Jazz, that creative source of music inspired by life’s totality of experiences by the ancestors both in Africa and America, is constantly being reconfigured into a kaleidoscope of colors and sounds. The trumpeter, composer, and visual artist Wadada Leo Smith has created a vivid perspective on the oneness of music and art with his current exhibit “The Language of Ankhrasmation” at the American Academy of Arts and Letters (Audubon Terrace, on Broadway between 155th and 156th Streets), now through July 3.
Smith’s concept of Ankhrasmation was 50 years in the making: He wrote that first score in Chicago in 1965. The term Ankhrasmation represents a diasporic concept with meaningful layers. The beginning, “Ankh,” is derived from the Egyptian hieroglyph, symbolizing life. The word “Ras” is Ethiopian and means head or head creator. The word “Ma” is the basic sound of all the planet.
“Ankhrasmation is the life force of mother and father, who generate everything on the planet, and I thought I would name my language after this general process. I was looking for something but didn’t know what it would be until I found it,” explained Smith in an interview with Geeta Dayal. “… the sound-rhythm beyond is what I’m after through this precious and glorious art of the Black man.”
Smith’s colors boldly speak out (similar to his trumpet solos), adding a bright exuberance to the written scores. The colors, like his music, encompass a historical, cultural, social, and mythical elements of Ankhrasmation. Some of his images, particularly the booklets that reflect some of his works from 2023–24, are multi-dimensional, with art structures and shapes, sound music, and the concept of literature with poetry.
This is an inspiring exhibit that has been running for a few months and spilled into Black Music Month. Smith’s Ankhrasmation explicitly expands the concept of Black music in all directions.
For times, visit artsandletters.org or call 212-368-5900.
Music is not only good for the soul but also great for plant life. On June 28, Maggies Garden Day Concert will present the Rudel Drears Quintet at 564 West 149th Street from 11 a.m.–7 p.m. Drears’s quintet of longtime collaborators will include pianist and playwright Marjorie Eliot, Drears on piano and vocals, tenor saxophonist Sedric Shukroon, trumpeter Nick Mauro, bassists Yuma Takagi and Don Pate, drummer Clay Herndon, percussionist Will Glass, and vocalist Trane N’Chel.
The all-day affair includes live music, a yard sale, activities for children, and a cookout. The event is presented by Parlor Entertainment and Rudel Drears. Like clockwork every Sunday for over three decades, Drears and Eliot have presented the best live jazz in the community (the longest-running jazz series in New York City), bringing together local and established artists who have toured the world. This event is free and open to the public.
For more info, visit instagram.com/maggies_garden_149/ or nyrp.org.
The Borough of Brooklyn Center of Arts & Technology (BoBCAT) will reach out on June 28 with a special presentation, Jammin’ for Jobs Jazz Concert, at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music (58 7th Avenue). The band will feature a quintet of established artists led by drummer Ricky “Dirty Red” Gordon, trumpeter James Zollar, tenor saxophone Isaiah Richardson, Jr., pianist David Fludd, and bassist Lonnie Plaxico.
All funds will benefit BoBCAT. Their vision is to provide Brooklyn-based, underserved individuals aged 19 and above with the education to sustain a well-prepared workforce, with the goal of eradicating chronic unemployment in the borough.
Tickets are $85 per person and include live music, two alcoholic drink tickets, and light food options. For tickets, visit bobcatbrooklyn.org.
Rome Neal, a native New Yorker, has been a creative force in the hustle-bustle town for more than two decades. In Black theater, he has won AUDELCO Awards for directing and lighting design, and he resurrected the spontaneous spirit of Thelonious Monk in his one-man show “Monk,” which he co-directed with Laurence Holder, with music composed by bassist Bill Lee. His creativity as a director gives him the opportunity to have an ongoing collaborative relationship with novelist, essayist, and musician Ishmael Reed. Neal has directed or performed in some of the playwright’s most acclaimed theatrical productions.
When not involved in theater, he is immersed in the jazz scene, where he established himself as an impresario, presenting both new and established artists to audiences via his long-running Banana Puddin’ Jazz series. On June 30, Neal will celebrate his 22nd anniversary of this popular live jam. The festivities will take place at Theater for the New City (155 1st Avenue & 10th Street), on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, where Neal has resided with his family for many years.
Special guest musicians will include a host of Neal’s long-time inventive collaborators, and some noted new inductees: Eric Lewis aka ELEW, Akua Dixon, Andre Chez Lewis, Ty Stephens, Richard Cummins, Patience Higgins, Gene Ghee, Dick Griffin, Donald Nix, Bernard Linnette, Nick and Leonieke Scheuble, Antoinette Montague, and Angelo and Areo Lewis featuring poet/playwright Liza Jessie Peterson.
“The idea of a showcase/jam session that became Banana Puddin’ Jazz was inspired by the great Barry Harris,” Neal said in a phone interview. “Every week, he held these incredible music classes in Manhattan where, at any given time, there were at least 50 musicians (singers, trumpeters, sax, drums, piano), all seeking Barry’s musical knowledge. I realized there were all these musicians, but the venues for their performances were limited, and I decided to create a place for them on the Lower East Side at the Nuyorican Café, which was my creative home. Spending a lot of time in Harlem at the Lenox Lounge and St. Nick’s Pub, I wanted to bring some of that Harlem energy downtown.”
Neal said the banana pudding was something he just decided to make one night. “People love it so much [that] I just kept making it to this very day, so yes, there will be free banana puddin’ at the celebration.”
Tickets are $20 and will not be sold at the door. For tickets, call 212-254-1109 or visit the website theaterforthenewcity.net. The celebration begins at 7 p.m.
Just a few thoughts during Black Music Month. These two phrases baffle me: “Jazz is America’s original art form” or “Jazz is an American treasure.” How can that be possible when everywhere in America, jazz is nothing but a stepchild?
The annual Grammy Awards are the most celebratory night of the year for the music industry, but shhhh! Where is jazz? Are there any large-scale performances like hip hop or R&B? No — it’s very rare to even see jazz musicians in attendance. More than likely, the awardees are often presented off-stage during the afternoon. How many jazz artists appear as guests on late-night talk shows to discuss perhaps a book, or even an upcoming album/CD?
What about the Oscars for best film score? Not. Why is jazz referred to “as America’s original music”? Shouldn’t that term apply to gospel, R&B, hip hop, blues, bebop, doowop, soul, neo-soul, avant-garde, Black rock, afro-futurism? Isn’t all Black music America’s original artform?
Black music is a family of mentioned genres with roots in Africa. Black American music is an evolution of the Black family’s American experiences, from that day they stepped off those horrendous, inhuman ships to this very moment. It’s a succession more significant than just so-called genres. It’s sounds: the cadence of a southern Baptist preacher, the cotton fields call and response, Negro Spirituals, hand-clapping, foot stomping, grunts, moans, shouts, hollers, bent notes, and hums. It’s the Black experience that changed the sound of America and the world, and will continue for generations to come.
Let’s not get lost in the delusion of so-called genres; it’s all Black music, but for marketing purposes, every artist is categorized. A creative artist will never place themselves in a specific box. They are brilliant, unique artists who are ready and adept in playing anything as long as it’s good music!
In the words of the immortal NYC radio personality (on the city’s only-owned Black radio station, WBLS), Frankie “the Chief Rocker” Crocker: “Guaranteed to put more dips in your hips / more gut in your strut / more glide in your stride / if you don’t dig it, you got a hole in your soul!” He played everything, and ended his show every evening with “Moody’s Mood for Love.” Go on, Frankie, do it.