The fourth annual Festival of New Trumpet Music (FONT) opens tonight with a triple-bill (Ben Neill, Eric Biondo, and the Vector Trio at Rose in Williamsburg) and runs for a whole month. Highlights include:
• Festival curator Dave Douglas and Roy Campell in a tribute to Don Cherry at Merkin Hall tomorrow night
• Secret Society co-conspirator Ingrid Jensen and my old Banff buddy Lina Allemano at Jazz Standard on Thursday, September 21
• Cuong Vu on Tuesday, October 3 and Jonathan Finlayson on Thursday, October 5, both at Makor
• Ralph Alessi at Tonic on Sunday, October 8
• Secret Society co-conspirator Jacob Varmus on Wednesday October 11, and Montreal-based Gordon Allen with Nate Wooley on Thursday October 12, and John McNeil + Ron Horton on Friday, October 13, all at Cornelia Street
I'm just barely scratching the surface of the amazing lineup -- go check it out for yourself. FONT is clearly the most exciting annual jazz festival in the city.
Also tomorrow (Saturday), my Pulse colleague JC Sanford and his co-leader David Schumacher bring their new music big band, Sound Assembly, to the Spark Café and Arts Center. The killer lineup includes John Hollenbeck on drums and (in the incestuous way of NYC big bands) a sizable contingent of Society co-conspirators including Dan Wills, Ben Kono, Mike Fahie, Mark Patterson, Jason Colby, and Dave Rezek.
Sunday, September 17 - Tortoise at the Bowery Ballroom. Apart from the composers I've studied with personally, Tortoise is probably the single biggest influence on Secret Society. And yet, somehow, I've never managed to catch them live. This changes on Sunday.
Monday, September 18 - Wordless Music featuring Glenn Kotche and Nels Kline (who are apparently in some band together or something), performing with Jenny Lin and Elliott Sharp, at the Good Shepherd-Faith Church (152 West 66th Street). Tickets ($20) available online here. This is the first concert in a new series curated by Ronen Givony, who invited me to check out Monday's event. Here's more info from his email:
The project is called The Wordless Music Series. The idea, in a word, is to pair classical and instrumental indie-rock or electronic artists in an intimate chamber music setting. The intention is to bring together two divergent audiences, and to explore the many similarities and concerns these sound worlds share. Above all, my hope is to demonstrate that it's really one big continuum of music, and that everyone has something to learn from each other.
It's actually very exciting to see Lincoln Center get behind this kind of innovative programming. The gig's at 8 PM, but I recommend hitting the pre-concert reception at 6:30 PM.
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