 Katie Martin
The 13th annual Vision Collaboration Festival will feature the musicians: William Parker, Rob Brown, Lewis Barnes, Leena Conquest, Eri Yamamoto, Hamid Drake, Roy Campbell, Billy Bang, Bryan Carrott, Hill Greene, Zen Matsuura, Charles Gayle, Shanir Blumenkranz, Ryan Sawyer, J.D. Allen, Jake Meginsky, Mavrothi Kontanis, Jim Staley, Jason Kao Hwang, and Todd Nicholson. The festival will aslo feature the following dancers: Katie Martin, Miriam Parker, Patricia Nicholson, K.J. Holmes, Asimina Chremos, Jumaane Taylor, and Sally Silvers. A complete schedule follows.
Jake Meginsky works in percussion, composition, and music/movement collaboration. He has collaborated and performed with such artists as William Parker, John Blum, Daniel Carter, Paul Flaherty, Arthur Brooks, Cooper Moore, Bill Nace, John Truscinski, Nicholas Brooke, and Sean Mattio. Jake has also performed as a guest artist-in-residence at the University of Iowa. Recently, Jake completed a national performance tour as musical director and percussionist with Susan Sgorbati’s Emergent Improvisation Project. His recordings can be found on Open Mouth Records (Northampton, MA), Hells Half Halo (Seattle, WA), Wooden Finger Records (Belgium), Ultra Eczema Records (Belgium), and Ecstatic Peace Records (Northampton, MA). Katie Martin is a dance artist currently based in Vermont. While in college, her choreographic work was selected as a finalist in the 2004 American College Dance Festival. Katie has danced in the works of Mark Dendy, Ann Carlson, Keith Thompson, Dana Reitz, Susan Rethorst, and Meg Wolfe. Her work has been presented at various venues in NYC, including Joyce SoHo Presents, Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church, Dance Conversations at The Flea Theater, Improvised and Otherwise Festival, DUMBO Dance Festival, Anthology Film Archives Library, and the Arts Center for the Capital Region (Troy, NY). Katie teaches dance and yoga widely and has been a guest artist at Bennington College, Williams College, Southern Vermont College, Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, and The Neurosciences Institute. She also continues to perform and teach with Susan Sgorbati’s Emergent Improvisation Project.
Hamid Drake is widely regarded as one of the best percussionists in improvised music. Incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian, and African percussion instruments and influence, in addition to using the standard trap set, Drake has collaborated extensively with top free jazz improvisers Peter Brotzmann, Fred Anderson, and Ken Vandermark, among others. Fred Anderson introduced Drake to George Lewis and other AACM members. Drake also was a member of Foday Muso Suso's Mandingo Griot Society, and has played reggae. Drake has been a member of the Latin jazz band Night on Earth, the Georg Graewe Quartet, the DKV Trio, Peter Brotzmann's Chicago Octet/Tentet, and Liof Munimula. Drake has worked with Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders, Fred Anderson, Mahmoud Gania, bassist William Parker. Miriam Parker performance artist, dancer; grew up on the lower east side, attended Bennington trained in Dance at Alvin Ailey, Dance Theater of Harlem, the School of American Ballet, etc. She created and performed multi-media works, "3 Tiers", "Glass Bells" in NYC and "Inzwischen" and "Wrinkle in Time" in Germany. She has danced for 2 years with Germany-based, Amanda Miller's Pretty Ugly, and later Ballet Saarbrucken. Since then she focused on duos with avantjazz musicians in Israel and NY and works regularly in multi-media works with Patricia Nicholson performing at festivals around the world.
 William Parker
William Parker, born and raised in the Bronx, is a key figure in jazz music today. Most renowned as a composer and bassist, Parker is a multi-instrumentalist, an educator, and a writer. In March of 2007 Musica Jazz, of Italy, named him musician of the year, for 2005. William Parker is prolific recording artist, with over 150 recorded albums and countless celebrated stage appearances. Projects with dancer and choreographer Patricia Nicholson resulted in a wealth of composed music for multiple ensembles ranging from solo works to big band projects. Rob Borwn, has been actively leading his own bands or working regularly with Matthew Shipp, Wiliiam Parker, Joe Morris, Whit Dickey in NY since 1984. Rob has also performed and/or recorded with; Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, Denis Charles, Bill Dixon, Butch Morris, Reggie Workman, Henry Grimes, Roy Campbell Jr., Hamid Drake, Fred Hopkins, et. al, as well as various dance groups, poets, and performance artists. He has toured Europe extensively. He is a 2001 CalArts/Alpert/Ucross Residency Prize winner and has received many Meet The Composer Fund grants. In 2006 Rob was awarded a Chamber Music America New Works grant.
Lewis Barnes trumpeter and vocalist, Lewis Barnes has performed and recorded with bassist William Parker, saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc, guitarist Jean-Paul Bourelly, Burnt Sugar, The Holmes Brothers, singer Norah Jones, and numerous musical projects. He's also written and recorded original music for two films by Actress/Cinematographer Sandye Wilson. Patricia Nicholson developed her dance within the freejazz movement. She combines traditional and non-traditional techniques to create her own eclectic approach to intuitive movement and composition. Ms. Nicholson has brought her avantjazz collaborations to festivals all over the world including Tampere Jazz Festival, Guelph Jazz Festival, the Vision Festival, Sons d'Hiver Festival and Vision Nights, Tel Aviv Jazz Festival, the San Diego Jazz Festival and recently at the Movement Research Improv Festival.
Roy Campbell plays trumpet, flute, and composes, arranges, and leads a variety of ensembles including Tazz, Other Dimensions in Music and The Pyramid Trio. He has collaborated with many noted musicians such as David Murray, Cecil Taylor, Billy Bang, Rashid Ali, Jemeel Moondoc, and William Parker. He has released various cd's through Delmark Records such as Ethnic Stew and Brew and Ancestral Homeland with The Pyramid Trio, and New Kingdom with various ensembles. Billy Bang. Evocative an expressive style has enhanced over two dozen albums by top names in a variety of genres, from the blistering funk of Bootsy Collins and the harmolodic groove of Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society to the intergalactic uproar of Sun Ra. With more than 15 albums under his own leadership, nearly a dozen more in co-led endeavors, and five more with the String Trio of New York (which he co-founded in 1977 with guitarist James Emery and bassist John Lindberg), Billy Bang is one of the more prolific and original members of the progressive scene. His most recent endeavor is the Vietnam Trilogy, through which he explores his experiences as a soldier in the conflict. Hilliard Greene has performed and/or recorded with Jimmy Scott, currently serving as his Musical Director and with Cecil Taylor where he was Concert Master for his group “Phtongos,” in addition to numerous other distinguished musicians. As a band leader, he produced two CD’s under with his own ensemble The Jazz Expressions and a solo bass CD entitled “Alone.” He teaches classes at The Bass Collective in New York City as well as privately, and conducts workshops for both children and adults.
K.J. Holmes is an independent dancer, singer, and poet. She has been developing her work since 1981; working with dancers Patricia Nicholson, Steve Paxton, Simone Forti, Lisa Nelson, Karen Nelson and Scott Smith, and collaborating with musicians Roy Campbell, Dave Douglas, Bakida Carroll, Susie Ibarra, Santi Owen, Santi Debriano, Jude Webre, Zhang Xiao Feng, Andrew Kushin Steve Banks, Peter Jones, Michael Wall, Jim Staley, Yoshiko Chuma, Billy Bang and Joe Morris, among many others. Her work has been presented in New York at venues such as D.T.W., Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church, Dixon Place, The Kitchen, and Movement Research at the Judson Church. Holmes is adjunct faculty at New York University Experimental Theater Wing, teaches at Movement Research where she was artist in residence 1993-94, and at the Trisha Brown Studio. She is currently developing a new ensemble piece to be performed as a full evening in fall 2008.
Mavrothi T. Kontanis studied the oud, with many renowned masters. He has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and the Middle East playing traditional and classical music from all over the world, as well as original compositions of his own with various ensembles. He has been featured on several albums and the film soundtrack of “American East,” and is currently working on three recording projects that will showcase his musicianship and diverse musical interests. In addition to playing oud, Mavrothis has become an accomplished singer and violinist, and also enjoys teaching and writing.
Asimina Chremos was a member of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater from 1983-86, during which time she danced corps and soloist roles in works by Balanchine and full length classics under the direction of Patricia Wilde. She earned a BFA in Dance from Temple University where she graduated summa cum laude in 1991. She has worked independently and consistently as a dancer, choreographer, educator and collaborator.
J.D. Allen has performed, recorded, and toured with legends Lester Bowie, George Cables, Betty Carter, Louis Hayes , Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette, Frank Foster Big Band, Winard Harper, Butch Morris, David Murray, Wallace Roney, and contemporaries Cindy Blackman, Orrin Evans, Marcus Gilmore, Russell Gunn, and Me'shell N'degeocello, Dave Douglas among others. J.D.'s debut album, In Search Of... (red records), won him the Best New Artist award in Italy in 1999. His second release, Pharoah's Children (Criss Cross), was chosen as Jazziz Magazine's Critics Pics Top 10 Albums of the Year. J.D. Allen performs regularly with his own trio. Jumaane Taylor has performed and taught nationally and internationally. Some of his credits include the Chicago Tap Summit, Hyde Park Jazz Festival, St. Louis Tap Festival, Chicago Human Rhythm Project, L.A. Tap Fest and numerous shows with ETA Creative Arts Foundation. He was featured in Dance Spirit Magazine as "One of the Top 20 Hoofers under 20". In 2000, he won 1st place in the "1st Annual Chicago Tap Off" and in 2006, he was proclaimed by The Chicago Tribune, one of the top five dancers in Chicago. Taylor danced with the ensemble for "Imagine Tap!" He is a band member of Corey Wilkes’ Abstrakt Pulse.
Miya Masaoka resides in New York City and is a classically trained musician, composer and sound/installation artist. She has created works for solo koto, sensor interfaces, laptop and video, as well as sculpture installations, notated scores for ensembles, chamber orchestra and mixed choirs. In her pieces, she often works with the sonification of data, and maps the behavior of brain and plant activity and insect movement to sound. Her work has been performed throughout the world including the Venice Biennale 2004, the Miller Theater, Merkin Hall, NYC, V2 (Rotterdam), Ircam, (Paris), KunstRadio (Vienna ), Radio Breman (Germany). Sound installations include Center for Art and Visual Culture (University of Maryland), Lincoln Center Out of Doors (Homemade Instrument Day), the Kitchen, 2006 Winter Olympics (Torino, Italy). Commissions and awards include Engine 27/Harvestworks, Bang On a Can and the Alpert Arts Award.
Jim Staley, trombonist/composer/improvisor, crossing genres between post-modern, classical music, and avant-garde jazz. He has worked with other highly experienced improvisers, both dancers and musicians, including Sally Silvers, Pooh Kaye, Simone Forti, Ikue Mori, Davey Williams, Shelley Hirsch, Phoebe Legere, John Zorn and many others. Staley’s recording projects include Blind Pursuits with Phoebe Legere and Borah Bergman; Mumbo Jumbo with Wayne Horvitz, Elliott Sharp, Shelley Hirsch, Samm Bennett, Ikue Mori, Bill Frisell, Fred Frith and John Zorn; Jim Staley's Don Giovanni, with Mori, Davey Williams, Zeena Parkins and Tenko; Fred Frith, Elliott Sharp's ensemble Carbon. Staley performs and records with the Tone Road Ramblers, a collaborative chamber-improv ensemble, together since 1981. He is the 2005 recipient of the Susan E Kennedy Memorial Award, given for his years in support of artists.
Bruce Andrews is "a performance artist and poet whose texts are some of the most radical of the Language school; his poetry tries to cast doubt on each and every 'natural' construction of language" (The Oxford Companion to Twentieth Century Literature in English). A founding co-editor of the journal L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E, he is the author of over 30 books of poetry and a collection of innovative critical essays, has published poetry and criticism widely, and has been the subject of numerous critical articles over the past several years. He has also been involved in a long series of collaborative multi-media theatrical projects and performances. As composer, sound designer & live mixer, since the mid 1980s, he has been Music Director for Sally Silvers & Dancers.
Sally Silvers celebrated 25 years of dance making in 2005. She has performed and taught (improvisation, composition, repertory) around the world. Her theoretical writing, scores, and poetry have appeared in journals including The Drama Review, an anthology of new writings by women published by Illinois University Press, and poetry magazines. Silvers has received support for her choreography from the NEA six times, twice from Meet the Composer/Choreographer Program, from the NY Foundation for the Arts, the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, and she received a Guggenheim Fellowship. Silvers is a New York Dance and Performance "Bessie" winner, has co-directed 2 dance films, Little Lieutenant and Mechanics of the Brain, and choreographed 3 musicals for the Sundance Theater Festival in Utah. She has performed with composers John Zorn, “Butch” Morris, Ikue Mori, Bun-Ching Lam and George Lewis among many others.
Charles Gayle , tenor saxophonist, has been exploring music with players from all over the world. He is considered one of the most inspirational musicians of his generation. In less than 20 years Gayle has recordeed no less than 27 albums as a leader or co-leader.
Shanir Blumenkranz acoustic/electric bass, oud Shanir has recorded and performed extensively with Satlah, Rashanim, and Pharaoh's. Other recordings include "Chinatown" featuring Daniel Carter; "Sextet 2003” featuring Anthony Braxton and Sonny Simmons; Trio Tarana's "Climbing The Banyan Tree" featuring Ravish Momin and Jason Kao Hwang. Shanir has performed in many clubs and festivals around the world, including a concert for BBC Radio in London with Zorn.
Vision Collaboration Festival Schedule:
Thursday, January 10, 2008 Billy Bang © by Stefania Errore - 7:30 Vibrational Modes
- Katie Martin dance / Jake Meginsky percussion
- 8:00 By Night - No Stillness
- Miriam Parker dance / Hamid Drake frame drum /
- Katy Martin & Jo Wood Brown visual artists
- 8:30 Lights by fragments of Light gathering
- Patricia Nicholson dance / William Parker bass / Bill Mazza video drawing
- 9:00 Raining on the Moon Sextet
- William Parker bass / Rob Brown sax / Lewis Barnes trumpet / Leena Conquest vocals / Eri Yamamoto piano / Hamid Drake drums
Friday, January 11, 2008- 7:30 Constellation Higher Octave
- K.J. Holmes dance / Roy Campbell trumpet
- 8:00 Asimina Chremos dance / Mavrothi Kontanis oud
- 8:30 Jumaane Taylor tap dance / J.D. Allen sax
- 9:00 Roy Campbell’s Akhenaten Ensemble
- Roy Campbell trumpet / Billy Bang violin / Bryan Carrott vibes /
- Hill Greene bass / Zen Matsuura drums
Saturday, January 12, 2008- 7:30 Yessified
- Sally Silvers dance / Bruce Andrews language,
- Miya Masaoka koto, / Jim Staley trombone
- 8:00 Mix-Up
- Dance: Jumaane Taylor, Asimina Chremos, Miriam Parker
- K.J. Holmes, Patricia Nicholson
- Music: Jason Kao Hwang violin, Todd Nicholson bass
- 9:00 Charles Gayle Trio
- Charles Gayle sax / Shanir Blumenkranz bass / Ryan Sawyer drums
Vision Collaboration Festival
January 10 – 11 – 12, 2008 at 7:30-10pm
Symphony Space’s Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater, 2537 Broadway at 95th St
$20 in advance, $25 at the door $15 students, and seniors
www.visionfestival.org / 212.696.6681 |
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