William Parker among New York's jazz Vision-airies in June
New York's jazz schedule is at its most crowded in June when the festivals roll into town.
The CareFusion Jazz Festival picks up where JVC left off, booking big halls with prominent veterans -- Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, the bossa nova guitarist Joao Gilberto -- and smaller shows with budding stars such as Ambrose Akinmusire.
Tri-Centric Modeling is a two-day festival (June 18 at in Greenwich Village and June 19 at the Issue Project Room in Brooklyn) dedicated to the music of Anthony Braxton, who turns 65 this year. In addition to a rare appearance by Braxton, the two concerts will feature artists who have performed with or been deeply influenced by his music, playing both their own music and Braxton compositions.
Starting June 20 and running through the 30th will be the Vision Festival, an artist-curated series of concerts that feature top artists from jazz's avant garde, from Muhal Richard Abrams to Matthew Shipp and Charles Gayle. The final night will feature indie-folk innovators Akron/Family and jazz legends William Parker on bass and percussionist Hamid Drake. While most shows will be held at the Abrons Art Center, closing night will be at Le Poisson Rouge.
When Parker takes the stage on the 30th, it will be with the 11th group he will have performed with during the festival. Parker, whose professional bass-playing career dates back to the early 1970s, said, "I usually play on as many dates if not more. What's different this year is the number of groups I'm leading."
No matter which band he is in at any give time, Parker said", "it's all about being sensitive to following each other; you have to go with the flow."
Knowing that the only thing to expect is the unexpected, we asked Parker to go over some of the bands he will be performing with and how they approach their music.
Little Huey Sextet
"Little Huey is a fictional character, a kid who lives in the projects. It's the idea of a kid who wants to be a poet but everyone say, 'You can't.' I came up with the concept in 1994. It was created as a response for all the little Hueys out there who needed to know it's all right to play music and write. The sextet will play in the projects. The concept is rhythmical melodies for children -- make it hypnotic and trancelike underneath. We'll be playing outdoors and you have to assume that the experience is new to people, so you emphasize the heartbeat in the rhythm."
(June 21 at Campos Plaza playground on 13th Street between Ave B & C with the Roy Campbell Trio)
Celestial Funk Band featuring guitarist Vernon Reid, Kidd Jordan on sax and Cooper-Moore on percussion and vocals
"Patricia [Nicholson Parker] started the band. She wrote music for it, preparing layers of rhythm with improvisation on top. It's a little more complex now, with more universal tonality. I did an African-American concert with Steve Toure and Native American dancers. There was a didgeridoo player, too. We were all coming from different places and a universal thing happened: We all could be separate in our identity, but work together. That carries out in this funk band."
(June 22 at Drom, 85 Avenue A with Frank London's Kali Krew)
The Blues Escaped with saxophonist Kidd Jordan, Jason Kao Hwang on violin & viola and Hamid Drake on drums
"Kidd grew up in New Orleans and played with everyone -- Fats Domino, Gladys Knight, arranging music for any R&B band that was traveling through town. The underlying philosophy is blues. Hamid is from Monroe, LA, and he's a reggae musician, too. We're not afraid to let those elements come out. If a blues comes out, we say, 'Let's not run away from it.' We're doing more [structured styles] because so-called avant-garde musicians allegedly can't play anything else. I definitely aim to use any element. That's the freedom we play with: whether the idea comes from the blues or Cuba or Venezuela, we're there to play music."
(June 23 at Abrons Arts Center with Matthew Shipp & Whit Dickey, Jr, Rob Brown's New Quartet, Shipp-& dancer Patricia Nicholson and In Order To Survive led by pianist Cooper-Moore)
David S. Ware Trio
"I have been playing with [saxophonist David S. Ware] since the 1970s and he has never told us what he's going to play. You never know, and after awhile you stop asking, "Where's this train going?" You'll know when to get off. And he has a huge repertoire. People often ask, "How do you know when to stop?" It really comes from years and years of trying to learn how to respond to sound, being attuned to the impulses of what to do. You end up doing things you've never done by not rejecting ideas. It's really a blessing to accept the gift. The main thing is to not do too much -- your muscle memory will respond in the correct way."
(June 27 at Abrons Arts Center with the North/South Clarinet Ensemble, Breuklen Tek Orkestra, Billy Bang's Spirit of Sir One and the Peace Out Trio with Dave Burrell on piano)
Southern Satellites
"Dominican rhythms and free jazz mixed with a rapper and a singer who sings in Spanish and English. Then Hamid and I will play with Akron/Family. It's nice to crossover. It's an open-minded thing. Maybe it will lead to a tour together."
(June 30 at Le Poisson Rouge with Slowest Runner and Akon/Family)
