Henry Grimes © Michael Jackson

Highlights of the 2007 Vision Festival include newly commissioned works by William Parker, Bill Dixon, and Roy Campbell (with support from the New York State Music Fund, established by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors), and Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble (commissioned by Chamber Music America), as well as performances by Fieldwork, Spiritual Unity featuring Marc Ribot (with special guest Henry Grimes), Jayne Cortez and the Firespitters, Hamid Drake, Matthew Shipp Solo, Louis Moholo and Friends, T.E.C.K. String 4tet, Fred Anderson Trio, Amiri and Amina Baraka, Tim Berne, Ganelin Trio Priority, and much, much more. There will also be a special memorial tribute to the violinist Leroy Jenkins, featuring 50 violins under the direction of Billy Bang and Jason Kao Hwang. The full schedule follows.

Bill Dixon © Guy Asselin

Bill Dixon Lifetime Recognition Celebration Wednesday, June 20, 2007

The 81 year-old Bill Dixon has been an innovative leader of creative music for over 40 years. His first commercial recordings were made for Savoy in 1962 as the co-leader of the Archie Shepp - Bill Dixon Quartet. In 1967, Dixon recorded Intents and Purposes for RCA, a definitive statement of his work with composition and improvisation for large ensemble. In addition to performing and recording, Dixon was busy organizing musicians in the 1960s. He produced and organized the 1964 October Revolution in Jazz and founded the Jazz Composers' Guild (1964) as well as the Free Conservatory of the University of the Streets (1967). Education has also been a lifelong pursuit for Dixon; he was on the faculty at Bennington College (VT) from 1968-1996 and in 1973, he created the Black Music Division at Bennington, one of the first programs in academia devoted to studying Black Music. Dixon's art is not limited to music, he is also a recognized visual artist, and his paintings will be on display throughout the week, at the Vision Festival. Bill Dixon's self-empowered, tireless dedication to this art-form-in performance, organization, and education-continues to inform the work of Vision Festival and many others in avantJazz and beyond.

There will also be two sets performed on June 20 in dedication to Bill Dixon - Co-Pilots: Led by Henry Grimes with Marilyn Crispell and Rashied Ali; and Survival Unit III, led by Joe McPhee, with Fred Lonberg-Holm and Michael Zerang. Come join us for what is sure to be a special evening in tribute to this unique artist, and don't forget the other five of the wonderful nights if Vision Festival XII!!

"A triple threat as soloist, bandleader and composer, Mitchell in recent years has emerged as one of the most promising figures in Chicago music." - Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune

Nicole Mitchell, flutist, composer, bandleader and educator, has performed, and had her compositions performed in venues all over the world and in cities all over the United States. She serves as co-president of the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians), and leads two distinguished musical groups: The Black Earth Ensemble and Black Earth Strings.

She was awarded "Chicagoan of the Year 2006," by the Chicago Tribune and has previously been honored as Illinois Arts Council Music Composition Fellow in both 2003 and 2005. At the Vision Festival this year Mitchell premieres, "The Xenogenesis Suite: A Tribute to Octavia Butler," a work commissioned by Chamber Music America. Mitchell challenged herself with this work, writing "outside of [her]self," translating the turbulent and transcendent emotional landscape of a character, "Lilith," who appears in a science fiction story by Butler, into music. In the piece, Mitchell says she tapped into what Lilith must have felt, being taken on an unwilling journey to a new planet, a journey that Mitchell likens to the experience of African slaves. This piece, though a departure in terms of its inspiration, is very much a tributary of Mitchell's other works, which "celebrates the multifaceted expression of Great Black Music and the AACM." The piece was born of visual and emotional concepts, and ultimately will include a videography as well as a score. Thursday, June 23, 2007 - at 7:30 pm at Angel Orensanz Foundation 172 Norfolk Street, New York.

Poet/Host Lewis Barnes

Marilyn Rispell © Rossetti Phocus

• 7:00 Opening Invocation
• Patricia Nicholson / William Parker / Hamid Drake
• 7:30 William Parker - "Double Sunrise Over Neptune" - World Premiere
• Lewis Barnes trumpet / Rob Brown alto saxophone / Sabir Mateen reeds
• Bill Cole double reeds / Joe Morris guitar, banjo / Jason Kao Hwang violin
• Mazz Swift violin / Jessica Pavone viola / Shiau-Shu Yu cello / Brahim Frigbane oud
• William Parker bass / Shayna Dulberger bass / Hamid Drake drums / Gerald Cleaver drums
• 8:30 Fieldwork
• Steve Lehman saxophones, compositions / Vijay Iyer piano, compositions
• Tyshawn Sorey drums, compositions
• 9:30 The Keyboard Project: Cooper-Moore Project with Marlies Yearby
• Darius Jones alto saxophone / Cooper-Moore keyboards
• Assif Tsahar tenor / Willie Applewhite trombone
• Nioka Workman cello / Chad Taylor drums / Marlies Yearby dance
• 10:30 Spiritual Unity featuring Marc Ribot (with special guest Henry Grimes)
• Roy Campbell trumpet / Marc Ribot guitar
• Henry Grimes bass / Chad Taylor drums

Vijay Iyer © Rossetti Phocus

• 7:00 Barry Wallenstein and Friends
• Barry Wallenstein vocals, poetry / Daniel Carter reeds, trumpet / special guests TBA
• 7:30 Bill Dixon with the Sound Vision Orchestra - World Premiere
• Bill Dixon trumpet, compositions
• Graham Haynes trumpet / Stephen Haynes trumpet / Taylor Ho Bynum cornet
• Dick Griffin trombone / Steve Swell trombone / Joe Daley tuba
• Andrew Raffo Dewar soprano saxophone / Michel Cote reeds / J.D. Parran reeds
• Will Connell, Jr. reeds / John Hagen reeds / Karen Borca bassoon /
• Glynis Lomon cello / Andrew Lafkas double bass
• Warren Smith vibraphone, percussion / Jackson Krall percussion
• 9:30 Co-Pilots: Henry Grimes with Marilyn Crispell and Rashied Ali
• Henry Grimes bass / Marilyn Crispell piano / Rashied Ali drums
• 10:30 Survival Unit III
• Joe McPhee reeds, flugelhorn / Fred Lonberg-Holm cello
• Michael Zerang drums

• 6:00 New York - Paris Poetry
• Tribes, New York
• Miguel Algarin, Steve Cannon, Steve Dalachinsky, Post Midnight, Ishle Park
• The Weavers, Paris
• Thomas Gilson, Mathias Gross, Alexandre Pierrepont, Laurence Pierrepont, Daniel Vassaux
• 7:30 Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble - Xenogenesis Suite: A Tribute to Octavia Butler
• David Young trumpet / Nicole Mitchell flute / David Boykin reeds
• Justin Dillard piano / Tomeka Reid cello / Josh Abrams bass
• Arveeayl Ra drums / Marcus Evans drums / Mankwe Ndosi vocals
• 8:30 Hardcell
• Tim Berne alto saxophone / Craig Taborn piano / Tom Rainey drums
• 9:30 Local Lingo
• Jason Kao Hwang violin, viola, compositions / Sang Won Park ajang, kayagum, voice
• 10:30 Jayne Cortez and The Firespitters
• Jayne Cortez poetry / Bern Nix guitar / special guests TBA
• Al MacDowell bass / Denardo Coleman drums

Friday June 22

Craig Taborn © Andrea Canter

• Poet/Host David Budbill
• 5:30 Panel Discussion Part I - Art in America: A Grassroots Struggle
• 7:00 50 Violins for Leroy Jenkins
• Memorial tribute led by Billy Bang, coordinated by Jason Kao Hwang
• 7:30 Matthew Shipp Solo Piano
• 8:30 Roy Campbell's Ahkenaten Suite - World Premiere
• Roy Campbell trumpet / Billy Bang violin / Bryan Carrott vibraharp
• Hilliard Greene bass / Zen Matsuura drums
• 9:30 Dance/Music/Art Installation "A State of Mind" by Patricia Nicholson
• Dance: Miriam Parker, Julia Wilkins, Gus Solomons, jr
• Music: Lewis Barnes, Rob Brown, William Parker, Hamid Drake
• Artists: Jo Wood Brown, Katie Martin, Kazuko Miyamoto, Phyllis Bulkin-Lehrer, Lili White
• 10:15 Fred Anderson Trio
• Fred Anderson tenor saxophone / Harrison Bankhead bass
• Hamid Drake drums
• 11:15 Spindrift for Leroy Jenkins
• Myra Melford piano, melodica / Mark Taylor French horn
• Brandon Ross guitars / Shuni Tsou di-zi
• Saturday Afternoon June 23
• 2:00 Michael Bisio Quartet
• Stephen Gauci winds / Avram Fefer winds
• Michael Bisio bass / Jay Rosen percussion
• 3:00 SYNERGY Sight and Sound
• Amir Bey costumes, set design / Saco Yasuma alto saxophone, compositions
• Ras Moshe reeds / Dave Ross guitar / Christopher Dean Sullivan bass / Lou Grassi drums
• 4:00 Mary Halvorson and Jessica Pavone
• Mary Halvorson guitar, vocals / Jessica Pavone viola, vocals
• 5:00 Corey Wilkes Quintet
• Corey Wilkes trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals / Kevin Nabors tenor saxophone
• Junuis Paul bass / Isaiah Spencer drums / Jumaane Taylor dance
• Saturday Night June 23
• Poet/Host David Budbill
• 7:30 Ganelin Trio Priority
• Vyacheslav Ganelin piano, synthesizer, percussion / Petras Vysniauskas soprano sax
• Klaus Kugel drums, percussion
• 8:30 Eddie Gale All-Star Band
• Eddie Gale trumpet / Prince Lasha reeds / Kidd Jordan tenor saxophone
• Valerie Mih piano / William Parker bass / Alvin Fielder drums / Patricia Nicholson dance
• 9:30 Rob Brown Quartet
• Rob Brown alto saxophone / Lewis Barnes trumpet
• Todd Nicholson bass / Guillermo E. Brown drums
• 10:30 Whit Dickey Trio
• Sabir Mateen reeds / Todd Nicholson bass / Whit Dickey drums
• 11:30 Amiri and Amina Baraka's Blue Ark
• Amiri Baraka poetry / Amini Baraka poetry, vocals
• Dwight West vocals / Rene McLean reeds / Adegoke Steve Colson piano
• Curtis Lundy bass / Pheeroan akLaff drums

Sunday June 24

Marc Ribot © Chico De Luigi.jpg

• 3:30 Panel Discussion Part II - What Is "Serious" Music or Art?
• 5:00 T.E.C.K. String 4tet
• Tomas Ulrich cello / Elliott Sharp acoustic guitars
• Carlos Zingaro violin / Ken Filiano double bass
• 6:00 Hamid Drake now
• Hamid Drake drums / Paolo Angeli prepared guitar
• Sabir Mateen reeds / Patricia Nicholson dance
• 7:00 Thomas Buckner Trio
• Thomas Buckner vocals / Jerome Bourdellon flute / Roscoe Mitchell reeds
• 8:00 Daniel Levin Quartet
• Daniel Levin cello / Nate Wooley trumpet / Joe Morris bass / Matt Moran vibraphone
• 9:00 Louis Moholo and Friends
• Kidd Jordan tenor saxophone / Dave Burrell piano
• William Parker bass / Louis Moholo drums

 

Visual Art at The Vision Festival
• A State of Mind
• Dialogue Amongst the Arts
• Amir Bey - installation
• Jo Wood Brown - installation
• Kazuko Miyamoto - installation
• Yuko Otomo - installation
• Maura Sheehan - installation
• Cassie Thornton - installation
• Bill Mazza - live drawings
• Jorgo Schaefer - live drawings
• Jeff Schlanger - live drawings
• Bill Dixon - painting
• Robin Kahn - painting
• Phyllis Bulkin Lehrer - video
• Katy Martin - video
• Lili White - video
• Peter Gannushkin - photographer
• Luciano Rossetti - photographer
• Michael Wilderman - photographer