Before the Verizon and JVC jazz festivals invade Manhattan each summer, the Vision Festival opens jazz-fest season in the city with sounds from the fringe. A six-day event showcasing 150 of the best downtown-scene, avant-garde musicians, the 2003 Vision Festival will take place over a long Memorial Day weekend, from May 21-26 at the Center at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral (268 Mulberry Street, NYC). Approximately 150 muscians in 30 different ensembles will play, with some of the biggest names being Fred Anderson and Harrison Bankhead, Andrew Cyrille and Kidd Jordan, John Zorn, and Matthew Shipp (pictured). A two-day film festival associated with the festival will run at the Anthology Film Archives (Second Avenue at 2nd Street), though we have not been told what films will be screened.
Advance tickets for performances at the Center are available at Downtown Music Gallery (DMG), 342 Bowery, NYC 10012; phone: 212-473-0043; fax: 212-533-5059; e-mail: [email protected] Tickets are $25 per night or $110 for a six-day pass. There is a surcharge for tickets purchased at DMG.
Vision Festival Schedule
Wednesday May 21
7:30 Joseph Jarman Opening Invocation
8:00 Amina Claudine Myers Solo
9:00 Poet Amiri Baraka
10:00 Billy Bang Quartet with Frank Lowe Todd Nicholson Andrew Bemkey and Tyshawn Sorey
11:00 TBA
Thursday May 22
7:30 Bill Cole Project with Warren Smith drums and Patricia Smith poet
8:30 David S. Ware Quratet Matthew Shipp William Parker Guillermo E. Brown
9:30 Fred Anderson and Harrison Bankhead
10:30 The Jemeel Moondoc / Connie Crothers Quintet
Nathan Breedlove-trumpet, Adam Lane-bass, John McCutcheon-drums
Friday May 23
7:30 Edwin Torres with Sean G. Meehan on snare drum
8:30 Whit Dickey with Rob Brown Roy Campbell and Joe Morris
10:00 Andrew Cyrille / Kidd Jordan / William Parker
10:30 Roy Campbell, Joe Mchee, Warren Smith, William Parker
11:30 Jin Hi Kim Trio with Oliver Lake William Parker
Saturday May 24
7:30 Poet TBA
8:30 Kali Fasteau /Mixashawn /Maria Mitchell /Newman Taylor-Baker
9:30 Rob Brown / William Parker
10:30 Milford Graves & Brotzmann
11:30 Louis Belogenis, Roy Campbell, Hill Green, Michael Wimberly
12:30 Improvs
Sunday May 25
7:30 Patricia Nicholson¹s PaNic Dance Music Joseph Jarman
8:30 Raphe Malik Quartet Sabir Mateen, Larry Rolands, Warren Smith
9:30 Matthew Shipp Quartet, Daniel Carter, William Parker, Gerald Cleaver
10:30 Thomas Buckner, Roscoe Mitchell, Jerome Cooper, Harrison Bankhead
11:30 John Zorn Masada String Trio Mark Feldman violin Erik Friedlander cello and Greg Cohen bass
Monday May 26 – Jeanne Lee Memorial
7:30 Steve Dalachinsky
8:30 Gunther Hampel Galaxy Dream Band, Perry Robinson, Lou Grassi, Mark Whitecage w/ Ruomi Lee Hampel, Herscel Silverman, Prince Alegs
9:30 TBA
10:30 William Parker leads Jeanne Lee Project