NYC Winter Jazz Festival week continued into the Saturday night marathon with the first select performance at Mercury Lounge. This spot was packed for the early set by trumpeter Marquis Hill. Marquis became known for blending of styles and the warmth of his tone on trumpet which were both on full display tonight. He was playing with a band of musicians that, as he put it, are “some of my favorite musicians in the world.” Their rapport with one another definitely showed, particularly in the interplay between James Francies on keys and Joel Ross on vibraphone. Marquis and band sounded great, revisiting his early works on New Gospel.

For the next set, I returned to Webster Hall for the second night of the Revive Music stage, which was definitely the place to be for the night, as evident by the very thick crowd. Luckily I caught the end of Brandee Younger’s set with her band Soul Awakening. Brandee is a mesmerizing presence on stage and carries on the legacy of musicians like Dorothy Aashby and Alice Coltrane with a fresh approach.

Makaya McCraven returned for the second night with the same cohort of musicians but an entirely different set. This was his first preview of the upcoming album, We’re New Here: a Reimagining by Makaya McCraven, which reworks the music of Gil Scott-Heron. Makaya used a MacBook and Ableton to incorporate some Gil vocals and additional beat layers – like the claps/snaps on “New York is Killing Me.”

The theme of the Revive Music stage was mental health awareness, which was addressed by numerous musicians and spoken word artists on the mic throughout both nights. Makaya took time before their final song to address the audience, one that was filled with many musicians, reminding musicians to check in on each other, and talking about how the people on stage with him weren’t just his bandmates, they had become his family. “Music is an art form that has the ability to heal the artist AND the listener, and it’s a really special thing to be a part of that.” They closed with a new rendition of “I’m New Here” with Junius Paul on vocals.

Terrace Martin’s Gray Area followed. Terrace talked on the mic quite a bit, about his story being from Crenshaw, about his ego-less band, about wanting to share a message about more than achieving financial success. He introduced his special guest Keyon Harrold by telling the story of how they met when they were 15 years old at band camp. He laughed and said, “that’s some real nerdy shit… band camp.” They performed “Valdez Off Crenshaw” together.

The last set of the night at Webster Hall was Robert Glasper, playing to a packed crowd. The trio warmed up the stage with a cover of Radiohead’s “Packt like Sardines in a Crushed Tin Box.”  There was something incredibly poignant about hearing Robert’s vocoder rendition of the lyrics: “After years of waiting/nothing’s changed.” With a résumé and circle of friends like that of Robert Glasper, everyone knew there would be surprise guests. One song after another, he introduced different friends to the stage:

Taylor McFerrin for a beatbox battle; Terrace Martin on keys/synth for an R+R song (he stayed on stage for the rest of the set); Yebba for vocals on “Fuck Yo Feelings.”

Then he introduced drummer Karriem Riggins to come on stage, telling the story of how they met in 1998 in J Dilla’s basement in Detroit. Robert said to the audience, “any Dilla fans here?” and the crowd cheered. “Ok, then y’all are gonna like this.” Karriem and Robert started what was clearly a Dilla beat, then Robert says, “and then I met this rapper…” he shared, which to everyone’s astonishing surprise was Common who came out on stage right on the beat. The audience erupted. The group went into “Nag Champa” together while Common really worked the crowd. Vocalist Muhsinah was also on stage, she and Terrace did Dilla’s vocals on the chorus with the audience singing along.

Common and Robert had some hilarious banter – you could really sense the friendships that these guys have with each other. They closed with “The Light” and Common got the crowd involved in the chorus. Muhsinah (and another female vocalist at the end) did the chorus. A really beautiful end to a star-studded set.

For a bonus round, Sunday night offered up From Detroit to the World: Celebrating the Jazz Legacy of Detroit and honoring Marcus Belgrave at Le Poisson Rouge. The lineup of this night included Detroit jazz legends Ron Carter and Louis Hayes, as well as a new generation of Detroit musicians and students of Marcus Belgrave such as Karriem Riggins, Theo Croker, Kassa Overall, and Kasan Belgrave.

There were four sets of music, curated by singer Joan Belgrave, the wife of Marcus Belgrave. Though it was a long night of music, it proved to be worth it when the final set included lots of switching on the instruments and mixing the generations of musicians for fresh arrangements of some of Marcus Belgrave’s compositions. “Detroit Day,” with Joan Belgrave on vocals, Zen Zadravec on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Karriem Riggins on drums was a highlight.

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Under an ever-widening umbrella of the term jazz, NYC’s Winter Jazzfest is growing to become one of the best places to experience the creativity and artistry of a new generation of jazz musicians.

In its 16th year, the festival’s program included events all over lower Manhattan and Brooklyn over 11 days. With hundreds of musicians all in the same place at the same time, artists who inherently collaborate and jam together frequently, naturally you can expect at least a few surprises and impromptu moments that make this festival a lot of fun.

As 2019 drew to a close and we prepared to turn the page to a new decade with the arrival of 2020, there were a plethora of “Best of The Decade” lists that popped up on music sites all over the web and social media. One of the unequivocal favorites amongst many writers and music news sources – and my own top album from the past 10 years – was Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly. This album was a standout for many reasons, and a bold artistic statement for Kendrick Lamar after the success of good kid, m.A.A.d. city. But it also encompasses one of the major trends in music of the past decade: an overt collaboration between hip hop artists and jazz musicians. Many artists have been quoted as saying that “jazz is the mother of hip-hop” and hip-hop producers have been sampling jazz music for many decades. But To Pimp a Butterfly brought that relationship to the forefront, in style, instrumentation, and production. The credits on TPAB include Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin, Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, and Flying Lotus – all artists that are rooted in jazz but have been defying musical categorization throughout their careers. These are the kind of musical artists that are typically the highlight of the NYC Winter Jazzfest, artists that are all over the liner notes of your favorite R&B or hip-hop albums, even though they might not be household names.

The signature events of the NYC Winter Jazzfest are the Manhattan marathon nights: multiple venues all over the Village area with several hours of music sets, all happening simultaneously. This means that you can catch a lot of great music in two nights, but you’ll also certainly have to miss some acts that you’d like to see – tough choices! Here’s the start of my coverage through a weekend of amazing music: Friday night marathon by venues.

I started the night at SOB’s to catch The Era Footwork Crew from Chicago. The dancers warmed up the floor in front of the stage, and towards the end of their time, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble came on stage and played for their final dance and the dancers’ individual bows. This made for a seamless transition into HBE’s energetic set. Hypnotic Brass Ensemble’s original lineup included seven brothers, sons of esteemed jazz trumpeter Phil Cohran. Though the lineup has slightly changed over the years, the energy is still the same. They deliver an infusion of jazz, and hip-hop, with funky grooves and house rhythms that definitely got the crowd moving.

Next, I went to Webster Hall for the Revive Music stage. Over the years, Revive Music have been curating an incredible lineup of genre-blending musicians that lean heavily to a hip-hop sound. The set that I caught was Chicago drummer Makaya McCraven’s In These Times – one of his latest projects, with a cohort of mostly Chicago-based musicians including Matt Gold (guitar), Irvin Pierce (tenor sax), Marquis Hill (trumpet), Greg Ward (alto sax), Junius Paul (bass), Brandee Younger (harp), and Joel Ross (vibraphone). These musicians have all played together and with Makaya for so many years, their chemistry on stage together is remarkable. Although he was tucked all the way in the back of the stage, behind the seven musicians with him, his nuanced power on the drums couldn’t be missed.

After an interlude of spoken word artists and a DJ set by Raydar Ellis, Revive Big Band led by Igmar Thomas filled the stage. Igmar Thomas (musical director for Lauryn Hill, Nas) is a charismatic bandleader and got the crowd involved as they moved through some jazz classics and also some mash-ups, like a Theolonius Monk tune right into Common’s “Thelonius.” Special guests included Nicholas Payton on trumpet, Dee Dee Bridgewater singing a jazzy version of “You’ve Got a Friend,” Alice Smith singing a cover of Donny Hathaway’s “Someday We’ll All Be Free,” and emcee Raydar Ellis to add to the band’s rendition of a track from Guru’s Jazzmatazz.

After another break, Pete Rock did a DJ set, but many people had left to head over to other venues to catch the final sets of the night.

The night wrapped up at The Dance with Jaimie Branch’s Fly or Die. A very late night set that was definitely worth staying up for. Jaimie is a fearless and unique trumpeter and vocalist, and her band is tight. Chad Taylor on drums is remarkable. About halfway thru the set Jaimie had the lights turned down, then turned on a little clip light next to one of her mics, pointing right into the bell of her trumpet as she brought it right up to the mic – a cue that turned the reverb on the mic for her trumpet, and led the band into an interlude of surreal experimentation. Nuevo Roquero Estero from her recent album FLY or DIE II was the jam that got the crowd moving. She closed with “Love Song,” and Jaimie got the whole crowd to sing along with her at the end: “this is a love song for assholes and clowns…”

The post New York City Winter Jazzfest: Friday highlights appeared first on Quip Magazine.

This most recent Friday, January 17th, marked the final marathon night of NYC Winter Jazz Fest 2020. From Bushwick’s House of Yes and The Sultan Room to Williamsburg’s Music Hall of Williamsburg, National Sawdust, Rough Trade, and Brooklyn Bowl, the chilly night didn’t slow artists and fans alike from enjoying the many performances across the handful of participating venues.

After shows by Kendra Morris and Felix Pastorious & Social Experiment, Brooklyn Bowl hosted the popular Kung Fu for a two-hour set, marking the dance-inducing, high-energy point of their lineup. Both crowd and the Connecticut-based quintet contributed to the feel-good-only vibes of the room and were ready to groove the second members of the band stepped on stage. Tim Palmieri (guitar), Rob Somerville (tenor sax), Todd Stoops (keyboard), David Livolsi (bass guitar), and Adrian Tramontano (drums/percussion) were surrounded by an audience so close and happy to get down to Kung Fu’s sounds, that they seemed to one big extended family. On par with Brooklyn Bowl’s usual scene, the funk fusion jams were easy to fall into and accessible to even those who can’t keep a beat.

Following Kung Fu, DJ Logic + Friends set the tone for the late-night Festivalgoers. Collaborating with Billy Martin and Shanir Blumenkranz, the trio made for a chill atmosphere. Their performance was a definite display of eclectic artistry perfectly coming together. Bassist Blumenkranz seamlessly swapped between and played through what seemed like a museum collection of traditional instruments throughout the set, which lent a mysticism to DJ Logic’s praised beats. Some of these included string instruments like the African Gimbri and Oud, which made for more colorful bass lines. Celebrated drummer Billy Martin got deep into his equally notable percussion collection, moving from behind the kit to sound delicate singing bells and a variety of wooden pieces. Really, this was a perfect trio I’d be excited to see again soon.

Back at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Kneebody played to avid followers who almost had as much fun as the group themselves did on stage. Made up of Shane Endsley (trumpet), Ben Wendel (tenor saxophone), Adam Benjamin (keyboard), Nate Wood (drums/bass), and this year’s Winter Jazz Fest artist-in-residence, drummer Mark Guiliana, the show was one of pure enjoyment, craft, and experimentation. The treat began with Wood’s bass mix set to deliver a deep and palpable stream of vibrations to the gut and through the bodies of all in the room. The powerhouse group played from the framework of some new songs, but the focus was clearly on letting loose with solos by all. Most notably, Wood and Guiliana teamed up, jamming from behind their individual kits for a display not to be missed. The excitement only heightened as Wood brought his bass back into the mix, playing it and attacking drums simultaneously.

Music Hall of Williamsburg ended with a set from Daedelus for attendees looking to keep the night going. The LA producer was animated as ever outfitted in his usual tailored suit, complete with a handkerchief to wipe his brow from the workout of the iconic show he puts on. The crowd dwindled with the onset of the morning hours, but those who left missed out on a chance to really take the marathon to a higher level. It was an ending that left me already anticipating next year’s Winter Jazz Fest.

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The crowd grew as this year’s Jazz Fest’s artist-in-residence, Mark Giuliana’s Space Heroes, took the stage. Guiliana himself maintained an air of flowing ease while playing in his utterly unique style. Chris Morrissey on upright bass added to the mix, bringing a sense of thorough enjoyment. You couldn’t help but be drawn to the musical dance he had with his bass and the vibe of the stage until Guiliana slapped back with a breakdown. Solos by Shane Endsley on trumpet and Jason Rigby on saxophone rounded out the performance. Though Guiliana has more shows to go during this year’s fest, he looked relaxed and natural as ever, taking in the scene from behind his throne with complete control. We look forward to seeing more from Space Heroes as well as Guiliana’s upcoming performances to close out the fest!

The night closed out with the duo Scott Amendola Vs. Wil Blades. With a confident attack from behind the drums by Amendola was in his element. Blades met him on Hammond organ and clavinet, playing with an octopus-like reach across layers of keys and pedals, yet with the effortless quickness of dancing fingers. As expected, the intrigue of this duo came from the variety and depth of musical play made available by the two skilled musicians. Amendola later invited special guest, Skerik to join the conversation on tenor sax. Skerik took his time to ease into the set, but once he did, it made for a pleasing ride. The set wrapped with a final, full jam.

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Rakei’s live shows are treated as a production that materializes differently from his studio work. Hours are put in working with the band thinking through the live executions and changing up the arrangements. Now with the new album flowering its way through people’s favorites, Jordan Rakei is on tour.

Kateryna Topol: You’ve been on the road since May, how is it going so far?

Jordan Rakei: Being on the road has been so much fun. The album is meant to be played live because it’s made much more colorful, much more vibrant. So touring, particularly in Asia [so far] and really honing the set, playing at the Cotton Club in Japan, was really exciting. We played six sets in three days and were able to improvise most nights, change up the set, really develop our sound as a band. So that’s probably the biggest highlight so far.

KT: That’s awesome, can’t wait to see it live. So about the inspiration behind Origin, that’s a pretty heavy topic, what lead you to go this route?

JR: What led me to write in the album about dystopian futures was my interest at the time in singularity and simulation. I was watching lots of discussions and debates about the future of our humanity and civilization, with like, the tech-heads in America, and it was fascinating and I just thought this would be an interesting topic. As you know, I’ve always considered my future in this world and how I can coexist with future generations of technology. So that’s mainly the inspiration behind the whole album.

KT: Musically speaking, it’s a bit of a departure from your older works, the album seems a lot more dance floor friendly – was that intentional?

JR: Yeah, it’s definitely intentional to make the album more colorful and vibrant because I wanted to offset the negative and pessimistic lyrical content with more positive musical content so that they could juxtapose each other.

KT: Makes sense. You’ve established yourself as a strong artist and strong performer since signing to Ninja Tune, how has it been working with them?

JR: It’s amazing! I think they offer such a great perspective on visuals and music for me to have, you know, back in the past everything was in my head, all the ideas came from my head. And there was no sort of … like, sounding board. But Ninja Tune are able to accept my ideas and then offer either criticism or advice, or anything like that. And it’s helped shape me into more of a …. I guess conceptual and consistent artist. So they add a lot of value creatively.

KT: How does this album translate into a live show for you?

JR: With the live band, [it] consists of five of us: a drummer, percussionist, guitarist, bass player, and me on keyboard and guitar. We try to recreate everything live. So we’ve got no track, and try to make [sound] as full as possible. But again, our focus is to make it all dancefloor-friendly and make sure that people are, you know, fully into it the whole time, taking them on, like, a narrative from the beginning of the show, to the peaks and the troughs and then to the final peak at the end.

KT: Sounds really cool! I’ve read that completing this album was like finishing a job for you – now that it’s out and has gotten quite wonderful feedback are you starting to think about what’s next and how you will approach that?

JR: [chuckles a little] Yeah, I’ve definitely started thinking about what’s next for my career. I think I’m definitely always up for changing my sound, and always up for … creating something, sonically totally different, lyrically totally different. So I’ve started writing again, and looking forward to finishing that, maybe end of this year, early next year, but I’ve got 12 tracks already, [working on writing more], just to get more stuff out as my year, my life goes on. Just no filter, just keep getting stuff out. That’s my goal.

KT: In the past, you also mentioned having a checklist when working on Origin, is that something you do a lot, is there one for the tour?

JR: There’s not really a checklist for touring since I’ve got a routine, but I like to take touring pretty easy. You know, we get into the venue. I’ll have my sandwich. I’ll set up my stuff. I’ll come back. I’ll probably play some Mario Kart. I’ll do my vocal warm-ups. I’ll do my back rolling. Then I’ll do my last vocal warm-ups. I’ll go on stage. I’ll come off stage, do my vocal warm-ups. Maybe pack down and then head straight to the tour bus to make sure I get enough sleep for my voice. So I’m not a big rockstar celebrity that goes out and parties every night [laughs].

KT: Haha, Ok. Traveling can also get quite taxing, do you do anything to stay overall healthy?

JR: I guess the only thing healthy that I do on the road is I try and eat a normal-sized amount of food. When you tour the temptation is very easy to just binge food because there’s food everywhere you go: backstage, after the gig at the hotel, stuff like that. So trying to maintain meal sizes [laughs]. And also meditation is amazing, helps me like, center and makes me relaxed.

KT: What do you like to do in the cities you visit before or after the shows?

JR: A lot of the cities I’m visiting, I’ve never actually been to in America. So this is like an exciting little half-holiday, you know, half what’s it called? Work/business. So we always get coffee and breakfast because the two of us will arrive in the morning, go out explore the city as much as we can, get breakfast, walk around, maybe go to some vintage shops. And then after the show, I don’t really ever go out because I have to maintain my voice so the band will get to explore the town and then I will be asleep in my bunk [chuckles again].

* * *

We will be seeing Jordan Rakei in Toronto on October 6th at the Opera House, and there still might be a show near you:

Nov 04 Detroit, MI – El Club
Nov 06 Toronto, ON – The Opera House
Nov 08 Montreal, QC – Le Belmont
Nov 09 Washington, DC – Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
Nov 10 New York, NY – The Bowery Ballroom
Nov 12 Philadelphia, PA – The Foundry at the Fillmore
Nov 13 Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
Nov 14 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg

Photo by Dan Medhurs

The post An interview with Jordan Rakei on his latest album “Origin” and life on the road appeared first on Quip Magazine.

Draped in dashikis, The Great Black Music Ensemble woke up the sweaty audience with its blasting horn section. The orchestra’s fun, loose freestyle swing kept bystanders alive as the heat beat down on them. It may have been noon, but the soulfulness in the sound was invigorating to hear. Scat lyrics devolved into funky chaos and with a squealing guitar solo, the set came to an end. Standing on the Corner took over the same stage quite promptly. Wearing all white garbs, they did their own jazz rendition. There were over 6 saxophones on the stage with cellos, violins, bassoons, and their own horn section equipped with a French horn solo. We were off to a fantastic jazzy start and it’s only the beginning!

Next up to the left at the Red stage was rapper MIKE taking control of the mic. He was the first artist to truly get the crowd participation going when he asked them to spell his name – M-I-K-E – with him jokingly responding “y’all some real ni**as. Y’all could’ve spelled whatever you wanted.” A few tracks in MIKE brought out King Carter to help perform their song “Run It Up.” With soulful sample-based beats and deep bass in their voice, MIKE and King Carter got the lyrics to match the instrumental as they traded bar for bar.

If bands like The Great Black Music Ensemble and Standing on the Corner provided some classical jazz to appreciate the importance of instrumentation, then Rico Nasty was for the younger crowd to shake their ass and get ratchet too. Rico is a young, talented black queen who is confident and not afraid to share her logic. Adorn in long flattened peach hair and a white Kangol hat, with pants to match, she demanded a mosh pit be opened. The crowd was more than happy to oblige. Her energetic raps accompanied by booming bass kept fans hyped throughout her entire performance. Rico performed crowd favorites including “Key Lime OG”,  “Countin’ Up” and her verse from Doja Cat’s “Tia Tamara.” 

The rapper gave an affectionate shout-out to the rowdy fans yelling, “There’s some beautiful bitches in the crowd!” She knew how to command reactions from her loyalists like a boss. Rico Nasty had the party juking making her set the wildest of the day. And if you weren’t going crazy in that mosh pit, then simply put: you a lame.

Across the field in the far left, Earl Sweatshirt walked on the Red stage to thunderous applause before yelling out: “It’s hot as hell out here Chicago for no reason!” That made the exhausted crowd laugh at their own misery and come alive to rush to the stage. Now sporting long dreadlocks, Earl has come a long way since his time with Odd Future and his rhymes reflect his growth. Throughout the set, the Chicago-born artist cleverly blended rhymes with menacing beats from Doris. The instrumentals are haunting, the bass bumps loudly, and Earl’s style is nasty as expected. The bass booms so hard that it can be difficult to listen over the vibration. Nevertheless, Earl kept his composure as he bobbed along with fans to keep the tempo flowing. He himself looked exhausted from the heat but pushed through with jams like “Molasses” and “20 Wave Caps.”

A rapper who had some of the most talked-about moments last year on this stage was Pusha T. From his self-proclaimed “album of the year” Daytona to his ongoing feud with Drake escalating in his controversial song “Story of Adidon”, it’s hard to argue Pusha T isn’t the best rapper alive right now. He reminded the crowd, as much when he entered the stage with Al Pacino’s Scarface theme song as if stating that the world is truly his. The Clipse artist started off with an acapella for “ If You Know You Know” before the beat dropped. He gave a shout-out to those who supported him throughout his years with Clipse to G.O.O.D music. He performed Clipse’s “Grindin” as well as his feature verse on Kanye West’s “Runaway.” The crowd toasted empty water bottles to the douchebags and scumbags that we know because we’ve all been there.

The fans erupted once the beat dropped for the modern classic “Lamborghini Mercy.” Being a man in demand King Push had to do Daytona tracks like “Santeria” to remind those who forgot how great it is: “Of all the things I’ve ever paid for. Know that it’s no price tag when I wage war. It’s no more to pray for, n**** get preyed on. Darken my doorstep, they told me the day’s gone”. To prove his love for Pitchfork, Pusha T performed his verse from, Chicago native, Chief Keef “Don’t Like” to get the crowd juking.

The band that most people endured the most blistering heat for was HAIM. Amazingly the sun finally went away once the group of sisters took center stage for a three-part drum intro. Afterward, they traded their drumsticks for guitar picks as they sang along to “Falling.” The vivid red screen engulfed the singers, as they sang in unison for an epic performance of “Don’t Save Me.” In the middle of their performance, Alana Haim admitted she recently turned 30. To celebrate with the fans the band did a beautiful rendition of Paula Cole’s “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” and “And I Don’t Want To Wait.” If that wasn’t good enough they also debuted a new song “Summer Girl” to go with the season. HAIM ended their fantastic set with a banging drum outro.

All in all, it was a successful first day at Pitchfork. Yes, the scorching sun felt unbearable at times. Here’s a special thanks to Pitchfork officials for providing ample amounts of water bottles, ice, and A/C buses to keep everyone hydrated. Even artists themselves struggled with audio difficulties as they battled the heat to perform so much so that they most often commented on the temperature, which made fans chuckle at their sanity. But we were all experiencing it together. No one can look cute while melting in 100-degree weather and so we all sacrificed our well-being for the love of music. It may have not been the best decision but there were no regrets.

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