From the curators of the Winter Jazz Festival emerges the Undead Jazz Festival, this season’s premier showcase of jazz in most creative and unbridled form. The four-day affair will begin on Wednesday, May 9th in Greenwich Village before proceeding to the Brooklyn Masonic Temple. After another one-night stop in Brooklyn’s grungier venues (termed the “Night of the Living DIY”), an impromptu round-robin at 92Y Tribeca will close the festival on an eccentric note.
WEDNESDAY: Le Poisson Rouge, Kenny’s Castaways, and Sullivan Hall will kick off the festivities in an uncanny line-up of both established and rising musicians. The marathon evening promises to live up to its name, featuring nearly seven non-stop hours of innovation and improvisation – all courtesy of the following select picks (and many more).
Heather Greene & Ursa Minor (6:45pm, LPR)
Positive Catastrophe (8:30pm, SH)
Nate Wooley Quintet with Josh Sinton, Matt Moran, Eivind Opsvik, Harris Eisenstadt (9pm, KC)
Vinicius Cantuaria Sextet (9pm, LPR)
Billy Martin Improv with Shelley Hirsch, Erik Friedlander, and more TBA (9:30, LPR)
Chicago Underground Duo with Rob Mazurek, Chad Taylor (11pm, KC)
Chris Dingman’s Waking Dreams with Loren Stillman, Fabian Almazan, Ike Sturm, and Jared Schonig (11:30, SH)
Gerald Cleaver’s Black Host with Darius Jones, Brandon Seabrook, Cooper-Moore, Pascal Niggenkemper (12:30am, SH)
Ben Perowsky’s Moodswing Orchestra with TK Webb, Danny Blume and Michael Blake (12:30am, LPR)
THURSDAY: If the avant-garde ever had a household name, the circa-1991 outfit Medeski Martin & Wood would be a fierce contender. At the Brooklyn Masonic Temple, the three pioneers will instead be “Medeski Martin & Wood & ?,” first playing as a trio and then regularly punctuating their vibe with new guest artists. Among those special guests are: Marco Benevento, So Percussion, Anthony Coleman, Marcus Rojas, Adam Deitch, Oren Bloedow, Vernon Reid, Charlie Burnham, Chuck Campbell, Miho Hatori, G Calvin Weston, and more.
Photo source: All About Jazz
FRIDAY: Pun aside, ”Night of the Living DIY” sets the humblest yet most intriguing premise: for a $10 suggested donation, artists will perform in the heart of the experimental music scene – inside the warehouses and spaces where new ideas often take flight for the first time. Some noteworthy appearances include (among many):
Jacob Garchik, Miles Okazaki, and Jacob Sacks solos (Seeds)
First Cousins Once Removed with Adam Schatz, Danny Fisher-Lochhead, Jonathan Goldberger, Skye Steele (35 Claver)
Denver General with Kirk Knuffké, Jonathan Goldberger, Jeff Davis; The Four Bags with Brian Drye, Jacob Garchik, Mike McGinnis, Sean Moran (IBeam)
Nate Wooley + The Home Of Easy Credit with Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen & Tom Blancarte (Big Snow Buffalo Lodge)
Travis Sullivan’s Bjorkestra (ShapeShifter Lab)
Photo source: jazz.about.com
SATURDAY: After three nights of roaming the town, 92Y Tribeca will offer some reprieve in its laidback space. But that’s the only reprieve to be seen from the grand finale – the evening’s round-robin is bound to stretch, pull, and perhaps even break some aural boundaries. A diverse group of instrumentalists will swap in and out of the set at random, infusing the air with their own signature kick. These artists include: Mark Helias, Brandon Seabrook, Hilmar Jensson, Allison Miller, Amir Ziv, Mike Pride, Bob Stewart, Cooper Moore, Miles Okazaki, Marika Hughes, John Hollenbeck, Matthew Mottel, Fabian Almazan, and more.
For more details, visit the Undead Jazz Festival website.
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