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.

NYO-USA at World Orchestra Week, Carnegie Hall, 8/5/24

For most of its history, Carnegie Hall was dark for the summer: a concession to the days before air conditioning when most New Yorkers headed to the beach or mountains. But ten years ago, Carnegie opened its (air-conditioned) doors in July for the NYC debut of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (aka NYO-USA), which was founded the previous year. The brainchild of Carnegie's Executive and Artistic Director Clive Gillinson, the orchestra had a lofty goal: take the best teenage musicians (16-19) from around the U.S., put them up for two weeks (all expenses paid) where they train with principal players from the country's top orchestras, then have them perform in Carnegie's Stern Auditorium before going out on tour. Dressed in matching red pants and Chuck Taylors, NYO-USA - and it's younger brothers NYO2 and NYO Jazz - have now become an annual NYC tradition. 

This summer, Clive apparently decided it was time to do something a bit more ambitious, as Carnegie hosted it's first-ever World Orchestra Week: seven consecutive nights of concerts by youth orchestras from around the world, alongside NYO-USA and NYO2. In a radio interview on WQXR, Gillinson said that World Orchestra Week - or WOW - was a direct response to a world of increasing chaos and conflict, be it Russia's invasion of Ukraine or the ongoing war in Gaza. The concept was straightforward: by bringing these kids together and letting them share music stands, meals and Instagram accounts, their differences fade away, establishing friendships and paving the way for a better, more peaceful future. 

For the youth orchestras based outside the U.S., it was also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come to New York and perform at one of the most storied concert halls in the world. While those of us in the cheap seats sometimes take Carnegie Hall for granted, playing on this renowned stage can make an indelible impression on a young musician, raising their sights from playing in their after-school orchestra to something much greater. In certain cases, it can even lead to an escape from a life of poverty, war or repression.

by Dan Lehner

Editors Note: Both Dan and I were originally supposed to cover this year's Winter Jazzzfest, but your's truly got COVID on Wednesday, so I've been self-isolating all weekend. I'm still hoping to make it out to Wednesday (1/17) night's Ryuichi Sakomoto tribute at Roulette with DJ Spooky, Yuka C. Honda; tickets available here.

In 2004, Winter Jazzfest’s first roster counted a total of 20 bands claiming the three floors of the Knitting Factory’s old Manhattan location on Leonard Street, occurring as a one-night-only event. Twenty years later, the festival now boasts 700 artists over 9 days over several miles of both Manhattan and Brooklyn real estate, with two evening-length marathons and a kaleidoscope of one-night presentations and talks that span subgenres, historical tributes, artist-in-residence curations - and all the work by artists young and old that’s worthy of showcase under the broad banner of “jazz”. For financial and spatial reasons, it behooves festival-goers to be selective about where they spend their time, but Friday's Manhattan Marathon gave audiences a chance to slice through a concentration of clubs in the East and West Villages to sample some of the best new sounds to check out in 2024.

Kicking off a three-set 70th birthday celebration at Bowery Ballroom, veteran guitarist Marc Ribot was ripping through melodies at a searing intensity with his “New Trio”, featuring bassist Hilliard Greene, long-time collaborator Chad Taylor on drums and special guest James Brandon Lewis on saxophone. Though separated by about 30 years in age, Ribot and Lewis’s compatibility was extremely obvious; both men favored the radical simplicity of melodies more related to folk music (which is to say, touching on gospel, blues, Woody Guthrie and punk rock) than contemporary harmonic constructions. Songs were free in form and time but with dynamic contours; a Led Zeppelin-ish rock tune would burst into free jazz flames before settling into spoken word. Taylor worked as both catcher and instigator, moving from restless jazz to stadium rock as the music necessitated, and Greene complemented Ribot’s musicality with both Mingusian bowed bass and rock n’ roll bombs he literally bent the bass forward to drop. (After I left, Ribot played in a duo with fellow guitarist Mary Halvorson, followed by a set with his longtime band Ceramic Dog.)