2024 NYC WINTER JAZZFEST Celebrates 20 Seasons With the Full Spectrum of Jazz, January 10-18
Shabaka Hutchings, Artist-in-Residence, making 6 appearances, with esperanza spalding, Saul Williams, Jason Moran, Joe Lovano and more.
By: A.A. Cristi Oct. 20, 2023
NYC Winter Jazzfest has announced the initial list of artists to be featured at the 20th annual NYC Winter Jazzfest! Please mark your calendars for January 10-18, 2024.
“Yes, it's our 20th season,” says founder and producer Brice Rosenbloom. “We began in 2005 at the Knitting Factory on Leonard St., with the mission of highlighting music that deserved wider attention while the APAP conference was in town, and to a large degree that mission remains. But over the years that mission grew, to focus on artists with meaningful messages, in the desire to serve as a beacon for racial and gender justice, action on climate change, migration, mass incarceration and other pressing issues that affect so many of us.”
The overarching goal remains as well: to grow the audience for jazz, with a broad programming mission that speaks to the diversity of the New York scene, presenting the widest spectrum of what jazz can be. We continue in January 2024, proud as ever to support a host of today's most fearless and creative musicians as we push boundaries and imagine new possibilities for our music scene and our world.
A number artists who've gone on wide industry acclaim including GRAMMYs and MacArthurs and secure major platforms for their work are among our past performers including: influential musicians including Jon Batiste, Kamasi Washington, Gregory Porter, Jason Moran, Vijay Iyer, Esperanza Spalding, Gretchen Parlato and more. These artists look back to their early WJF appearances as pivotal in terms of artistic growth and audience growth as well. Participants from our very earliest WJF days performing at this year's festival include Marc Ribot, Jason Moran, Burnt Sugar, The Arkestra Chamber, Nduduzo Makhathini, Meg Okura, Jason Lindner, Aaron Parks, Mary Halvorson, and we're honored to welcome them back.
At the same time, in unique ways we are celebrating artists we've lost who will always be at the root of this music and our community: Max Roach, Sarah Vaughan, Alice Coltrane, James Mtume, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Curtis Fowlkes, Pharoah Sanders and Sun Ra.
Artist-in-Residence Shabaka (f.k.a. Shabaka Hutchings)
Our artist-in-residence this year, saxophonist and multi-reedist Shabaka, will perform in six different configurations over the course of the festival. Shabaka's work transcends conventional notions of genre and draws from a vast palette of cultural influences. While he's undeniably a pioneering voice in the renaissance of British Jazz, his remit is much broader: he has also performed classical concertos with world-leading orchestras; led several hugely influential bands (Sons of Kemet, The Comet is Coming, Shabaka and The Ancestors) and has recently released a critically lauded solo album; Afrikan Culture, a work of exceptional beauty and urgency, focused around the eastern Asian instrument, the shakuhachi, of which Shabaka is a major exponent.
In addition to what is sure to be a revelatory January 11 duo set at Dizzy's with the great Joe Lovano (preceded by a intimate chat at Jazz Congress on the “Universality of Jazz”), Shabaka will take part in both of our Marathon nights in ensembles including Jason Moran, Saul Williams, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and more. He will perform on the January 14 tribute to James Mtume (see below) and our Impulse! Records showcase at Le Poisson Rouge (LPR) on January 15.
January 10
Take Two: Tyshawn Sorey x Max Roach - Members, Don't Git Weary + Gilles Peterson
On what would have been the late Max Roach's 100th birthday, Pique-nique and NYCWJF present composer and MacArthur Fellow Dr. Tyshawn Sorey, who continues the innovative “Take Two” deep listening series. An ongoing series in Brooklyn and elsewhere, Take Two debuted at last year's festival with an event in memory of Pharoah Sanders. This year Sorey devotes his attention to Max Roach's 1968 Atlantic Records classic Members, Don't Git Weary, which featured a new generation of future heavyweights; Gary Bartz, Charles Tolliver, Stanley Cowell, Jymie Merritt, and Andy Bey. Tolliver and Cowell would go on to form the seminal Strata-East label and in many ways this record embodies the template of that sound.
The evening will consist of an uninterrupted playback of the 1968 album followed by Sorey and his ensemble making it their own, reacting to what they heard, feeding off audience energy and a shared listening experience. His ensemble includes highly acclaimed young musicians including trumpeter Adam O'Farrill, saxophonist Mark Shim, pianist Sullivan Fortner, and bassist Matt Brewer, plus guest vocalist Fay Victor. The artists will connect the dots between record culture and live music culture.
BBC Host and musical impresario Gilles Peterson will serve as master of ceremonies and DJ a late night set after the performance.
January 11 - Winter Jazzfest X Jazz Congress
Jazz at Lincoln Center produces Jazz Congress, an annual conference designed to bring together artists, media and industry leaders in the global jazz community to exchange ideas in order to nurture and grow the jazz community and the underlying business and organizations that promote, produce, present, market and support the music. The conference was co-produced in association with JazzTimes from 2018 to 2021. After a hiatus in 2022 and 2023, Jazz Congress returns as a one-day event on January 11, 2024. In 2024, Jazz Congress will collaborate with Winter Jazzfest in honor of its 20th anniversary. This will include a NYC Winter Jazzfest 20th Anniversary Panel titled “Universality of Jazz” featuring British multi-instrumentalist and 2024 WJF Artist-in-Residence Shabaka Hutchings and South African pianist and composer Nduduzo Makhatini.
January 12 & 13 - Winter Jazzfest Manhattan & Brooklyn Marathons
Our epic WJF Marathons will once again unfold across two nights (January 12 & 13), at eight Manhattan venues followed by eight more in Brooklyn the following night. Manhattan Marathon highlights include The Jazz Passengers Remember Curtis Fowlkes (Jan. 12, Manhattan), Marc Ribot's 70th Birthday celebration (Jan. 12, Manhattan), Candid Records showcase (Jan. 12, Manhattan), will include Terri Lyne Carrington + Social Science plus new label signings Zaccha'eus Paul, Morgan Guerin, and Milena Casado, hosted by Carrington.
For the first time, NYC Winter Jazzfest will partner with Philadelphia-based presenter Ars Nova Workshop for a showcase of Philadelphia artists at Nublu (Jan. 12, Manhattan); TSFJAZZ/Paris Jazz Club host their annual French jazz artists showcase (Jan. 12, Manhattan), a sunset performance with Laraaji (Jan. 13, Brooklyn), Next Jazz Legacy ensemble performs to open the night at City Winery (Jan. 12, Manhattan), keyboardist and producer Ray Angry hosts a stage curated by Future X Sounds (Jan. 12, Manhattan); Joshua Abrams and Tisziji Muñoz Curate “The Harvest Time Project”, a series of ever-evolving live iterations of Pharoah Sanders' 1977 record Pharoah with a rotating cast of special guests each night (both marathon nights), a Jazz Passengers tribute to late trombone great Curtis Fowlkes, thre 70th birthday sets from Marc Ribot and much more.
January 14 - Celebrating Mtume (Crown Hill Theater)
Curated by author and music journalist Marcus J. Moore and WJF founder Brice Rosenbloom, we celebrate the late James Mtume with a special one-off performance of Alkebu-Lan: Land of the Blacks (Live at the East), his landmark Strata-East album from 1972. Recorded at The East, a cultural arts center and meeting place for Black people along Claver Place in Bed-Stuy, Alkebu-Lan might be the high-water mark of Mtume's career: vigorous and free, an Afrocentric blend of volcanic flourishes and chants rooted in African pride — a rousing celebration of unabashed Blackness and spirituality. It's also a Holy Grail album that sells for hundreds of dollars on the internet.
At NYCWJF 2024, an all-star lineup including direct participants Billy Hart and Gary Bartz alongside Charles Burnham, Nicole Mitchell, Moor Mother, Shabaka, Luke Stewart, Julius Rodriguez, Elucid and Kweku Sumbry will reimagine Mtume's classic album, using the vitality of Alkebu-Lan as a springboard to something new.
January 15 - Impulse! Records Showcase at LPR
Impulse! Records is proud to present today's most ground-breaking jazz stars with an evening headlined by Shabaka Hutchings (aka Shabaka), debuting material from his upcoming solo album with guests Esperanza Spalding and more. Trailblazing jazz harpist Brandee Younger will honor the music of Alice Coltrane. Liberation-oriented free jazz collective Irreversible Entanglements will perform; plus instrumental power-trio The Messthetics (former Fugazi members Joe Lally and Brendan Canty with unclassifiable guitar wonder Anthony Pirog) with keeper of the avant flame James Brandon Lewis and harpist Brandee Younger.
January 16 - January My Words Are Music: A Celebration of Sun Ra's Poetry (Nublu)
Sun Ra is better known to most as a musician than a poet, but he identified equally as both. This evening provides direct access to the sentiments of a poet who never called Earth home. Featuring recitations of Sun Ra's poems and original works by the participating artists, this spoken word event will immerse the listener in the rhythms of celestial verses, hosted by poet, activist, and educator Mahogany L. Browne with music by poet and educator Jive Poetic. Special guests includes
January 17 - Celebrating Ryuichi Sakamoto (Roulette)
Join us in celebration of Ryuichi Sakamoto's musical legacy as New York's finest musicians come together for a tribute concert on January 17, marking what would have been his 72nd birthday. From the revolutionary Thousand Knives to the iconic sounds of the Yellow Magic Orchestra and the Oscar-winning film scores, the Sakamoto Tribute Ensemble (led by violinist Meg Okura and cellist Rubin Kodheli) will interpret his enduring compositions with the utmost reverence. The special guests, Sakamoto's closest friends and collaborators, DJ Spooky, _____, and _____ [TK] will share their words and music in a heartfelt tribute.
January 18 - MONONEON & Friends (Brooklyn Steel)
Closing out NYCWJF 2024 will be Mononeon and Friends at Brooklyn Steel. The outrageously clad master of the electric bass will have on hand Knower, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Hannibal Buress, Tivon Pennicott, David Fiuczynski and more for a night to remember.
As in past years, NYCWJF 2024 will program a series of Jazz Talks. These panel discussions spark intellectual reflection and provide the public with a wider context for understanding all that goes on in the artistic lives of our performers. Details are in formation and will be announced shortly.
Moxy Hotels
We are pleased to have Moxy Williamsburg and Moxy Lower East Side as our official hotel partners.
You will find the information for your online reservation link below.
Book your rate for Winter Jazzfest 2024
If you have any questions you can email sales@moxywilliamsburg.com
Participating properties:
Praised by The New York Times, The New Yorker, NPR and countless other national publications, the NYCWJF has become a creative home for pathbreaking artists from the local NYC scene and globally, and a pivotal destination for arts leaders and cultural cognoscenti, hardcore fans and new listeners alike. The festival has grown at a rapid pace, from the original one-day single-location program to annual schedules putting as many as 150 groups (over 600 artists) on 20 stages throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Founded by New York concert impresario Brice Rosenbloom, NYCWJF has become the definitive all-inclusive jazz event that offers a “state of the union” of jazz and its many stylistic camps from avant-garde to post-bop, jazz-funk, fusion, hypermodern through-composed music and jazz-inflected world music. From party bands to ambient electronic groups to the most advanced compositional approaches – audiences sample everything the jazz world has to offer. As a destination event, attendees regularly travel from other states and countries to attend the festival. Many in the industry see it as jazz's answer to SXSW. We hope to see you there!
Confirmed performers:
Abiodun Oyewole (The Last Poets)
Alex Zhang Hungtai, Che Chen, Leo Chang
Alexis Lombre
Alissia
Allysha Joy
Angelika Niescier, Tomeka Reid, Savannah Harris
Anna Webber 'Shimmer Wince'
Anthony Tidd's Sanity with Ursula Rucker
Bark Culture
Billy Hart
Black Buttafly
Brandee Younger
Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber
Carlos Niño
Caroline Davis' Alula
Christie Dashiell
Cisco Swank
DJ Spooky
Elsa Nilssen
Elucid
Genevieve Artadi Trio ft. Louis Cole and Chris Fishman
Georgia Anne Muldrow
Ghost-Note
Gilles Peterson
Guy Mintus
Hess Is More
Immanuel Wilkins
Irreversible Entanglements
Jason Moran
Joe Lovano
Joel Ross
Jose James presents 1978
Joshua Abrams
Julius Rodriguez
Kalia Vandever
Karl Denson Project
Knower
Kweku Sumbry
Laraaji
Little Big w/ Aaron Parks, Greg Tuohey, DJ Ginyard & JK Kim
Mahogany L. Browne & Jive Poetic
Marc Ribot Celebration (3 groups)
Marshall Allen's Ghost Horizons
Mary Halvorson & Thomas Fujiwara
Matana Roberts
Melanie Charles Trio w/ Endea Owens and Savannah Harris
Micah Thomas Trio
Miguel Atwood Ferguson
Milena Casado
MonoNeon
Moor Mother
Morgan Guerin
Natalie Greffel
Natural Information Society
Nduduzo Makhathini
Next Jazz Legacy
Nicole Mitchell
Oran Etkin
Rafiq Bhatia with Chris Pattishall
Ray Angry
Rich Medina
Rogê
Roy Nathanson's '82 Days'
Samora Pinderhughes
Sakamoto Tribute Ensemble
Shabaka Hutchings (artist in residence)
Simon Moullier
Terri Lyne Carrington
The Harvest Time Project: A Tribute to Pharoah Sanders w/ Tisziji Muñoz, Joshua Abrams
The Jazz Passengers
The Messthetics with James Brandon Lewis
Tineke Postma Aria Group
Tisziji Muñoz
Tobias Meinhart
Tyshawn Sorey
Zacchae'us Paul
Zoh Amba, Shahzad Ismaily, Jim White, Steve Gunn
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