Winter Jazz Fest Takes over New York City 

Jazz stormed Manhattan on Friday, January 10, as 50 bands played across nine venues for Winter Jazz Fest’s Manhattan Marathon. 

Winter Jazz Fest
Amyra León; Photo Credit: Aidan Lukomnik

With bands playing for more than eight hours in venues across the borough, it was an abundance of riches for any music lover. Friday’s concerts had every type of jazz imaginable, from traditional Parisian quartets to “Research Musicians” who created entirely new compositions dedicated to fungi of all kinds.

Winter Jazz Fest
Danny Jonokuchi; Photo Credit: Aidan Lukomnik

Winter Jazz Fest, now in its 21st year, was founded in 2005 as a one-day, one-venue festival to celebrate the genre. This year, the festival has brought together more than 115 bands and hundreds of artists across a week of music. Running January 9 through 15, the festival is the largest of its kind in New York City and a yearly reminder of why The City is known as the Capital of Jazz.

Winter Jazz Fest
Amaury Faye; Photo Credit: Aidan Lukomnik

Each of the nine venues artists and audiences visited during the Manhattan Marathon had their own theme. Due to the number of venues across The City, we were unable to cover every musician of the night, instead focusing on artists in two venues: le poisson rouge (LPR) and The Bitter End

Winter Jazz Festival’s Manhattan Marathon Schedule; Credit Winter Jazz Festival

LPR’s stage was presented by KMHD a jazz “discovery” station based in Portland, Oregon. With a focus on new, upcoming, and experimental works, the artists who played highlighted the innovation that can occur in an art form that’s more than a century old. Some of the artists featured included: 

Next Jazz Legacy’s 2024 Cohort of Emerging Women and Nonbinary Artists 

The third Next Jazz Legacy Cohort (a program that aims to tackle gender and racial inequities in jazz) kicked off the night at LPR with works composed by its members. The technical skills of the cohort were on display across the set, with Amyra León (singer and spoken word) and Nicole McCabe (saxaphone) as standouts due to their emotional solos. Any of the musicians could (and have been) heard on major labels; however, some of the band’s experimental work rapidly descended into a cacophony that, while technically impressive, was not pleasing to listen to. 

Winter Jazz Fest
Christie Dashiell; Photo Credit: Aidan Lukomnik

Sirintip and Danny Jonokuchi: The Music of Mycelium 

Sirintip and Danny Jonokuchi followed The Next Jazz Legacy’s cohort with a brand new set devoted entirely to mushrooms, spores, and everything fungi. Sirintip, a Sweedish-Thai composer, describes herself as a “Research Artist.” Drawing inspiration from work with biologists – Sirintip and Danny Jonokuchi developed “The Music of Mycelium” as a visual, dance, and music performance. The audience at Friday’s Marathon was treated to a sneak peek of the music from this brand-new work. The artists were able to blend classic jazz composition, electronic distortion, and trippy 70s sounds together to build out a moving atmosphere that at times felt like you were pulled down Alice’s rabbit hole and at times felt like you were floating on the ocean. 

Winter Jazz Fest
Sirintip; Photo Credit: Aidan Lukomnik

Endea Owens 

Endea Owens, an award-winning bassist and composer, seamlessly fused base-driven Afro-Latin jazz, gospel, and classical jazz together across her set to create a unified sonic world that the audience at LPR was pulled into. Owens leads her band with an unparalleled ear for detail, sharing the spotlight while holding down the rhythm section with licks that at times were homey and at times completely unexpected. Owens also brought on stage two singers – including Ekep Nkwelle, an up-and-coming artist recently featured in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s winter concerts.  

Winter Jazz Fest
Endea Owens; Photo Credit: Aidan Lukomnik

In contrast to LPR, The Bitter End hosted the “Paris Stage,” dedicated to the best and brightest in French jazz. The artists at The Bitter End were less experimental but no less talented, with smooth notes ringing through the standing-room only audience throughout the night. Some of those featured at the Bitter End included:  

Amaury Faye ‘Arise’ 

Composer, pianist, and arranger Amaury Faye led his quartet in a set dedicated to his grandfather. Moving through the story of a hike he and his brother took with their grandfather through the mountains, the set emphasized Faye’s connection to his family and roots. While fully steeped in the French jazz tradition, Faye puts his own spin on the music with new compositions and stories told throughout the set. 

Winter Jazz Fest
Photo Credit: Aidan Lukomnik

Flash Pig

Paris-based quartet Flash Pig’s set featured songs from their fifth and newest album: “The Mood For Love” inspired by Wong Kar-wai’s film In the Mood for Love. Across the set, the band combined moody melodies with impressive technical skills to bring their own spin to themes from the classic film. 

Photo Credit: Aidan Lukomnik

Creating an atmosphere of joy and celebration for all forms of Jazz, Winter Jazz Fest continues into next week, with shows through the 15th. 

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