environments that seemed so artfully yet effortlessly created so that everyone in the room could become at once more in touch with themselves and with each other. The kind of performance you smile at strangers after. The other highlight of the Manhattan Marathon was Nite Bjuti at Zinc Bar, the captivating trio of Candice Hoyes, Mimi Jones and Val Jeanty. Their fully improvised set had an intent to heal and unveil, reminiscent of spiritual jazz and fully considered within its spontaneity. The trio released their beautiful - and also fully improvised - debut album, ‘Nite Bjuti’, last year.

Next up, we investigated the Brooklyn Marathon, where our highlights were conveniently located between Brooklyn Bowl and Superior Ingredients, situated right next door. The celebrated hip-hop jazz force that is Ghost-Note was a favourite at the Bowl (which is a huge bowling alley, which added some magic for our London selves). At Superior Ingredients, we were treated to the Intercity Sound Ensemble, consisting of esteemed Brooklyn native Melanie Charles, renowned DJ/producer Mark de Clive-Lowe based in LA, and prolific Detroit drummer Shigeto. Melanie’s vocals and flute were the highlight here, over de Clive-Lowe and Shigeto’s flawless funk-pop pocket it made for a cool departure from her more drawn out, smoother solo work. 

We were later encouraged to stay until the last set at the Bowl for BIGYUKI and Jharis Yokely - while others may have expected to wind down the night or see people peel off, I don't think one person left the building. BIGYUKI is a New York centrepiece, using his classical training to blend samples, hip hop breaks and jazz harmony together with frequent collaborator and hip hop inspired drummer Jharis Yokely in a such way that lit up the whole Brooklyn Bowl at 2am. He is an absolute imperative in live jazz-adjascent electronic music - he puts his whole body into the funk, his placement of samples creating his own language, beautiful piano sonatas unfurling over deft bass synth.

We got to see BIGYUKI again at Nublu a few days later with guitarist Randy Runyon and drummer Charles Haynes, who supported an introduction to some of his earlier work. They were followed by esteemed Brazillian guitarist Pedro Martins, vocalist Genevieve Artadi and bassist Michael Pipoquinha in his first time in NYC alongside Justin Brown (Thundercat and more). This was a mindblowing setup held by a symbiotic rhythm section - Pipoquinha was a highlight with his masterful control and dynamic solos in support of Martins’ expressive guitar inflections. Nublu is owed a special mention as a cornerstone NYC venue that nurtures the community - not to be confused with Nublu Classic down the road, it is home to important events such as Producer Mondays, a weekly jam where local musicians enter and maintain the burgeoning jazz scene. 

On the 14th was Night at the East, a special homage to the Black Arts Centre that facilitated the meeting of Black folks in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn from 1969 through the 80s. The East was home to numerous iconic jazz performances from the likes of Pharoah Sanders, Sun Ra and Betty Carter. Amongst the ensemble were original East performers Gary Bartz and Billy Hart, as well as flautist Nicole Mitchell, saxophonist David Murray, trumpeter Ahmed Abdullah, bassist Luke Stewart, violinist Charles Burnham, Julius Rodriguez  on keyboard, Kweku Sumbry on percussion and the Jazzfest artist-in-residence Shabaka Hutchings, followed by a set from DJ Spinna. The result was a glorious spiritual union of the talents on the stage, vocally headed by Moor Mother and Elucid who ignited the crowd into rapturous appreciation. The whole performance served as a reminder of the cultural importance of jazz in New York and its role in facilitating togetherness and progress. 

We rounded off the festival with Mononeon + Friends at Brooklyn Steel, a lineup stacked with the legendary Memphis bassist’s musical associates, headed by Mono himself. Amongst the friends were KNOWER (Genevieve Artadi and Louis Cole), Mononeon’s mentor and trailblazing guitarist David Fiuczynski, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Hannibal Buress and Tivon Pennicott. A varied lineup that took us from Buress’s comedy through an improvised set from Muldrow to the slick and ferociously rhythmic KNOWER, the highlight was most certainly Mono with his completely singular blend of avante-garde jazz phrasing and heartfelt Memphis funk. 

The festival certainly felt like an apt celebration of the last 20 years of Jazzfest, honoring jazz heritage in the city where so many of the greats were forged, as well as more recent artists who have trailblazed the resurgence of the genre.