A most intriguing event will take place at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall (60th Street & Broadway): The Alonzo King LINES Ballet will perform “Deep River” with singer Lisa Fischer and pianist/composer Jason Moran. There will be three performances, February 22–24, at 7:30 p.m. each night.
Both Fischer and Moran represent fearlessness in music. They are continuously in search of new platforms. “I love working with Jason—we have done eight ballets together,” said King, “and I love working with Lisa—her humility, power, and beauty of her voice is amazing. She is a masterpiece.”
In describing the meaning of “Deep River,” King noted, “We have one aim: to head to the ocean. We all have deep rivers to be listened to and followed. Talking about the divine source and purpose of life, love is cultivated and can lead to bliss. We are sleepwalkers. Awake, we realize there is no difference between fallen human beings and the rivers. Are you a god? No, I am awake!”
King’s “Deep Rivers” is a metaphor of life in dance, just like Langston Hughes’s poetic words, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” King said his dancers and artists he works with are watching the audience’s consciousness and live ideas through their movement. “Life is a fine, incredible world of listening to each other. Turn off your brilliance and listen,” said King during a phone interview. “If you are really listening, there is no argument because you let go and listen. That’s what indigenous cultures are about to come together for your larger self, which is what the ballet company represents.”
King’s ethics and strong commitment to his LINES ballet and life goals reflects his being born and raised in Georgia, where his father was a civil rights leader—Slater King, who served as president of the Albany Movement—and his grandfather was the founder of the Albany NAACP. Many members of King’s family were prominent figures in the Civil Rights Movement and close to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“My parents were willing to die for what they believed in. Their commitment to truth was my tuning fork,” said King. “What you speak, you must live, or else do not speak it. That became my template for how to both behave and create in the world.”
King uses his Georgia childhood experiences and his father’s history in fighting for civil rights to create, and has built a career for himself as an eminent international choreographer and artistic director of LINES out of San Francisco, as well as guest choreographer around the world.
This will be LINES’s first return to NYC since the pandemic. With Lisa Fischer and Moran, this is sure to be a triumphant affair.
For tickets, visit the website jazz.org.
After thousands from around the globe (including African and Cuban dignitaries) paid their final farewells to warrior activist community leader and mentor to many Viola Plummer at Rev. Daughtry’s House of the Lord Church in Brooklyn, her favorite musicians, who called Sista’s Place their home and sanctuary, will come out to pay tribute with the blues, jump up and shout, moan holla stomp your feet kick it up…Viola, we miss you, but will carry on in your grand warrior fashion!
On February 25, “A Jazz Tribute to Viola Plummer” will honor her and Ahmed Abdullah for the jazz institution they led in building for a quarter century. The fiery event, sure to burst the heavenly clouds, will take place at Bed-Stuy Restoration Corp. (1368 Fulton Street), 3 p.m.–7 p.m. Tickets are $35.
Abdullah will host an amazing lineup of musicians, including Reggie Woods, T.K. Blue, Sharp Radway, Patsy Grant, Dwayne Broadnax, Alan Palmer, Venito Gonzalez, George Gray, Gene Ghea, Bill Saxton, Robert Rutledge, Jimmy Owens, Winard Harper, Craig Harris, Danny Mixon, Will Calhoun, Paul Beaudry, Lesedi Ntsane, Steven Kroon, Bryan Carrott, and more—the list is still in formation.
For information, call 718-398-1766.
The violin is still much regarded as the instrument of choice in the world of classical music. We can, however, thank the great violinist/composer Chevalier de Saint-Georges for infusing early improvisational lines from French society to the American shores. Even today, despite that you may find violinists everywhere from a symphony orchestra to a jazz quartet, be assured they are well-versed in the art of European classical music.
One such violinist is Majid Khaliq. He is a well-entrenched violinist hailing from the renowned Juilliard School and Queens College Aaron Copland School of Music. He is from the boogie- down Bronx, and the soul of the streets induced an inner-swing that went much deeper than classical music could inspire.
He possesses virtuosic skills that dare to move the instrument on new excursions. He incorporates hip hop, the now 50-year-old music he grew up on; the soul sounds of the Bronx; and his commitment to the jazz tradition. He lays it all out on his recently released third album, “No Looking Back” (Bassline Live Records)—a most enticing album, co-produced with four-time Grammy Award-winning drummer Lenny White.
“No Looking Back” crosses genres like a rainbow-colored sky after a sun shower. It’s not easy to create a multi-genre album without over-indulging, but Khaliq’s creative musicianship has created an exciting album for listeners of good music that is not to be categorized. The six tracks serve as a glimpse into Khaliq’s music galaxy, where his violin reigns supreme, from the opening title track paying homage to that Seattle rock sound that still rings, to the second track, “Proof,” that features the vocals of Ciara Leah exploring the inner yearning for love in a world that seems to have forgotten the definition. Khaliq’s solo violin work infuses a depth of warmth. The album ends too soon with the tune “You” that features Yancyabril’s vocal chorus creating a musical revelation.
On February 25 (6 p.m.), the No Looking Back EP release party will bring the music to life on the stage of Joe’s Pub (425 Lafayette Street) as Khaliq features all-star cast with the Roots keyboardist Ray Angry and Lenny White, as well as a core rhythm section with NY mainstays bassist Alex Busby Smith, drummer Norman Paul Edwards Jr,. and the vocals of Yancyabril. Check the brilliance of a multi-dimensional violinist still rising.
For tickets and reservations, visit publictheater.org/joespub.
Charles Mingus was one the most prolific composers and musicians in jazz history, along with Duke Ellington, although he stretched beyond traditional to big band and avant garde. Take a listen to “Pithecanthropus Erectus” (Studio 1956) and “The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady” (Impulse! 1963).Take time out from life’s realities and venture into the world of science fiction under the spell of Octavia E. Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” (Four Walls, Eight Windows, 1993)…Although it depicts the struggle to survive the socioeconomic and political collapse of 21st-century America due to poor environmental stewardship, corporate greed, and the growing gap between the wealthy and the poor…ooops, that sounds like now! Well, don’t be afraid to give it a read—it’s worth the scare.