King, Washington To Headline Winter Jazzfest NYC

The New York City Winter Jazzfest turns 12 years old in 2016, and plans for the Greenwich Village-based festival are heating up.

The festival, which will run Jan. 13–17, will feature more than 120 groups performing on 12 stages. Featured headliners include saxophonist Kamasi Washington as well as The Bad Plus drummer David King, who will serve as the fest’s artist in residence.

Winter Jazzfest was established in 2005 with the goal of introducing underexposed artists to professional presenters attending the Arts Presenters Conference (APAP).

In years past, the festival has showcased David Murray, Jason Moran, John Medeski, Dave Douglas, Vijay Iyer, Anat Cohen, Robert Glasper, JD Allen, Gretchen Parlato, Jonathan Batiste, Ambrose Akinmusire, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Mary Halvorson and hundreds more.

The kick-off concert on Jan. 13 celebrates collective creativity, featuring three leaderless groups from around the globe: The Ex, a Dutch ensemble that draws on punk, Ethiopian funk and improvised jazz; bassist Bill Laswell and low-reed specialist Colin Stetson in a duo setting; and Happy Apple, a Minneapolis-based band that will feature King, saxophonist Mike Lewis and bassist Erik Fratzke.

On Jan. 14, Winter Jazzfest will welcome Washington and guests to Webster Hall. The Los Angeles-based saxophonist will energize audiences with material from his latest album, The Epic, which was released May 5 on Brainfeeder.

The signature Winter Jazzfest Marathon is scheduled for Jan. 15–16. This two-night event straddles venues on the north and south ends of Greenwich Village, taking over five stages at The New School and six stages south of Washington Square Park, including returning venues Le Poisson Rouge, Judson Memorial Church, Zinc Bar, The Bitter End, Greenwich House Music School and an added stage at the Greene Space at WNYC & WQXR.

Some of the returning festival performers who will participate in the “marathon” are Amir Elsaffar, José James, Takuya Kuroda, Marc Cary, Lakecia Benjamin, Dawn of Midi, Cyrus Chestnut, Julian Lage and Sexmob.

Artists making their festival debut include Chargaux, Gogo Penguin, Cory Henry, James Francies and Sarah Neufeld, as well as esteemed jazz veterans Christian McBride and Dr. Lonnie Smith.

New projects will include Joey Arias’ Basic Black and Burnt Sugar performing the music of Ornette Coleman, Sun-Ra and Wayne Shorter.

On Jan. 17 the festival will close with a John Coltrane project by San Francisco Bay Area saxophone quartet Rova. With an expansive cast of New York improvisers, the concert celebrates the DVD/Blu-Ray release of the film Channeling Coltrane, a 21st century reimagining of John Coltrane’s 1966 masterwork Ascension. Featured guest performers include guitarist Nels Cline, harpist Zeena Parkins, trumpeter Nate Wooley, drummer Ikue Mori, bassist Trevor Dunn, drummer Gerald Cleaver and violinists Charles Burnham and Jason Kao Hwang.

For the first time, Winter Jazzfest will partner with ECM Records to present 13 projects. These showcases will take place at The New School on Jan. 14 and 15. Among the artists scheduled to perform are Avishai Cohen, Chris Potter, Craig Taborn and Vijay Iyer, all of whom will present material from upcoming ECM albums.

For more info on Winter Jazzfest, or to buy tickets for the event, click here. To read a review of the 2014 festival, which marked the event’s 10th anniversary, click here.

DB

from www.downbeat.com