Report by Dawoud Kringle
Photos by Kim Schmidt, Clara Aich, and Banning Eyre
On Friday, September 5th, 2025, the Cutting Room in New York City hosted MFM’s 10th Anniversary Celebration.
After a brief and impassioned introduction by Kim Schmidt, the MFM Unity Ensemble (featuring Joe Lovano, Arturo O’Farrill, Ron Wasserman, and Andy Weintraub) opened the show. Lovano and O’Farrill started a lively conversation performing “Giving Thanks.” O’Farrill’s piano work was magnificent, poetic, and unpredictable. Lovano’s saxophone worked its way in and out of the piano with wonderful melodies. This was perhaps the first time O’Farrill and Lovano had ever played together as a duo.
