If you are looking for a jazz scene that scares the jazz police and causes those smooth jazz heads to run in the opposite direction, then the Vision Jazz Festival is the place. The ongoing legacy of free jazz is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The six-day festival continues now through July 12.
To celebrate this occasion, the Vision coordinators, under the auspices of their nonprofit organization, Arts for Art, have brought together the cultural, artistic components of free jazz: music, dance, visual art and poetry.
The events, which include an abundance of improvisational musicians who never tire of their journey of reflecting yet another perspective of the jazz spectrum, will keep audiences on the edge at the Judson Memorial Church (55 Washington Square South) in the West Village. A parade will take place July 10 in Washington Square Park at 5:30 p.m.
Since Patricia Nicholson Parker’s founding of Arts for Art and the Vision’s inception, she and a persevering team have never wavered on the concept of introducing artists with ideas that challenge and inform audiences through a totality of the arts.
“This year, AFA celebrates all Vision artists. In particular, those iconic New York artists whose creative voices have helped build our reputation as the world’s premier free jazz festival,” stated Parker.
The festival will feature a never-before-seen digital retrospective traversing 19 years of visual art and photography. Art installations will include live art experiences by Jo Wood-Brown, Maura Sheehan, Yuko Otomo, Amir Bey and Jorgo Schafer.
Tonight, July 9, on-Stage Projections presents the art of Joe Overstreet, the Dance/FreeJazz presents “Sonic,” “The Independents,” curated by Lance Gries and dance featuring Juliette Mapp, K.P. Holmes and David Hamilton Thomson, with the trumpeter Thomas Heberer.
At 7:30 p.m., the Darius Jones Quartet featuring vocalist Emilie LesBros takes the Judson Memorial Church stage. A young saxophonist, Jones is building an impressive reputation on the avant-garde and traditional jazz scene. He will be joined by the bassist Sean Conly, pianist Craig Taborn and drummer Gerald Cleaver. They will be followed by the poet Tyehimba Jess.
At 9 p.m., the prolific drummer Milford Graves’ HeArt Quartet performs with a fierce cast that will include tenor saxophonist Charles Gayle, bassist William Parker and Hugh Glover on reeds. They will be followed by the Dave Burrell Civil War Project, with the pianist Burrell and trombonist Steve Swell.
July 10, on-Stage Projections will be presenting the art of Bill Mazza. The Dance/FreeJazz presents “A Piano” with Yoshiko Chuma (dance) and Matthew Shipp (pianist) at 7:30 p.m. Later that evening, David Murray and the Class Struggle Trio take the stand (10 p.m.), with the bassist Burniss Earl Travis and the drummer Chris Beck featuring Mingus Murray, director and guitarist. If you have never seen Murray perform live, stop denying yourself a must that shouldn’t be missed.
At 11 p.m., it’s William Parker’s “Martin Luther King Project Part 6: Fire Flower,” with a hard-hitting, large ensemble with Kidd Jordan, Jemeel Moondoc and James Brandow Lewis on reed, Cooper Moore on keyboards and a host of vocalists, such as Fay Victor and Ellen Christi.
July 11, the festival begins at 11 a.m. with a workshop and education panel. 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., youth bands will get to perform in the Quest P.S. 182 Modern Band/Visionary Youth Orchestra.
As the evening progresses, the Wadada Leo Smith/Aruan Ortiz Duo perform at 7:30 p.m. Trumpeter Smith, who was one of three finalists for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Music, joins forces with the young Cuban pianist Ortiz for what will be a most interesting course of improvisation.
July 12, the Vision Festival finale begins at 3:30 p.m. with the panel “Empowering Freedom/Justice Today,” a creative movement remembering Amiri Baraka. The panel will include William Parker, Gerald Cleaver, James Brandon Lewis, Paloma McGregor, Wadada Leo Smith and Patricia N. Parker. Urban Bush Women’s “Hep Hep Sweet Sweet,” choreographed by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, will take place at 5:30 p.m. The Matthew Shipp Trio, with Shipp at piano, Newman Taylor-Baker on drums and the bassist Michael Bisio, perform at 7:30 p.m.
The Hamiet Bluiett Telepathic Orchestra closes the festival at 10 p.m. with a collaboration of reeds and strings, with Riza Printup on harp, Judith Insell on viola, Joe Daly on tuba, Bluiett on baritone saxophone, Charles Gayle on tenor and more sounds to fill your soul.
“We all stand on the shoulders of those who came before and have inspired us to be our best, our most profound, and in fact our most visionary,” said a spokesperson for Arts for Art. “We think of artists like John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Jayne Cortez and Amiri Baraka and consider what our role must be to carry their legacy forward.”
For a complete listing of performances, email info@artsforart.org or call 212-254-5420.
Jazzmobile is swinging in Harlem for the summer. July 10, the stimulating bandleader and sought-after sideman saxophonist and flautist T.K. Blue opens in Marcus Garvey Park at the Richard Rodgers Amphitheater (Mt. Morris Park West at 122nd Street). He will lead his own band, featuring guitarist Ron Jackson, bassist Paul Beaudry, drummer Vince Ector and percussionist Roland Guerrero. The set runs from 7 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.
July 12, saxophonist-vocalist Camille Thurman and her quartet will perform at Riverbank State Park (West 145th Street) as part of their annual “Jammin’ on the Hudson” concert series, 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. The young tenor saxophonist also plays flute, composes and has the ability to sing four octaves, bringing the vocals of Minnie Riperton to mind.
July 18, Jazzmobile partners with the U.S. Air Force Airmen of Note. Guests will include the vocalist Melba Joyce and the percussionist Bobby Sanabria at the plaza of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building (West 125th Street), 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
For more information, visit jazzmobile.org.