The Mannes Orchestra Perform American Music at Alice Tully Hall

Winter Jazzfest Celebrates 20 Years of Improvised Music in Manhattan and Brooklyn

Jenny Scheinman All Species Band
Jenny Scheinman All Species Parade Band, City Winery, Winter Jazzfest 1/10/25 Photo: Dan Lehner

by Dan Lehner and Pete Matthews

As was stated multiple times throughout the weekend, the now-20-year-old Winter Jazzfest started as a one-venue, one-night series at the old Knitting Factory on Leonard Street and has now exploded in ways that the founders could never have anticipated. The original Manhattan Marathon, itself larger and more spread out than marathons past, is now coupled with a separate Brooklyn Marathon, as well as additional stand-alone concerts and talks. But, the energy and ethos has remained the same, as local and worldwide artists gather and beckon people to come in from the cold to hear both old and new projects, ensembles and compositions.

At City Winery, violinist Jenny Scheinman paid homage to the inhabitants of the natural world with her All Species Parade band. Scheinman’s music managed to evoke flora and fauna in both texture and style: tunes like “Ornette Goes Home” skittered and danced like woodland creatures; the melodies in “House of Flowers” lazily turned and dovetailed like orchids towards the sun, and pieces like “Every Bear That Ever There Was” (referencing a lyric from the early 20th century nursery rhyme “Teddy Bear’s Picnic”) jaunted along in a haughty, lilting swing, showcasing a Fats Waller-ian solo from pianist Carmen Staaf. The ecosystem of ASP was as rich as the biodiversity it honored: the suite at the center of the album ambled from the gentle to the funky, while not losing any of its elegance.

Sirintip and Danny Jonokuchi Band, Winter Jazzfest, 1/10/25
Sirintip and Danny Jonokuchi Band, Winter Jazzfest, 1/10/25 Photo: Dan Lehner

Another biodiversity tribute was happening over at LPR with the as-of-yet-unrecorded Sirintip and Danny Jonokuchi project “Mycelium”. A harder-edged tribute to nature than Scheinman’s, Mycelium was less of an illustrated children’s book than it was a sophisticated and slightly harrowing science documentary; parasitic spores and swirling Fibonacci sequences framed dense, sometimes sublime, otherwise crushing large ensemble pieces, sincere but with a sense of danger. Sirintip and Jonokuchi led a thicket of horns and synths through orchestral underbrush, the vocalist’s unique sense of electronic R&B making an unusual but satisfying partner with Jonokuchi and co.’s acoustic power.

In the few years Michael Mayo has been on the scene, no vocalist has quite matched his blend of dizzying harmonic prowess, melodic precision and uniquely soulful modern jazz yet. In both a straight and flipped play on expectation, much of his solo set at the Neilma Sidney Theater at Performance Space NY was cribbed from the Great American Songbook but in a way scarcely heard before — McFerrin-esque self-made bass line loops, drone notes peppered with atmospheric mouth crackles, uneven piano stabs throwing the time sideways, etc. His original material was just as powerful, with pieces like “Bag of Bones” showing off songwriting abilities and a final piece that sounded as though it was mimicking Pygmy flute hockets (if Pygmy flautists studied at MSM).

Across the hall at the Keith Haring Theater, pianist Vijay Iyer and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith were exploring silences and gradients of intensity. Iyer and Smith, having recorded once in 2016 and performing in anticipation of a forthcoming release this year, musically met in a wide Venn overlap between the two composer/improvers’ desires and proclivities; Iyer complimented Smith’s place in the pantheon of Chicago-helmed creative musicians with influences from Muhal Richard Abrams and Smith’s questing spirit met Iyer’s influences in the electronic music realm. The pace of the two men’s improvisation was slow and dynamic, Iyer setting scenes of color and style with Smith walking, creeping, shouting and withdrawing with loom weaves of trumpet tones both clear and cracked.

Back at Performance Space NY, Caroline Davis and Wendy Eisenberg, both on vocals and on saxophone and guitar respectively, were making music that was both intricate and expansive. A lot of the music, off the heels of their 2024 duo album “Accept When”, had a core of intimate, indie-ish, almost folky textures but generated as though it was coming from a multitude of channels and disjointed sound sources. Davis’s rig obscured where her sax started and the synths ended in a wild spectrum of color and Eisenberg sometimes played the guitar in what felt like the complete reverse type of gravitational pull that guitarists usually work. The music, according to the album’s bio, was the result of a longstanding friendship and period of improvisational work between the two artists, the showcasing of which is what makes WJF a unique and exciting ground for musical exploration.

Dominique Fils-Aimé at Baby's All Right, 1/11/25
Dominique Fils-Aimé at Baby's All Right, Winter Jazzfest, 1/11/25 Photo: Pete Matthews

On Saturday, WJF shifted across the East River to Williamsburg, where the Brooklyn Marathon played across nine stages over a 20 block radius that would have been difficult to traverse without a car (or car service). I picked up my wristband early over at Union Pool, where trombonist Kalia Vandever and guitarist Mike Haldeman opened the night with a set of quiet, atmospheric music that played in stark contrast with the jammed room offering no sightlines.

Far more welcoming was Baby's All Right on Broadway: a reliable standby with colorful stage lights and staggered platforms for easy viewing. Primarily dedicated to upstart indie and pop music, Baby's seemed an appropriate venue for the Montreal Jazz Festival's first-ever showcase at WJF. The world's largest jazz festival, FIJM (June 26-July 5) is known for its genre-blurring programming, with this year's lineup including everyone from Wynton and Branford Marsalis, to rocker George Thorogood and turntablist Kid Koala. For WJF, they brought down a pair of homegrown talents including Dominique Fils-Aimé: a young, soulful singer whose reverb-laden vocals were paired with looping synths and drum machine, creating an enchanting, dreamlike soundscape. Following was the Thai-Canadian drummer Salin (Cheewapansri), who seemed to mostly blend into the background behind trumpeter Josianne Rouette, saxophonist Alexandre Dion, guitarist Tim Simmons and keyboardist Jordan Pistilli. 

Rudresh Mahanthappa Hero Trio, Loove Lab Annex, 1/11/25
Rudresh Mahanthappa Hero Trio, Loove Labs Annex, Winter Jazzfest 1/11/25 Photo: Pete Matthews

Up by McCarren Park, alto sax wizard Rudresh Mahanthappa brought his Hero Trio project to the new Loove Labs Annex. Together with pianist Rudy Royston and bassist François Moutain, they played joyous, jazzed-up variations of modern pop standards by George Michael ("Faith") Johnny Cash ("Ring of Fire") and Steve Wonder ("Overjoyed'), even venturing into gamer territory with the theme from "Animal Crossing." They ended with an ecstatic cover of Charlie Parker's "Red Cross", pulled from Rudresh's project celebrating Bird's centenary in 2020.

After a quick stop by Keyon Harrald's smoldering set at National Sawdust, I ended up at Brooklyn Bowl, where the legendary Sun Ra Arkestra took the stage shortly before midnight. Having seen them at least a half-dozen times - including the 2016, 2018 and 2023 WJFs - I didn't feel a pressing need to witness their familiar spaced-out set again. Other than wanting to witness the miracle that is Arkestra leader Marshall Allen, now 100 years young and still playing his alto with the same wild abandon he's employed since joining the Arkestra in 1958. (In what must be some kind of Guinness World Record, Allen is about to release his debut album as a soloist, "New Dawn.") With his gold sequined baseball cap and frequent standing solos, Allen looks like he isn't going anywhere anytime soon. See you next year, then.

Sun Ra Arkestra, Brooklyn Bowl, Winter Jazzfest, 1/11/25
Sun Ra Arkestra, Brooklyn Bowl, Winter Jazzfest, 1/11/25 Photo: Pete Matthews

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