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| Dissident Arts Festival Speaks Out Against Trump The Dissident Arts Festival, the 11th annual showcase of "revolutionary creativity", will be experienced on three stages in as many nights, featuring music, spoken word and performance art, and closing with the screening of a silent film complete with a live score performed by many of NYC's current new music circle. This year's Festival occurs August 12, 13 and 27 at sites in both downtown and uptown Manhattan as well as Williamsburg Brooklyn. This 2016 Dissident Arts Festival is dedicated to the people's unity in the face of a divisive Right-wing. Many of the performers will use this opportunity to make definitive statements in opposition to the hateful rhetoric of DONALD TRUMP. A highlight will be the celebrated poet and activist AMINA BARAKA who will be accompanied by John Pietaro's spoken word/free jazz quartet THE LITERARY WARRIORS. The poetry of Ms. Baraka, the widow of noted poet/journalist Amiri Baraka, has been woefully under-acknowledged in the face of her husband's storied career, thus her performance on August 13 is viewed as an event of high relevance. She will be reading current poetry as well as that which dates back some 50 years. The Literary Warriors will perform a brief opening set. Other features include THE NEW YORK FREE QUARTET's performance of a composition by Steve Cohn, "Abstract Meets the Fundamental", which fuses religious music of several cultures into an avant jazz foray. There will also be music by the visiting Chilean improvisational guitarist LUIS TOTO ALVAREZ and his CHANGO project, and saxophonist RAS MOSHE's MUSIC NOW! expanded unit which will debut his complete "Black Lives Matter Suite". The socio-political theme will also be reflected in the other Festival performances and in the closer wherein THE DISSIDENT ARTS ORCHESTRA performs a live score to the 1928 silent film classic by King Vidor "The Crowd". FESTIVAL SCHEDULE: Friday August 12, 8-11pm 5C Cultural Center 68 Ave C (at 5th Street) New York NY 10009 (212) 477-5993 5cculturalcenter.org 8:00pm Trudy Silver's Where's the Outrage?-Trudy Silver-piano; others TBA 9:00pm Ras Moshe's Music Now! expanded unit presents "The Black Lives Matters Suite"-Ras Moshe Burnett-tenor and soprano saxophones, flutes; others TBA 10:00pm Luis Toto Alvarez/Chango project-Luis Toto Alvarez- electric guitars; other TBA 10:45pm finale: "Song of the United Front" by Bertolt Brecht & Hanns Eisler -performed by all musicians in the house Saturday August 13, 7-11pm El Taller Latino Americano @Artspace PS109 215 East 99 Street, New York NY (212) 665-9460 7:00pm The Literary Warriors with special guest AMINA BARAKA –Amina Baraka: poetry, vocals' John Pietaro: spoken word, hand drums; Ras Moshe Burnett: saxophones, flute; Rocco John Iacovone: saxophones; Laurie Towers: electric bass 8:00pm Bernardo Palombo -Bernardo Palombo: vocals, guitar; others TBA 9:00pm Cameron Orr, violinist 9:15pm UpSurge! NYC –Raymond Nat Turner-poetry; Zigi Lowenberg-poetry; Ken Filiano-upright bass; Lou Grassi-drumset; Lee Odom-reeds 10:15pm The New York Free Quartet presents Steve Cohn's "Abstract Meets the Fundamental" –Steve Cohn-piano, shakuhachi, trombone, percussion; Michael Moss-saxophones, bass clarinet, flute; Larry Roland-upright bass; Chuck Fertal-drumset 11:00 finale: "Song of the United Front" by Bertolt Brecht & Hanns Eisler -performed by all musicians in the house Saturday August 27, 8PM 17 Frost Theatre of the Arts 17 Frost Street, Brooklyn NY 11211 (646) 389-2017 8:00 The Dissident Arts Orchestra performs a live score to King Vidor's 1928 silent film classic, "The Crowd", plus silent shorts TBA -Cheryl Pyle: flutes; Ras Moshe Burnett: tenor and soprano saxophones, flutes; Matt Lavelle: bass clarinet; Cameron Orr: violin; Chris Forbes: electronic keyboard; Javier Miyares-Hernandez: electric guitar; Laurie Towers: electric bass; John Pietaro: conduction, drumset, percussion FESTIVAL HISTORY: Since its inception in 2006, the Dissident Arts Festival has been a powerful vehicle to bridge radical arts to progressive socio-political activism. Increasingly, the Festival has gained media attention over the course of its decade-long history as evidenced by press in TimeOut NY, the Indypendent, the Villager, Downtown Express, Peoples World, Chronogram and others. In 2013, noted jazz journalist Howard Mandel offered kudos in his remarks on social media. Over the years the Dissident Arts Festival has been endorsed by the Rosenberg Fund for Children, the Len Ragozin Foundation, Local 802's Justice for Jazz Artists campaign, Occupy Musicians, the Howland Cultural Center and DooBeeDooBeeDoo music blog. Originally based in the Hudson Valley city of Beacon NY and moving to NYC in 2010, the Festival's performers and speakers over the years included actor/raconteur Malachy McCourt, late great trumpet player Roy Campbell, folk legend Pete Seeger, filmmaker Kevin Keating, spoken word artists Steve Dalachinsky and the late Louis Reyes Rivera, the late reeds player/composer Will Connell, political satirist/activist Randy Credico, multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter, hip hop ensemble ReadNex Poetry Squad, labor leader Henry Foner, punk-folk artist Lach and many more. Films screened included 'Giuliani Time', 'Cultures of Resistance', 'Salt of the Earth', 'Battleship Potemkin' and 'Metropolis'. Other special features were tributes to Paul Robeson, Bertolt Brecht, Woody Guthrie, and Phil Ochs. The Dissident Arts Festival has also offered a voice to progressive political candidates, the Occupy movement and radical labor organizations. write your comments about the article :: © 2016 Jazz News :: home page |