As usual, members of the free-jazz/avant-garde music community will meet in New York City for six days surrounding Memorial Day weekend (May 26 through May 31) to perform at this year’s annual Vision Festival, held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Highlights of this year’s festival include performances by lost-and-found bassist Henry Grimes and his trio with Marilyn Crispell and Andrew Cyrille, as well as the Sun Ra Arkestra, which will celebrate the 80th birthday of its current leader, alto-saxophonist Marshall Allen (pictured). Grimes will also play as a part of fellow bassist William Parker’s Bass Quartet. St. Patrick’s Cathedral is located at 268 Mulberry (between Prince and Houston) in Manhattan. A full list of Vision performers follows. Tickets for each event are $25.
Those who can’t make it to any of the festival performances can still get a piece of Vision action via the Vision Club Series, a New York concert series at St. Nicholas of Myra (10th Street and Avenue A) that runs every Saturday night through May 1. Upcoming Club Series shows include sets by drummer Milford Graves and saxophonist Peter Brotzmann (on March 20) and a night of improv on March 27 with free-jazz stalwarts Joe McPhee, Joseph Jarman, Mark Dresser and others. For more info on the Club Series, including ticket prices and show times, visit www.visionfestival.org.
Full Vision Festival schedule:
Wednesday May 26
1) Dance/ Music Group TBA
2) Mark Dresser, Ned Rothenburg, Michiyo Yagi
3) Equal Interest Joseph Jarman, Leroy Jenkins, Myra Melford
4) Henry Grimes Trio w Marilyn Crispell & Andrew Cyrille
5) Fred Van Hove & Johannes Bauer
Thursday May 27
1) Burnt Sugar
2) David Budbill and William Parker
3) Collective Rob Brown, Steve Swell, Joe Morris, Luther Gray
4) Kahil El’Zabar / Hamiet Bluiett / Billy Bang
5) Blood Ulmer Jamaladeen Tacuma, Calvin Weston
Friday May 28
1) Marshall Allen and the Sun Ra Arkestra celebrates Marshall Allen’s 80th Birthday
2) Tazz Roy Campbell
3) Joe McPhee 4tet w/ Harold E. Smith drums
Dominic Duval bass, Rosie Hertlein violin
4) William Parker Quartet with Patricia Nicholson’s PaNic
5) Kidd Jordan NewOrleans Band
Saturday May 29
1) Reggie Workman’s Ashanti
2) Sabir Mateen w/ Raphe Malik, Raymond A. King Piano, Jane Wang Bass & Cello,
Ravish Momin Drums & Percussion, Sabir Mateen Reeds & Flute
3) Milford Graves, and special guest TBA
4) Cooper Moore w/ Triptych Myth + Moo
5) Double Duo Mixashawn with Rashid Ali, Pheron Aklaf, Ravi Coltrane,
Sunday May 30
1) TRIO: Whit Dickey, Matthew Shipp, William Parker
2) Khan Jamal Quintet – Jemeel Moondoc, Roy Campbell, Dylan Taylor, Dwight James, and poet Pheralyn Dove
3) Dave Burrell Echo/Peace continuum William Parker Sabir Mateen tenor, Steve Lehman alto, William Hooker drums
4) Revolutionary Ensemble with Leroy Jenkins, Jerome Cooperand Sirone
Monday Memorial May 31- Dedicated to Bassists Wilber Morris & Peter Kowald
In the afternoon a panel of artists discuss Waging Peace and Building Justice from inside the Vision Community
1) Butch Morris skyscrapers conduction tribute
2) Gunda Gottchalk and Xu Feng Xia
3) Amiri Baraka Amina Baraka for Wilber
4) Gunter Baby Sommer & Connie Bauer & Barre Philips
5) William Parker bass quartet with Henry Grimes
