free jazz
The Thirteenth Assembly
This show is available online here (click on individual tracks at right) and on DVD directly from Downtown Music Gallery.
The Thirteenth Assembly is a touring collective made up of four musicians and four different and musically distinct small ensembles. Styled somewhere between the classic r&b/soul revues of the 60’s and a post-modern traveling circus, the Thirteenth Assembly presents a selection of some of the fastest-emerging young artists and bands in New York’s creative music scene in one package.
Over the course of the evening of Saturday, December 1, 2007, each group performed a short thirty-minute set, offering a glimpse of the vibrant and varied stylistic diversity and creativity of this particular musical community. Especially for this Thirteenth Assembly Tour, these four close friends and frequent collaborators formed a new quartet, with each member contributing original compositions.
THE BANDS
Taylor Ho Bynum/Tomas Fujiwara Duo
The Splatto Festival Chorus
This rare assembly brings together Todd Reynolds (Bang on a Can, Yo Yo Ma, Meredith Monk) on violins/laptop, Ed Mann (Zappa) on percussion/electronics, David Barrett (Banda Elastica, Splatter Trio) on saxophones, and Michael Bisio on bass.
Admission: $10.
This event in the “Free Jazz from the Sanctuary” series is co-sponsored by
the Arts Department at RPI and the Albany Sonic Arts Collective, with support
from the NY State Council on the Arts and the NY State Music Fund, established
by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.
Somebody Blew Up America w/ Amiri Baraka and Rob Brown
The poet icon and political activist Amiri Baraka performs with Rob Brown, one of the New York City downtown music scene’s most in-demand saxophonists, in a reading of his new book Somebody Blew Up America & Other Poems.
Admission: $10.
This event in the “Free Jazz from the Sanctuary” series is co-sponsored by
the Arts Department at RPI and the Albany Sonic Arts Collective, with support
from the NY State Council on the Arts and the NY State Music Fund, established by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.
Our press release:
The Symbol of the Unconquered w/ William Hooker
Percussionist William Hooker, the genre-bending free jazz legend, will improvise a live soundtrack to pioneering African-American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux’s 1920 silent film classic The Symbol of the Unconquered, originally advertised as a chance to come see “the annihilation of the Ku Klux Klan.”
Ras Moshe
Ras Moshe has been playing in various groups throughout New York City for almost twenty years, with William Hooker, Sabir Mateen, Steve Swell, Marc Edwards and others. His style has been compared to post-1965 John Coltrane and Frank Wright, among others. Born and raised in New York, and with a family history rich in the jazz tradition, Ras has uniquely positioned himself to bring the lineage of free jazz into the present day. $10 admission.
Our press release:
Empty Cage Quartet and Weasel Walter Trio
Join us at 8 PM on Saturday (9/20) for two of the most powerful and original jazz groups from the West Coast! Empty Cage Quartet explores imaginative new ways to integrate a diverse mix of musical influences ranging from shuffle swing to free jazz blowouts, minimalist percussion loops to complex modernist gestures, robotic grooves, odd-meter marches, heavy rock, and nearly everything in between. At 10 PM, Weasel Walter, a drummer whose current material straddles the many lines between punk, free jazz, no wave, improv, and much more, performs with Mary Halvorson on guitar and Peter Evans on trumpet. $10
Hear Empty Cage Quartet on MySpace.
See Empty Cage Quartet on YouTube.
Our press release:
Free Jazz from the Sanctuary Launched!
A 13-part series of jazz performance videos featuring some of the world's most talented improvisers, recorded live in concert at The Sanctuary for Independent Media, is now available online--just click the links below! Each show is available on DVD directly from Downtown Music Gallery.
The Free Jazz from the Sanctuary series will soon be available for non-commercial broadcast distribution. Contact us for more information!
4/26 Sat 8 PM The Fay Victor Ensemble
Fay Victor is the rare singer who can instill silence and focused attention into an audience, and she commands infectious joy and occasionally raucous energy whenever she performs. Ms. Victor, armed with great communicative powers, in charge of a full-tilt band, resulting in something that Betty Carter might have done, had she grown up in the seventies. Her new release Cartwheels through the Cosmos on the Artistshare label is easily the consummate outing of her career, bringing together in one concise package: the vocal jazz tradition as a basis for improvising in the sense of Ornette Coleman/late Coltrane and beyond, held in check by a healthy earthy soulfulness expressed through a focused set of originals that offer taut construction and witty lyrics.
