Aug 26, 2025 1:53 PM
Blindfold Test: Buster Williams
Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
The New York-based avantjazz Vision Festival, now in its seventh year, will feature 17 days of performances featuring avantjazz, dance, poetry and visual arts
presentations from May 23-June 9. It will include more than 300 leading avantjazz creators from around the world, representing three generations of jazz history and contemporary innovation.
The festival will retain the theme from last year, “Vision Against Violence.” This year’s festival will take place at The Center at Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral, (268 Mulberry St. between Houston and Prince Streets) with additional performances at CBGB’s Lounge. The Mulberry Street shows will be May 23-27, May 30-June 2 and June 6-9; while the CBGB’s Lounge shows, at 313 Bowery, will take place May 28-29 and June 4-5
Highlights of the festival include:
Oluyemi and Ijeoma Thomas with expatriate Alan Silva; Joe McPhee to be featured in a quartet led by Joe Giardullo; Jemeel Moondoc’s Muntu; William Parker’s new Quartet; Billy Bang Trio with Jin Hi Kim and Hamiet Bluiett; French bassist Joelle Leandre in a duo with Hamid Drake; Kidd Jordan, Fred Anderson, William Parker and Hamid Drake; Milford Graves with one of his special projects; a Memorial Day Tribute to Don Cherry featuring Jayne Cortez’s Firespitters, the Dewey Redman Quartet, the Don Cherry Memorial Band and the Pyramid Trio; Paul Dunmall and Paul Rogers from England with Gerry Hemmingway; Matthew Shipp String Trio; Douglas Ewart; David S. Ware’s Quartet for its annual performance; and much more.
Tickets are $20 per night ($15 per night from June 6-8); a nine-day pass to the Center is $150, and a 13-day pass is $175. Center tickets are available in advance by calling the Downtown Music Gallery, 212-473-0043. The shows at CBGB’s (for which there are no advance sales) are $15 per night.
For more information, go to www.visionfestival.org.
“What I got from Percy was the dignity of playing the bass,” Buster Williams said of Percy Heath.
Aug 26, 2025 1:53 PM
Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
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