The films appear to take different approaches to covering Simone, with the new film features over 50 interviews with former Simone bandmates, family members, and Simone scholars to trace her career, where the earlier production leaned on archival footage of Simone herself.
While we haven’t seen the new film yet, obviously there’s room for several approaches to tell the story of someone as complex and fascinating as Nina Simone. Both documentaries are good pre-emptive reality checks on the forthcoming Nina biopic, which has been criticized for the choice of Zoe Saldana to play Simone and the ensuing decision to darken her skin and add prostheses to make her more resemble the character, choices Simone Kelly told the Huffington Post were “a further example of how much this project really just veered away from what the truth was”.
While The Amazing Nina Simone might be held over if it does well, it’s best to get to the theater during the initial run, especially since further release of films often hinges on how well they do in their initial runs in larger markets. And if you haven’t seen What Happened, Miss Simone? yet, the good news is that you can still catch it on Netflix.
###
While we’re talking film, a reminder that director Carol Bash’s documentary film on pianist Mary Lou Williams, The Lady Who Swings the Band, screens at the ReelSisters film festival on October 25th at LIU’s downtown Brooklyn campus.
Much beloved and often misunderstood, the story of Americaʼs most overlooked musical genius is finally brought to light in “The Amazing Nina Simone.” Director Jeff L. Lieberman (”Re-Emerging: The Jews of Nigeria”) brings audiences on Nina’s journey from the segregated South, through the worlds of classical music, jazz joints & international concert halls. Navigating through the twists & turns of the 1960’s fight for racial equality, the film delves deep into Nina’s artistry and intentions, answering long-held questions behind Ninaʼs most beloved songs, bold style, controversial statements, and the reason she left America. Opens in Theatres October 16th. http://www.amazingnina.com
Hank Williamsis an associate producer for Suga’ in My Bowl on WBAI Radio and webmaster for the Suga’ and Behind the Mic sites. He is also a PhD candidate in English and Africana Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter and Lehman Colleges and The City College of New York.
I’m a semi-regular listener to NYC radio station WKCR’s evening jazz show, but normally tune out soon as soon as it’s over. Fortunately, several weeks ago I stayed on just long enough to catch the announcement of the interview the following arts program was doing and luckily caught Gabe Ibagon’s interview with Tom Surgal, director of Fire Music!, an in-progress documentary on the free jazz movement that successfully finished a Kickstarter campaign to raise enough funds to finish production.
Fire Music! would definitely fill a much needed gap in the documentary history of jazz. I’ve realized the gap while searching for a documentary to show students in a course on the Black Arts Movement that I teach. There are several good documentaries on individual people — Coltrane and Sun Ra especially — but no nice overview of Free Jazz itself that I’ve found. The fantastic Imagine the Sound is finally available again thanks to video on demand. While it focuses on Cecil Taylor, Paul Bley, Archie Shepp, and Bill Dixon, it doesn’t cover the entire sweep of the style or give much in the way of historical overview. To be clear, these aren’t shortcomings of the film itself: I’m just looking for something that it doesn’t set out to do.
Instead, I’ve somewhat reluctantly used Episode 10 of Ken Burns’ Jazz — “A Masterpiece by Midnight” — which takes viewers on whirlwind tour through the 1960s and 70s. I won’t rehash the well-discussed criticisms here, but KBJ‘s hardest hit to Free Jazz arguably isn’t attacking it: it’s the scant coverage and bare acknowledgement of the form’s existence. That would be understandable in a shorter series, but given KBJ‘s expansive run time, the decision to shoehorn nearly three decades into the last two hour segment is unconscionable. Ironically, this major shortcoming works well for the classroom, since it results in a compact — if cursory — overview of the main trends and hits some of the key names.
Surgal’s effort looks to right many of those wrongs and boasts that it will be “the definitive history of the Free Jazz Revolution”. That’s actually a tall order, given the form’s lifespan, continued growth, the complexity of the background surrounding its rise, and the variety of key players involved. Surgal, not surprisingly, is keenly aware of the gap, pointing out the obvious on Fire Music‘s Kickstarter page: “Ken Burns’ otherwise exhaustive documentary Jazz, surprisingly, breezes over the subject as if it were an afterthought. FIRE MUSIC is intended to be that missing link that will set the story straight.”
The film may match its bravado and Surgal looks to be the right person to do it, as he has feet in both the film and music worlds. Fire Music already has the backing of Submarine Entertainment, which has a good track record of shepherding music documentaries through production and has Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Wilco’s Nils Cline as Executive Producers. Things look good.
It’s no secret that we’re big fans of Free Jazz on Suga’ in My Bowl and — throwing journalistic objectivity out the window — we’re rooting for this film to make a big statement and fill a big gap in the visual documentation of jazz. The stated goal is completion by June 2016 and submission to some of the major North American film festivals. We’ll be keeping a close eye on it and hope to talk to Surgal later on in the process, but for now, we’ll point you toward the 10 minute rough cut trailer on Vimeo.
Hank Williamsis an associate producer for Suga’ in My Bowl on WBAI Radio and webmaster for the Suga’ and Behind the Mic sites. He is also a PhD candidate in English and Africana Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter and Lehman Colleges and The City College of New York.
Welcome to Suga in My Bowl radio‘s weekly feature, On The Bandstand, where we collect upcoming NYC area shows from current and past Suga’ guests. We’re online weekly and on the air on NYC’s WBAI-FM radio alternate Sunday nights from 11 PM -1 AM. Keep up with us via Facebook, the blog here, or our main website, or Twitter and we’ll keep track of the schedule for you.
Pianist Onaje Allen Gumbs is at at IS 204, 36-41 28th St in Astoria [map here], on April 24. There’s a small suggested donation for admission. For details, call Jessica Acosta at 347-813-4452.
That’s all for now. Suga’ in My Bowl is back on WBAI‘s airwaves May 3rd. We’ll also have another edition of “On the Bandstand” online next Sunday with a fresh set of listings.
Hank Williamsis an associate producer for Suga’ in My Bowl on WBAI Radio and webmaster for the Suga’ and Behind the Mic sites. He is also a PhD candidate in English and Africana Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter and Lehman Colleges and The City College of New York.
It’s no secret that we’re big fans of pianist Vijay Iyer‘s work at Suga’ in My Bowl radio. Since we did a partial profile on him back in 2010 (audio archived here), we’ve caught him several times, including leading his own trio with bassist Stephan Crump and drummer Marcus Gilmore, collaborating with the TRIO 3 ensemble of veterans Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman, and Andrew Cyrille, or in any number of one-off combinations and collaborations. In short, we think a lot of him and his work and in that regard we’re far from alone.
That’s one reason why we were excited to finally get our hands on the just-released Break Stuff, on which appears several songs that we’d heard in various stages of workshopping by Iyer and the trio. It shows the incredible range of interests and influences that Iyer channels into his work and if you’re an Iyer fan, you should probably just go get it.
But this post is actually about the “EPK” (Electronic Press Kit)– promotional video to most of us — for the release, which I can’t stop watching.
Granted, music videos are nothing new — indeed, MTV and MTV-2 built their reputation on them even if they don’t bother actually play them much anymore — and groups known primarily to the jazz world have even dabbled in the genre to varying levels of success.
The EPK, however, is a slightly different animal, combining features of a traditional music video with that of the “press kit” that would generally go out primarily to journalists with written background info on the artists, creative process, and the like that said journos could use to write up a story or review. But it’s the 21st Century! So, just like everything else, there’s a transition to video and some of the things you previously had to tell people, you can now show. And since you’re already spending money on the thing, then why not just throw it up online for everybody?
That’s what’s happening now and as a result, for a lot of releases you now get a preview of the entire album with artist commentary and background info. When done right, they’re nicely produced mini-documentaries and the one for the Vijay Iyer Trio’s Break Stuff is done right.
In the video, we get a seven-and-a-half minute walk through of the various songs that make up the release and insight to how things ended up being produced the way they are, such as Iyer’s decision to include the words from Nigerian-American writer Teju Cole‘s novel Open City and riffs on hip hop and break beats, name-checking Jeff Chang’s now classic narrative of hip hop history Can’t Stop Won’t Stop in the process. Crump and Gilmore are here, too and reveal a fair amount of their contributions to shaping the final release, including Gilmore’s near-obsessive attention to detail that confirms something I’ve seen him do: re-tune his drums in the middle of a live set. It’s fascinating stuff if you like to dive deep into the music.
To be sure, there are some issues to think about here, especially considering the cost of producing these things and availability of the platform: an artist with barely enough money to produce a full release that fits their vision as is will be hard pressed to also pay someone to professionally do a video and it also takes a certain amount of media savvy to pull all of this off. So there’s a possibility that promo videos like this will widen the existing gaps between artists.
But they’re a lot of fun to watch and you’ll get some behind the scenes action as well. So just watch it right now if you haven’t seen it yet. Even if you already have a copy of Break Stuff, you’ll probably get something from hearing Iyer, Crump, and Gilmore talk about it. If not, it might make you want to hear more, which, happily, you can.
We’re due to bring Iyer back for a full interview on the radio show and hope to make that happen soon. Of course, we’ll let you know when that happens.
Meanwhile, I have to settle down and give the album itself some undivided attention.
Have you given Break Stuff a good listen? What are your thoughts on it or the video? Let us know in the comments.
Hank Williamsis an associate producer for Suga’ in My Bowl on WBAI Radio and webmaster for the Suga’ and Behind the Mic sites. He is also a PhD candidate in English and Africana Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter and Lehman Colleges and The City College of New York.
If you’re a jazz fan in NYC (or just very curious about the music), then the 11th annual Winter Jazz Fest should be squarely on your radar. If it is, good! You’re likely gearing up to push through the cold snap that’s hit us.
So far, I’ve done a first look with some basic logistics of the festival. In this post, I’ll dive into a few of the acts that you should keep an eye out for. Full disclosure, it’s weighted toward past guests from our Suga’ in My Bowl radio show, but I’ll also mention a few others at the end.
There are a lot of acts to choose from over the festival’s 2 main evenings (Friday and Saturday: Thursday has a lighter schedule), so hopefully this will give you a head start on who to see.
Friday January 9th
If the festival gave out an MVP award, saxophonist David Murray would certainly be in the running. He’s at the Minetta Lane Theater with his Clarinet Summit at 7:30 and with drummer Teri Lyne Carrington and pianist Geri Allen at 8:45.
We just profiled Murray in December, so I’ll point you to that show for more details. But, needless to say, Murray’s a standout artist and incredibly versatile player. He’s capable of playing as far out as anyone, yet has the skill to drop back into more introspective playing that leans as much on finesse as sheer technical virtuosity. While Suga’ host Joyce Jones won’t (yet) get her wish of a reunion of the World Saxophone Summit, catching the “Clarinet Summit”, his collaboration with Carrington and Allen, or his Saturday set leading his own Infinity Quartet ought to give you as rounded a view of Murray as you’ll ever get.
We’re looking to see a highly charged set with some experimental stuff thrown in with the Clarinet Summit, which has Don Byron and Hamiett Bluiett providing backup. Count on a more straight-ahead set with Carrington and Allen.
Terri Lyne Carrington has developed into a solid presence in jazz drumming. Her all-female Mosaic Project (which featured WJF collaborator Geri Allen) was much more than just a concept album to showcase women in jazz: it was a solid release in its own right. Her 2013 remake of the classic Money Jungle deservedly got high praise as well. Head to our audio archives for a deeper look at her work.
Similarly, pianist Geri Allen is sought after as both a leader and in side projects. Whether she’s heading up her own Timeline group or in collaboration with others (she’s also worked with TRIO 3, though won’t be at this year’s WJF), her percussive style is a joy to listen to. It won’t be the first Allen-Carrington collaboration and their comfort working together should translate into a solid rhythm section for the set with David Murray.
See both of them in this 2013 clip of “Unconditional Love” along with bassist Esperanza Spaulding.
Harpist Brandee Younger has seemingly taken the task of upholding the work of the late, underappreciated harpist Dorothy Ashby as her mission. You’ll likely get fully up to speed on where she is with this project at her “Afro Harping” Ashby tribute to the latter’s classic album of the same name at the Bitter End on Bleecker Street at 8:45. See Younger’s take on Ashby’s “Respected Destroyer”, recorded live in 2014.
Drummer Will Calhoun has come a long way since his days with Living Colour – a trip that’s come full circle, as the group reunited for a world tour in 2014 to support their Synesthesia release and even took a few days off to put the finishing touches on another release, Shade, scheduled for spring 2015. In the middle of all that, he’s grown into a respected leader in the jazz world as well, with a style that pulls equally from his prowess as a rock drummer and the finesse he’s gained at jazz styles and African percussion. Expect a meeting of all those worlds as he joins forces with Living Colour bandmate, bassist Doug Wimbish, and Vinx, who lends vocals and electronic loops and samples for the “Jungle Funk” collaboration at Bowery Electric at 9 PM. Jungle Funk leans more toward Living Colour’s end of the spectrum than Calhoun’s more standard jazz work. Here’s a sample of what you might hear, recorded live in Poland in 2013. For a longer listen, you can check out our 2013 Calhoun profile.
Saxophonist Oliver Lake and bassist Reggie Workman join forces with drummer Andrew Cyrille and special guest Vijay Iyer for TRIO 3 at Minetta Lane at 10 PM. All are incredibly accomplished players and Workman has nearly legendary status. TRIO 3’s shows are always extremely satisfying. Lake is as comfortable playing “out” and pushing the limits of the saxophone as he is using finesse honed from many years on the instrument. Iyer is scarily talented and adapts well to almost any setting. Below is a clip from the 2012 Vision Fest and for a much deeper dive into Lake, you can check out our December 2014 profile of him or our 2009 Workman and 2010 Iyer profiles, which live on in our audio archives, too.
Saturday January 10th
Saxophonist Oliver Lake returns with a show at The Bitter End on Bleecker Street with his Organ Quartet at 6:15 PM. Here they are performing at the Jazz Standard. Hammond B3 fans will be in for a treat with organist Jared Gold shoring up the rhythm section.
Saxophonist Billy Harper is at Minetta Lane Theater with The Cookers at 8:45 PM. Last year, The Cookers were one of the WJF highlights for me. Harper’s comfortable in the “free jazz” end of the sax spectrum (which I’ll admit I’m partial to), but as part of the collective he contributes to a hard driving straight ahead sound that’s accessible yet adventurous. Expect them to live up to their name. Here they are at the 2014 Nisville Jazz Festival. For a closer look at Harper, see our 2011 show on him.
Saxophonist David Murray makes a final appearance at Le Poisson Rouge with his Infinity Quartet at 9 PM. Keep an eye out for the spoken word of Saul Williams with Saturday night’s Infinity Quartet show. Here they are in a 2014 show.
Vocalist Catherine Russell, who’s been getting solid reviews for her 2014 Bring it Back release, is at the Greenwich House Music School on Barrow St. at 10 PM. Fans of the more traditional jazz vocals should be sure to catch Russell’s set. Her exposure on the popular Boardwalk Empire series has gained her some additional notoriety and her work is fresh and innovative, while still connecting to the jazz tradition. See her perform live in 2013 below or check out our 2014 show for a deeper dive into her work.
Drummer J.T. Lewis will be at Subculture on Bleecker Street with Harriet Tubman at 10 PM. I missed Tubman a few years ago when they were on at an ungodly late hour: not so this time! Tubman describes itself as an “avant metal jazz band” which is a description that I’d be hard pressed to improve upon. If you’re open to electronics in jazz, crossovers into fusion, and aren’t afraid of electric guitars, then this is your set. This clip from a 2010 show at NYC’s The Stone gives a good sense of the type of long, funky, ambient grooves they specialize in. For a longer look at Lewis, see our 2014 show focused on him.
Honorable Mentions
I’ll be honest: that’s an unfair header for this section, since there are so many fantastic acts to choose from. But you have to start somewhere, so here’s who else I’d catch in an ideal world—and just might in this one if I can manage to finagle the schedule just right.
I’ve never seen vibraphonist Joe Locke perform live, but I’d really like to. He’s at the Players Theater at 7 PM on Friday.
I’m a sucker for the electric guitar. Chalk it up to 1980s heavy metal. Still, Marc Ribot’s playing is always fantastic. Team him up with frequent collaborator and fellow guitarist Mary Halvorson for the “Young Philadelphians”? Yes, please! Halvorson’s an up-and-coming name on the scene and she played the WJF last year with both her own ensemble and as a guest with Ribot’s group and the result was a blistering set that I still remember and want to see again and again. Strong incentive to stick around for an 11:15 PM Friday set at Minetta Lane.
Suga’ host Joyce Jones and I were just talking about how Wallace Roney seemed to be the go-to person older trumpeters looked to for backup very early in his career. Both Miles Davis (whose influence is clear) and Freddie Hubbard tapped Roney’s talents. You can’t ask for a better pedigree than that. But he’s taken those lessons and developed his own unique voice on the trumpet. Hmm, 6:15 Saturday at the Bitter End? I just might make it.
Lionel Loueke’s Trio is 8:30 on Saturday at Subculture. Guitar and African rhythms? It makes me really wish I could be in two places at the same time. But you can catch them! And you should!
Lastly, I’ll point you to the full performance schedule. They also have a handy guide to full group line-ups, which you can check to see if a favorite musician is on the list somewhere. Finally, there’s a map of the various venues, but you will get all that at the check-in site at Judson Memorial Church.
So that’s it. That’s a lot of acts! But they’re all really good. Find who’s to your liking and take some time to see someone you haven’t—you might become a fan of a new group. I’ll likely be wiped out after it’s wrapped up, but it’s good training for the week-long Vision Fest, which has moved to July this year. We’ll have some coverage of that, but before then, I’ll check in with a WJF wrap-up.
Shameless self-promotion time: if you’re not already a listener, check out our show that airs alternate Sunday nights from 11 PM – 1 AM on WBAI Radio and streams online. This week, we’ll feature an interview with Geri Allen on January 11th, which should be a good way to wrap up the weekend.
Are you going? Anyone in particular you’re looking forward to seeing? Let me know in the comments.
Hank Williamsis an associate producer for Suga’ in My Bowl on WBAI Radio and webmaster for the Suga’ and Behind the Mic sites. He is also a PhD candidate in English and Africana Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter and Lehman Colleges and The City College of New York. Find him on Twitter: @streetgriot
Suga in My Bowl radio presents a new weekly feature, On The Bandstand where we collect upcoming NYC area shows from current and past Suga’ guests.
Program note: Suga’ in My Bowl has changed to a biweekly schedule on WBAI Radio and now alternates Sunday nights with Sports Qualified at our usual 11 PM -1 AM time period. You’ll get the same great show; just every other week! So mark your calendars or just keep up with us via our Facebook page, the blog here, or our main website and we’ll keep track of the schedule for you.
This week’s guest is saxophonist David Murray. You can see him live at the 2015 Winter Jazz Fest on January 9th and 10th. Scroll down the page for details and check out our first look on the fest. We have the usual line-up of live music this week, including New Year’s Eve listings, so you can plan festivities ahead.
Pianist Harold Mabern co-leads a sextet through January 1st at Smoke as part of their Coltrane Festival, including a New Year’s Eve show.
You can ring in the new year with trombonist Craig Harris at Sista’s Place in Brooklyn on New Year’s Eve.
Bassist Christian McBride joins Peter Bernstein’s Quartet on stage at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s club on January 2nd to 4th.
Drummer Bobby Sanabria leads a discussion of the music of World War I era composer James Reese Europe at the Jazz Museum in Harlem as part of their “Jazz for Curious Listeners” series on January 6th. The event is free.
Low Brass specialist on tuba and trombone Joe Daley will be at Terra Blues with Hazmat Modine on January 9th
The big news coming up is the 2015 Winter Jazz Fest on January 8th through 10th. Details are at their website and you can see our own preview and ongoing festival coverage right here. Pianist Harold Mabern will appear in the WJF’s Disability Pride benefit concert on the 8th. Other Suga’ guests on the lineup so far are: saxophonist Oliver Lake with Trio 3 and his Organ Quartet, drummer Will Calhoun with Jungle Funk, harpist Brandee Younger, vocalist Catherine Russell, saxophonist David Murray with drummer Teri Lyne Carrington and pianist Geri Allen, drummer J.T. Lewis with Harriet Tubman, saxophonist Billy Harper with The Cookers, and possibly more to come. Look for a more in-depth cheat sheet here next week.
That’s all for now. With our new biweekly schedule, Suga’ in My Bowl is off the airwaves next week, but back on WBAI January 11th. We’ll have another edition of “On the Bandstand” online next Sunday with a fresh set of listings.
Hank Williamsis an associate producer for Suga’ in My Bowl on WBAI Radio and webmaster for the Suga’ and Behind the Mic sites. He is also a PhD candidate in English and Africana Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter and Lehman Colleges and The City College of New York.
Winter is finally settling in to New York City, which means a lot of things. It’s getting dark earlier, we’ve already been hit with one cold snap with more definitely on the way, and snow is inevitable sooner or later. But one of the bright spots in the otherwise dark days of January is the Winter Jazz Fest, which is returning for the 11th year in 2015 from the 8th to the 10th. We profiled Suga’ guests (and a few others) appearing at the fest last year and will do the same as we get closer, but the preliminary line-up has been announced, so it’s worth taking a quick look at what’s going on and a preliminary peek at who’s there, although they’re promising more additions to the line-up and it will probably take even longer to get a full sense of all the side players in the groups.
Schedule and Tickets
The schedule kicks off with two different concerts on Thursday, January 8th. The Robert Glasper Trio, Jose James, Derrick Hodge, and Kendrick Scott are the headliners in a celebration of the legendary Blue Note Records label at Le Poisson Rouge. Single event tickets are $25 in advance ($30 at the door) or a $75 pass for admission to the entire festival. Meanwhile, a fundraiser concert for the Disability Pride organization will take place at the Friends Meeting Hall in Manhattan. It features a sizable list of performers and tickets go for $100 or $145 with a 3-day WJF pass. There are a variety of different ticket combos, ranging from $35 for Friday or Saturday night, to $55 for both, and up for packages with the Thursday night events. It’s a reasonable cost considering the vast array of top performers who will be there. Sets generally run from 6 PM until 2 AM (at Zinc Bar) on Friday and Saturday nights, so it’s entirely reasonable to catch 3-4 full sets of music per night if one wants to, even with overlaps.
Locations
The WJF continues around several locations in Greenwich Village and the East Village, with Judson Memorial Church again serving as the epicenter (and the festival’s box office and check-in site) and one of the larger venues. Zinc Bar and Le Poisson Rouge return as venues, joined by the Greenwich House Music School, Minetta Lane Theater, Players Theater, Bitter End, Carroll Place, Subculture, and Bowery Electric. Subculture and Bowery Electric are further away from most of the venues, which are clustered around Washington Square Park. Keep this in mind as you scan the schedule: you may be walking fast to shuttle between venues if one place you want to hit is on the east side.
The festival has become almost a victim of its own success over the years: two years ago it sold out and there have been regular problems with space in the smaller venues on the list. It’s virtually impossible to get into Zinc Bar after the early evening, for example, especially when festival goers combine with the usual Zinc crowd. Securing Minetta Lane and Players Theatre should help immensely in this regard, since both are larger spaces. Still, if one of the acts you want to catch is at one of the smaller spaces on the list, there isn’t much recourse other than to get there very early — and perhaps be prepared to wait. It likely reflects a compromise between supporting some of the smaller venues that program jazz throughout the year in more intimate spaces and the reality that the festival is drawing more people — a good thing — to see the more popular acts. There’s probably not a better fix for the issue.
Lineup
We’ll do a follow-up with a “cheat sheet” of picks on our radar, but rather than post their extensive list (WJF claims over 100 acts and counting), I’ll point you toward the artist line-up and the list of personnel, the latter of which gives a fuller sense of who’s behind some of the groups. It’s an impressive list that leans toward the experimental end of the jazz spectrum — indeed, some of the acts will probably push the boundaries of jazz — but with the variety of performers there should be something for a broad spectrum of fans. There’s a pretty thoughtful mix of vocalists and instrumental groups and there’s a diversity of styles. If you have favorites (which is likely if you’ve been following the music scene for a while), then dive in and check for people you want to see. If not, you could do worse than to just sample a few different acts that look interesting and explore. Indeed, that’s advice that goes for anyone since there are quite a few composite groups that pop up for the event and give a chance to see players that don’t always perform together try new things. There are a few ways to get a handle on what you’re likely to hear and who to catch:
Check the ever-helpful YouTube for performance videos (often live) and sample tracks from an artist or combo.
Soundcloud is catching on as a listening platform: do a search for artists there.
Next week, we’ll take a look at a few of the artists profiled on the Suga’ in My Bowl show who’ll be there and some others we’re looking forward to seeing. Are you heading to the WJF? What are some of the acts you’re looking forward to seeing? Let us know in the comments.
Hank Williamsis an associate producer for Suga’ in My Bowl on WBAI Radio and webmaster for the Suga’ and Behind the Mic sites. He is also a PhD candidate in English and Africana Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter and Lehman Colleges and The City College of New York.
Suga in My Bowl radio presents a new feature, On The Bandstand where we collect upcoming NYC area shows from current and past Suga’ guests.
Suga’ in My Bowl has a fundraising special this week featuring a panel on Black workers as we wrap up WBAI’s spring fund drive. If you missed our Amiri Baraka premium, you can still pick one up with a pledge to WBAI.
Many of these events are part of the monthlong Blue Note Jazz Festival. Looking ahead, Vision Fest returns from June 11th-15th with a tribute to Charles Gayle at Brooklyn’s Roulette. We’ll have special coverage on that in a separate post, but for now it’s worth checking out the schedule.
That’s all for now. Suga’ in My Bowl is back on WBAI June 8th and we’ll have another edition of “On the Bandstand” on air and online next Sunday with a fresh set of listings.
Hank Williamsis an associate producer for Suga’ in My Bowl on WBAI Radio and webmaster for the Suga’ and Behind the Mic sites. He is also a PhD candidate in English and Africana Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter and Lehman Colleges and The City College of New York.
For New York City jazz fans and those who can get here, one of the things to look forward to in the summer are the music festivals and events. It’s a particularly good time of year with lots of shows—many of them free or low cost.
We’re far from summer, but as the weather thaws out this week, the big news is the 10th Anniversary of the at the Winter Jazz Fest, which is scattered throughout imultiple venues in Greenwich Village. While it officially started on the 7th, the real action is this weekend on the 10th and 11th.
With that in mind, we’ve assembled a “cheat sheet” of sorts of former Suga’ guests who will be performing. There are also a several other people we like (including a few we have on our radar for future shows), so we’ve added them at the end. And a reminder that you can go to the Suga’ in My Bowl audio archives, where all of our shows live on to check up on past guests. So with that out of the way, let’s dive in.
Friday January 10th Picks
At 9PM, singer Rene Marie takes the stage at the Zinc Bar. Diehard Marie fans should get there early, as the space is small and tends to fill quickly with the mix of people who are there as part of their regular hangout and people coming for the jazz fest.
We’ve featured Marie’s work twice on Suga’. First in March 2013 when she was the featured guest and then in November after the release of her Eartha Kitt tribute I Wanna Be Evil as part of our Eartha Kitt show.
Marie’s a deeply soulful singer and songwriter following in a long tradition of jazz balladeers. She’s no stranger to politics either, drawing heat for her rendition of the national anthem and then dedicating all the proceeds from her “This is Not a Protest Song” to homeless advocates.
Also at 9PM, veteran saxophonist Gary Bartz takes the Revive Music Stage with a quartet. Bartz was our guest in December 2010 and you can expect a strong set from him.
At 9:45 PM, drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts and Lionel Loueke take the stage at Le Poisson Rouge. We covered Watts in July 2013.
Honorable mentions:
We might stop by guitarist Mary Halvorson’s Septet at the 10:00pm show at Judson Memorial Church. We’re fans of free jazz, and Halvorson’s guitar explorations have caught our eye in the past.
Following them at Judson is Peter Brötzmann’s 11:15pm set with drummer Hamid Drake and Jason Adasiewicz. Brötzmann’s an electrifying performer and been a free jazz stalwart for years. He doesn’t make it to the US that often, so this set is one to see if you’re a fan of his type of work.
Saturday January 11th Picks
The Saturday sets with Suga’ guests happen to be conveniently concentrated in 2 venues. Early action sets at the Bitter End, before heading to Zinc Bar.
Michele Rosewoman’s New Yor-Uba ensemble takes the Bitter End’s stage at 6:15. It’ll be a smaller ensemble than the full big band featured last fall at Dizzy’s Club and Rosewoman’s looking to fill the lead vocal role, but expect a performance that’s intensely spiritual, swings hard, and blends Afro-Cuban rhythms at the same time.
Howard Johnson & Gravity follow at 7:30, with their tuba prowess rumbling the venue. We featured Johnson in 2012 and he had so much to say that we actually posted a web extra. It’s a rare opportunity to catch the Gravity ensemble.
Switching gears to the Zinc Bar, we find drummer Terri Lyne Carrington teaming up with harmonica virtuoso Gregoire Maret at 10:15pm. Carrington’s another guest whose been with us a couple of times. First, in 2007 for a profile of her work and then in 2011 the context of the Mosaic Project release, featuring women from all over the jazz spectrum.
At 11:30pm saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin & Soul Squad will be sure to keep the party going. Benjamin’s been working the NYC area jazz scene for a while now and got a breakthrough last year with a spot in the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival.
In the fine tradition of the after hours jam sessions, you’ll have to stay up really late for Marc Cary’s Focus Trio, who don’t take the stage until 12:45 AM, but we think it’s worth it. We talked to Cary for our Abbey Lincoln special, as he was her pianist and released For the Love of Abbey, a solo piano CD dedicated to Lincoln, last year. You may hear some of those compositions, but definitely count on hearing material from the trio’s Four Directions release.
Honorable mentions:
Saxophonist Henry Threadgill‘s “Ensemble Double-Up” In Remembrance of Lawrence Butch Morris has 8 and 10 PM shows at Judson. Following them, the 11:45pm show at Judson featuring guitarist Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog ensemble with guitarist Mary Halvorson promises to be one that’ll satisfy electric guitar fans. If you’re already at Judson, then you might as well stay for pianist Matthew Shipp’s Trio’s 1:00am set. We probably can’t stay up late enough to catch Hypnotic Brass Ensemble’s 1:30am set at Le Poisson Rouge, but the real night owls out there should consider giving them a look. We would if we could.
Hope to see you at the festival! What sets are you planning to or did you see? Let us know in the comments.
Hank Williamsis an associate producer for Suga’ in My Bowl on WBAI Radio and webmaster for the Suga’ and Behind the Mic sites. He is also a PhD candidate in English and Africana Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter and Lehman Colleges and The City College of New York.
We’ve been on a bit of a hiatus here, but we’re going to give this neglected blog a dose of summertime TLC, starting with one of my favorite jazz festivals of the year: NYC’s free/ avant garde/ experimental jazz showcase Vision Fest, now celebrating its 18th year of ruckus courtesy of Arts for Art, the nonprofit that keeps everything rolling.
Each year, Vision bestows a lifetime achievement award on a different musician and this year’s honoree is drummer Milford Graves. Graves has a place in the free jazz and Black Arts movements, having been part of the legendary 1964 October Revolution concerts organized by the late trumpeter and educator Bill Dixon, playing with several key people, and writing about the movement and musicians’ role in it.
We have a few posts from the festival in the works. Suga’ host Joyce Jones did some short interviews and took several photos; we’ll post some of each. I’m taking all (well, most…) of the fest in and will write a few thoughts on it. We’ll be getting up in the next week. Stay tuned! Were you at Vision Fest? Let us know in the comments.
Bio: Hank Williams is Associate Producer for Suga’ in My Bowl on WBAI Radio and webmaster for the Suga’ and Behind the Mic sites. He is also a PhD candidate in English and Africana Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter and Lehman Colleges and The City College of New York.
Photo Credit: Hank Williams
The big news coming up is the 2015 Winter Jazz Fest on January 8th through 10th. Details are 
We’ve been on a bit of a hiatus here, but we’re going to give this neglected blog a dose of summertime TLC, starting with one of my favorite jazz festivals of the year: NYC’s free/ avant garde/ experimental jazz showcase 
Behind the Mic 