NYC WINTER JAZZFEST HIGHLIGHTS HUTCHINGS

NYC Winter Jazzfest will celebrate its 20th annual edition 1/10-18 with Impulse! Records’ artist Shabaka Hutchings as artist in residence.

British saxophonist Hutchings will perform in six different configurations over the course of the festival: a duo set with Joe Lovano; in ensembles with Jason Moran, Saul Williams and others; a tribute to James Mtume; and at an Impulse! Records showcase.

Founder and producer Brice Rosenbloom said, “We began in 2005 at the Knitting Factory on Leonard Street, with the mission of highlighting music that deserved wider attention while the APAP conference was in town, and to a large degree that mission remains. But over the years that mission grew, to focus on artists with meaningful messages, in the desire to serve as a beacon for racial and gender justice, action on climate change, migration, mass incarceration and other pressing issues that affect so many of us.”

Among the highlights are Tyshawn Sorey’s reinterpretation of Max Roach’s Members, Don’t Git Weary (1/10); Marc Ribot’s 70th birthday with James Brandon Lewis, Mary Halvorson and others (1/12); the Impulse! Records showcase with Shabaka, Irreversible Entanglements, Brandee Younger Trio and James Brandon Lewis (1/15); and DJ Spooky and guests celebrating Ryuichi Sakomoto (1/17).

Among the scores of musicians confirmed for the festival are esperanza spalding, Gary Bartz, Jason Moran, Joel Ross, Marshall Allen’s Ghost Horizons, Terri Lyne Carrington and The Jazz Passengers

The annual Marathons will be held 1/12 in Manhattan and 1/13 in Brooklyn. Details are here.