2024 NYC Winter Jazzfest Announces Final Lineup For 20th Anniversary Season

NYC Winter Jazzfest has announced the complete list of artists to be featured at the 20th annual NYC Winter Jazzfest! Please mark your calendars for January 10-18, 2024.

“It is our 20th season,” says founder and producer Brice Rosenbloom. “We began in 2005 at the Knitting Factory on Leonard Street with the mission of highlighting music that deserved wider attention while the APAP conference was in town, and that mission remains. Over the years that mission has expanded to focus on artists with meaningful messages, in the desire to serve as a beacon for racial and gender justice, community building and wellness. Especially in these times of divisiveness, we understand the importance of nurturing community through music.” 

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 that push boundaries and imagine new possibilities for our music scene and our world.

A number artists who have gone on to wide industry acclaim including GRAMMYs, MacArthurs and or other major platforms for their work are among our past performers: Jon Batiste, Kamasi Washington, Gregory Porter, Jason Moran, Vijay Iyer, esperanza spalding, Robert Glasper, 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 and Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber, 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, Alice Coltrane, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Curtis Fowlkes, Pharoah Sanders, Sun Ra, J Dilla, and Amp Fiddler.

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 shakuhachi, an east Asian instrument of which Shabaka is a major exponent.

In addition to what is sure to be a revelatory (NOW SOLD OUT) January 11 duo set at Dizzy's Club with the great Joe Lovano (preceded by an 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 at the January 14 tribute to Black cultural center, The East, (see below) and our Impulse! Records showcase at Le Poisson Rouge (LPR) on January 15 (NOW SOLD OUT).

January 10 

Take Two: Tyshawn Sorey x Max Roach — Members, Don't Git Weary + Gilles Peterson (SOLD OUT)

On what would have been the late Max Roach's 100th birthday, Pique-nique and NYC Winter Jazzfest along with BMI, 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 also 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, bassist, composer and vocalist esperanza spalding, and South African pianist and composer Nduduzo Makhatini. The evening concert by Joe Lovano and Shabaka is now SOLD OUT.

 

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), Marc Ribot's 70th Birthday celebration (Jan. 12), and a Candid Records showcase (Jan. 12) that 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); TSFJAZZ/Paris Jazz Club host their annual French jazz artists showcase (Jan. 12), a sunset performance with Laraaji (Jan. 13), Next Jazz Legacy ensemble performs to open the night at City Winery (Jan. 12), keyboardist and producer Ray Angry hosts a stage curated by Future X Sounds (Jan. 13); 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) with different guests including James Brandon Lewis, Chad Taylor, Surya Botofasina, Carlos Niño, Nate Mercereau, Irreversible Entanglements and special guests; a Jazz Passengers tribute to late trombone great Curtis Fowlkes; Ray Angry and J.Period host a 50th Birthday tribute to J. DIlla and remembering Amp Fiddler; three 70th birthday sets from Marc Ribot and much more.

 

January 14 

A Night at The East (Crown Hill Theatre)

Curated by author and music journalist Marcus J. Moore and NYCWJF's Brice Rosenbloom, an all-star lineup including Billy Hart and Gary Bartz alongside David Murray, Ahmed Abdullah, Charles Burnham, Nicole Mitchell, Moor Mother, Shabaka, Luke Stewart, Julius Rodriguez, Elucid and Kweku Sumbry will pay tribute to this all-but-forgotten Brooklyn landmark, where hundreds of shows self-produced by Black artists took place in Central Brooklyn from 1969-1975.

January 15

Impulse! Records Showcase at LPR (SOLD OUT)

Impulse! Records is proud to present today's most groundbreaking jazz stars with an evening headlined by 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

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 include Carl Hancock Rux, Moor Mother and Abiodun Oyewole.

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 friends and collaborators including DJ Spooky, Yuka C. Honda and others 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. This event is supported by Memphis Tourism.

Danish musician Mikkel Hess brings his roving global collective Hess Is More to National Sawdust, in the groundbreaking experiential program Apollonian Blackout.

 

JAZZ TALKS AFTERNOON SERIES

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.

Thursday, January 11, 2:30 PM 

The Universality of Jazz 

With panelists Shabaka, Nduduzo Makhathini, esperanza spalding and moderator Mike Bindraban 

After over 100 years, the music we call jazz is still thriving, expanding, and influencing music and culture globally. In a dynamic conversation with three artists from around the world and across the diaspora of Black American Music—Shabaka who hails from Barbados and London, esperanza spalding from the United States, Nduduzo Makhathini from South Africa, along with moderator Mike Bindraban from The Netherlands—we will explore the universality of this music, examining past perspectives and imagining broader paths forward.

Jazz At Lincoln Center, The Appel Room 

This conversation is included as part of Jazz Congress, registration required 

Saturday, January 13, 2:00 PM

Power to the Artists! Reimagining the Music Industry with Blockchain Tech

With panelists Mark de Clive-Lowe, Pozibelle and Gavin Wong, and moderator Simon Rentner

The music industry is broken and needs immediate resuscitation, and this is especially true for independent artists. Web3—the next, decentralized iteration of the Internet—has the potential to ease these pains by creating low-effort revenue streams for artists. Pianist and live electronics wizard Mark de Clive-Lowe (Everwave.xyz), DJ and Producer Pozibelle, and content creator and entrepreneur Gavin Wong (Sidechainme.com) will share case examples of Web3 working for the artists, such as perpetual royalties and revenue sharing. They'll also share some of the pitfalls of Web3 and answer your questions. This is a conversation geared toward fans, consumers, and industry-folk alike who all dream of a better world for artists, especially the ones navigating niche cultures like jazz. As Bird might say, “Now's The Time” for the artist to control their own brands and take action.

Moxy Williamsburg, The Garden Room

Saturday, January 13, 4:00 PM

Live At The East: The Meaningful Music of a Brooklyn Community

With panelists Basir Mchawi, Ahmed Abdullah and Fela Barclift

Beginning in the late 1960s, The East served as a Pan-African cultural organization founded by teenagers and young adults in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. The East taught lessons to Black children that they wouldn't get in public schools: a full and robust education that centered Africa and the Caribbean. The East was also a hotbed of a thriving Brooklyn jazz scene that hosted the likes of Pharoah Sanders, Max Roach, Betty Carter, Sonny Rollins, Juju, Gil Scott-Heron and many more. Fortunately, some of those sessions are captured on Juju's 1973 album Live at the East, which has come to mean something special. It means the work on said album is vigorous, a rightful celebration of Black Classical Music. In a special panel discussion, held in conjunction with a one-time-only performance of the music of The East the following night, we delve into the venue's musical impact on Bed-Stuy and Brooklyn as a whole.

Moxy Williamsburg, The Garden Room

In addition, on January 4, prior to the official start of NYC Winter Jazzfest, we are proud to present a screening of The Sun Rises in the East at Nitehawk Cinema Williamsburg — the first feature-length documentary to explore the inspiring story of The East and the people behind it. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion.

Saturday, January 13, 6:00 PM

The Art Of Being A Multi-Hyphenate

With panelists Jashima Wadehra, Shelly Hartman, Trishes and Queen Esther 

Presented with Keychange U.S.

How do you start your own business with multiple functions? How do you develop multiple aspects of your career at the same time? The modern music industry has opened a whole new world of executives exploring various interests and career paths for themselves. Learn from the extensive experience of the Keychange U.S. 2023 Talent Development cohort members as they speak on all their projects and facets of their work.

Moxy Williamsburg, The Garden Room 

 

About NYC Winter Jazzfest

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!

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