Date: Saturday, August 24, 2013
Time: 3pm – 9pm
Venue: The Brecht Forum (451 West Street, New York)
Admission: $15. general
The annual Dissident Arts Festival, a celebration of revolutionary free jazz, modern music, poetry and film, returns to Greenwich Village’s Brecht Forum for the fourth consecutive year. This year’s will be dedicated to Trayvon Martin and other victims of racist assault.
The Dissident Arts Festival serves as a conduit for progressive artists and other activists to gather and engage in an all-day concert commemorating the rich heritage of movement culture. The 2013 edition encompasses a tapestry of liberation jazz and new sounds including Festival headliner Roy Campbell, poet Steve Dalachinsky, political satirist and current NYC mayoral candidate Randy Credico, veritable super-band of New Jazz UNCONSPICUOUS MEETING (with Daniel Carter, Ras Moshe , Jeff Platz, Federico Ughi and leader Nicolas Letman-Burtinovic), reeds player Blaise Siwula’s ‘TESLA COILS (with Harvey Valdes and Gian Luigi Diana), revolutionary ensemble THE RED MICROPHONE (with John Pietaro, Ras Moshe, Rocco John Iacovone, Nicolas Letman-Burtinivic), “nu world trash” band SoSaLa (led by the multi-national Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi), African percussionist OBI KAYE, poet Sana Shabazz and Festival house band, THE DISSIDENT ARTS ORCHESTRA, performing an improvised score to the Sergei Eisenstein silent classic film, BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN; the Orchestra will include cellist Gil Sellinger, bassist Laurie Towers, guitarist James Keepnews and others. There will also be a special reading of Langston Hughes‘ Kids Who Die by a guest speaker, accompanied by Ras Moshe (flute) and John Pietaro (vibraphone)
The Dissident Arts Festival 2013 is produced by Dissident Arts and the Brecht Forum, sponsored by the Rosenberg Fund for Children and endorsed by Local 802 AFM’s ‘Justice for Jazz Artists’ project and DooBeeDooBeeDoo NYmusic on-line magazine. John Pietaro serves as host.
Schedule/Line up
3-3:30 Obi Kaye – solo African percussion (Bongo, Udu Pots, Doumbek, Dundun)
335-3:50 Sana Shabazz: Sana Shabazz (poetry), with Laurie Towers (electric bass)
3:55-4:25 Tesla Coils: Blaise Siwula (reeds), Harvey Valdes (guitar), Gian Luigi Diana (laptop/live electronics)
4:30-5:00 Steve Dalachinsky: Steve Dalachinsky (poetry) with John Pietaro (vibes/percussion)
5:05-5:35 SoSaLa: Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi (saxophones/voice), Lautaro Burgos (drums), Greg Zweiben (electric bass) and John Pietaro (vibes)
5:40-6:10 Unconspicuous Meeting: Nicolas Letman-Burtinovic (bass), Daniel Carter (reeds), Ras Moshe (reeds), Jeff Platz (guitar), Federico Ughi (drums)
6:10 – 6:20 Randy Credico: Celebrated political satirist & current candidate for mayor speaks!
6:25-6:55 The Red Microphone: John Pietaro (vibraphone/percussion), Ras Moshe (saxophones/flute), Rocco John Iacovone (saxophones/piano), Nicolas Letman-Burtinovic (bass)
6:55-7:00 Guest speaker (TBA): Reading of Langston Hughes “Kids Who Die” (dedicated to Trayvon Martin) with Ras Moshe (flute) and John Pietaro (vibraphone)
7:05-7:50 The Roy Campbell Trio: Roy Campbell (trumpet), others TBA
7:50 – 8:00 intermission
8:00-9:30 The Dissident Arts Orchestra performs a live improvised score to the Sergei Eisenstein revolutionary silent film classic “Battleship Potemkin”: Quincy Saul (clarinet), Rocco John Iacovone (soprano & alto saxophones), Ras Moshe (tenor & soprano saxophones, flute), Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi (tenor & soprano saxophones, voice), Gil Selinger (cello), James Keepnews (electric guitar & effects), Laurie Towers (electric bass), Nicolas Letman-Burtinovic (double bass), John Pietaro (vibraphone/percussion/musical direction), plus many guest musicians TBA!
Dissident Arts Festival History
The Dissident Arts Festival began life in 2006 in Beacon NY, where it remained for the first four years before moving to NYC in 2010. The Festival’s primary goal was the establishment of an annual showcase of radical protest music, poetry and performance art–perhaps the only such fest in the nation. Ultimately, the concept of liberation as exemplified through free improvisation and post-modern sounds commanded the stage and increasingly, the Festival has presented the New Music and Free Jazz statements it remains embedded in now. Over the years, performers and speakers included celebrated actor/raconteur Malachy McCourt, world jazz icon Karl Berger, folk legend Pete Seeger, the (late) spoken word artist Louis Reyes Rivera, New Jazz mainstay Ras Moshe, international poet Erika Dagnino, revolutionary Hip Hoppers ReadNex Poetry Squad, noted filmmaker Kevin Keating, ‘Anti-Folk’ founder Lach and many more. The Festival showcased sessions of free improv, militant poetry, dissentful ballads, punk-jazz, contemporary composition and tributes to Brecht, Woody Guthrie, Paul Robeson and Phil Ochs along the way. We have also screened important films including ‘Salt of the Earth’, ‘Giuliani Time’, ‘Cultures of Resistance’ and ‘Metropolis’ (also a vehicle for the Dissident Arts Orchestra). The Festival has offered voice to labor legend Henry Foner, progressive political candidates of independent parties, IWW organizers, and social justice organizations such as Occupy Musicians. Now, in the midst of right-wing fear-mongering and teabag hysteria, radical artists continue to speak out for social justice—and creative liberation!
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