Vision Festival XV

This year's Vision Fest kicks off next Sunday (the 20th of June) in downtown Manhattan, and the line-up is full of treats.

The first day is dedicated to various combos of words/poetry and music. Darius Jones Trio, with Adam Lane on bass and Jason Nazary on drums, and Lowest Common Denominator (Tim Berne ++), as well as William Parker's Little Huey Septet and the Roy Campbell Trio would be my picks for Monday the 21st. Celestial Funk Band, with Parker, Cooper-Moore, Kidd Jordan, Hamid Drake, Vernon Reid and others should be worth checking out on Tuesday 22nd. Wednesday is packed with various ensembles that include several of the above-mentioned musicians, as well as Rob Brown, Matthew Shipp and others. Muhal Richard Abrams plays two gigs on Thursday, one solo and one trio.

But those are just a few picks from the first days. The festival continues right on through to Wednesday the 30th, with Billy Bang and David S. Ware among those playing in the second week, so I suggest you click the link above and check out the full line-up for yourself. Once again, though, I'm stuck on the wrong side of the Atlantic, but I'm hoping to be able to attend next time around.

Wildflowers on CD

Wildflowers, the intriguing snap shot of the 1970s New York Loft Jazz scene, looks to be available on CD again ('though, it's been available as a download through eMusic for a while). This seminal compilation gives a look into one of the most interesting scenes in recent jazz history, and features tracks from Air, Anthony Braxton, David Murray, Sunny Murray, and Sam Rivers among others. Neither JazzLoft nor SquidCo look like they have it in stock, but I have seen it in stores. Try Douglas Records' homepage for info.

To whet your appetite, have a listen to the opening track, "Jays", by Kalaparusha (Maurice McIntyre) on tenor sax, feat. Chris White on bass and Jumma Santos on drums.