Event Info
Watch: BRIC and Downtown Brooklyn Partnership’s FREE outdoor concert featuring Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber
Join BRIC on October 20, 21, and 22 for our eighth annual BRIC JazzFest! This acclaimed marathon Jazz festival, which is one of BRIC’s premiere performing arts programs, will take place across three days and two stages.
The 2022 BRIC JazzFest lineup brings together jazz world legends, rising stars, and emerging musical geniuses at BRIC House in Downtown Brooklyn. These artists are pushing the boundaries of the jazz genre, some through the lens and influence of hip hop and others through a musical style all their own.
This year’s star-studded lineup is co-curated by performer Maurice Brown along with BRIC Producer Viviana Benitez and Winter JazzFest Founder Brice Rosenbloom.
**BRIC JazzFest single-night tickets and three-day passes are SOLD OUT**
NIGHT 1 LINEUP | THURSDAY OCT 20, 7PM
NIGHT 2 LINEUP| FRIDAY OCT 21, 7PM
NIGHT 3 LINEUP| SATURDAY OCT 22, 7PM
*Doors open at 7PM*
**Beginning Sept. 12, 2022, proof of full vaccination or negative COVID-19 test is required to visit BRIC House. View our full COVID-19 safety protocols here.**
BRIC Members receive ticket discounts and other benefits! For more information, head here.
To inquire about discounts for groups of 10 or more, please email Benno Orlinsky at [email protected].
BRIC JAZZFEST 2022 SPONSORS & PARTNERS
LINEUP
Thursday
Lizz Wright
A steward of American music, acclaimed vocalist Lizz Wright is rising out of the pandemic and returning to stages across the globe. She has reclaimed her legacy with the launch of an independent record company, Blues & Greens Records. Wright’s label launched with the June 15, 2022 release of Holding Space, a brilliant live album capturing a Berlin, Germany concert where Wright and her band closed out their 2018 European summer tour.
Joel Ross & Parables
The Chicago-born, Brooklyn-based vibraphonist Joel Ross is a sophisticated jazz performer with a sound steeped in the post-bop tradition. A protégé of Stefon Harris, Ross initially gained attention as a sideman with Marquis Hill and Makaya McCraven before releasing his 2019 debut Blue Note album, Kingmaker. Along with his work as a member of Walter Smith III and Matthew Stevens‘ In Common band, he has continued to deliver ever more ambitious albums, including 2020’s Who Are You? and 2022’s The Parable of the Poet.
Michela Marino Lerman
Michela Marino Lerman, winner of the 2019 Hoofer Award, is a globally sought after tap dance artist, performer, choreographer, band leader, educator and all-around creative spirit. The Huffington Post has called her a “hurricane of rhythm” and the NY Times has called her both a “prodigy” and has described her dancing as “flashes of brilliance.” Michela has performed, choreographed, written, produced, and directed many projects throughout her career including leading her own group Love Movement. She recently was commissioned by the Joyce Theater to create and premiere her all new full length work “Once Upon A Time Called Now” in the spring of 2022.
Freelance
Freelance is a Harlem-based collective and band of independent leaders with an expansive sound and encyclopedic knowledge of musical genres that afford them the ability to cross-pollinate styles and manipulate melody to create an aesthetic signature uniquely their own. The band features an all-star lineup founding leaders Smithsoneon (vocals) and Ausar the Ambassador (keyboards) along with Craig Hill (saxophone), Yasser Tejeda (guitar) and David “Dj” Ginyard (bass) and Justin Tyson (drums). The band has shared the stage with Grammy Award winning artists such as Robert Glasper, Solange, Estelle, Esperanza Spalding, Terence Blanchard, Bilal, Terrace Martin, Lalah Hathaway, and more.
Kalia Vandever Quartet
Kalia Vandever is a trombonist, composer, and educator living in Brooklyn, NY. She released her debut album, “In Bloom” in 2019 which has been described as “the rise of an exciting voice for the music” (Seton Hawkins, Hot House Jazz Magazine). Kalia’s sophomore album, Regrowth released in May, 2022 on New Amsterdam Records and “confirms her strengths as a composer and bandleader with a distinctly contemporary point of view.” (Nate Chinen, WBGO Jazz)
Kalia received her Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies at the Juilliard School in 2017. She has toured and performed internationally with her quartet, as well as a side-woman, performing with artists including Moses Sumney, Joel Ross, Immanuel Wilkins, Maria Grand, Fay Victor and others. Kalia is an awardee of the 2022 Next Jazz Legacy, a program founded by New Music USA and the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice.
Keyanna presents “Nameless and Endless”
K3YANNA (fka Keyanna Hutchinson) is an intuitively taught guitarist, composer, and producer from Brooklyn, New York. As a musician they display their knowledge of various music genres including R&B, funk, rock, folk, Hip-Hop, jazz, etc. Primarily as a solo guitarist, her career has led her to notable collaborations with the artist H.E.R. , Marzz, Lizz Wright, Kim Burse, Pyer Moss, and many others. As a solo artist she utilizes her knowledge of sound, virtuosity on the guitar, and her ever-expanding and personal spiritual journey as the breeding ground for her musical creations. Keyanna is an awardee of the 2022 Next Jazz Legacy, a program founded by New Music USA and the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice.
Friday
On & On: José James sings Badu
A jazz artist for the hip-hop generation, José James artfully blurs the lines between traditional and contemporary jazz, hip-hop, soul, funk, pop and rock. James throws down the gauntlet on the past 100 years of jazz singing while charting a path forward for the culture.
In his new project On & On: José James sings the music of Erykah Badu. “It’s simple,” James explains. “Jazz singing has always been about interpreting the highest level of standards of your time. And for my generation, Erykah Badu has been one of the most innovative and incisive songwriters. Her work has proven to be groundbreaking in a social, musical and artistic sense.”
HERA
(new group led by Chelsea Baratz with Anne Drummond, Alexis Lombre, Endea Owens, Shirazette Tinnin, and vocalist Andromeda)
Named after the Olympian queen of the gods, HERA brings ground-breaking women artists & bandleaders together to showcase original works in a space where every band member can wear her crown. Every musician at a HERA show has her own band, her own original music, and her own sound. These women hold court over many styles, making genre-bending music that crosses scenes and borders alike. HERA’s mission is to bring the perspectives of strong, innovative creators together and explore new, re-imagined possibilities in music.
The line up is:
Chelsea Baratz- saxophone/vocals, musical director
Anne Drummond- flute
Andromeda Turre- vocals
Alexis Lombre- keys & vocals
Endea Owens- bass
Shirazette Tinnin- drums & percussion
suite harriet // Angel Bat Dawid & Viktor le Givens
suite harriet, is the first installment of the multipart archival audio arts project between multi-instrumentalist Angel Bat Dawid and visual performance artist Viktor le Givens. This interdisciplinary audio dream score explores the surreal tale of a young Araminta Ross, imaginatively set in the unmarked past somewhere near Little Black Water River, Maryland.
Angel Bat Dawid is a Black American composer, improviser, clarinetist, pianist, vocalist, educator, and DJ. As a descendant of ministers, philanthropists, and prophets Angel continues her ancestral legacy through sound and performance.
There is magic, reverence, and mystery in the spaces, objects, and writings of Viktor Le Givens, a multimodal performance artist whose practice centers around the gathering and arrangement of ancestral objects to recontextualize the seemingly mundane into the spectacularly sacred to activate spaces for site-specific public rituals.
Sen Morimoto
Sen Morimoto is a Japanese American singer / multi-instrumentalist and producer based in Chicago. His mix of jazz and hip-hop production, spoken-word rap and pop sensibilities form a super-genre of modern songwriting and experimental grooves.
“Sen Morimoto’s forthcoming self-titled LP is sure to make best-of lists…masterfully blends his disparate influences together, from jazz, hip-hop, and experimental music, into one futuristic and exciting combination.” – VICE
Julius Rodriguez
Multi-instrumentalist and composer Julius Rodriguez has crafted his artistry inside a range of sounds and styles. At 23, the Westchester native bonds a deep sense of history with an appetite for the unknown. He performs regularly as a leader across New York City, and his contributions on piano, drums, synthesizer and electric bass appear on a diverse roster of recordings, including releases from Kassa Overall, Carmen Lundy, Brasstracks, Morgan Guerin, J. D. Walter and Damien Sneed, among other critically acclaimed genre-defiant voices. Sharp instincts for space and phrasing, and reverence for melody elevate Julius’ expression from virtuoso to true artist.
Melvis Santa
Singer, composer, pianist, Afro Cuban dancer, actress, and educator Melvis Santa made a splash on the Cuban musical scene at the age of 14 when she founded the collective vocal group Sexto Sentido. Based in New York since 2014, she continues to make a mark as a performer and educator. Melvis has collaborated with greats such as Roman Diaz, Ravi Coltrane, Steve Coleman, David Virelles, Gilles Peterson and Havana Cultura plus many more.
Saturday
DOMi & JD Beck
To date, if you wanted to learn about DOMi & JD BECK—the most hyped jazz duo—you had to visit their website, click a rat playing saxophone, and read a story about a 12-year-old physicist (DOMi Louna) and a 6-year-old sheep investigator (JD Beck). Let’s fix that. “My philosophy of life is don’t take shit too seriously,” says DOMi Louna, born Domitille Degalle. And that’s fair. But the vibrant world she and her collaborator have given us demands exploration. Their long-awaited debut album—which will be released by Anderson .Paak’s new label APESHIT in partnership with the legendary jazz label Blue Note Records—is an attempt to bottle their goofy, very virtuosic magic. Their music finds both humor and greatness in harmonic complexity and rhythmic shiftiness, abruptly adopting and ditching tempos, toying with time signatures, and sneaking extra beats into bridges. Along the ride, DOMi & JD BECK have sat in with Herbie Hancock and backed Thundercat, Ariana Grande, Mac DeMarco, Eric André, and more. They also co-wrote “Skate” on .Paak’s GRAMMY-winning album with Bruno Mars as Silk Sonic.
Maurice Brown
Trumpet sensation Maurice “Mobetta” Brown orbits simultaneously through three worlds: contemporary jazz, blues-rock, and cutting-edge hip hop. He’s a mastermind as a trumpeter, composer, arranger, and producer. When Maurice picks up his horn, his soulful melodies soar into a rarefied space that uniquely marries be-bop to hip-hop and rock, producing his own distinctive sound. His critically acclaimed debut, “HIP TO BOP,” recorded in New Orleans, foreshadowed Brown’s unique talent for creating fresh bop-inflected jazz with an urban pulse.
Theon Cross
Theon Cross is an award-winning tuba player and composer. He is a key component of London’s thriving jazz scene and his unique sound has been described as ‘innovative’ and hailed for ‘reinventing the tuba.’ His debut EP Aspirations brought him international attention and garnered a Jazz FM nomination for best Jazz Newcomer in 2016. In 2019 he released his debut album Fyah, which was met with critical acclaim worldwide charting at no. 1 on the UK official Jazz & Blues charts, no.23 on the US Jazz Billboard, and garnering high praise from major publications such as Rolling Stone Magazine, Pitchfork, The New York Times, The Guardian and NPR. His latest album, Intra-I (meaning ‘Within Self’) syntheses the diversity of his musical art and experience to deliver an essential message to a world gripped by tribulation. Across ten sonically divergent and bass-rich tracks, Intra-I explores themes of self-reliance, origins, identity and more.
Matthew Whitaker
At 21-years-old, multi-instrumentalist Matthew Whitaker has come a long way to get where he is today, overcoming adversity and dedicating countless hours to honing his craft. Whitaker’s musical identity is one filled with deepening confidence, rhythmic vigor, and a marked melodic clarity. Dramatic entrances have become an aspect of his musical approach. Whether on piano, Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes or synthesizer, he doesn’t kick off a tune or improvisation as much as plunge into the music, twisting time and navigating structural shifts with fluidity.
Avram Fefer Quartet
Intrepid saxophonist and composer Avram Fefer has been an important contributor to the adventurous New York scene for the past quarter-century, having collaborated with Bobby Few, Archie Shepp, the Last Poets, Sunny Murray, Tony Allen, Roy Campbell and many others. His two latest quartet albums – Testament and Juba Lee – highlight his global melodic and rhythmic sensibilities and feature the searing guitar work of Marc Ribot.
Joining him for BRIC JazzFest are three of the finest improvising musicians of their generation: Brandon Ross, the guitarist who spent years with Cassandra Wilson and Henry Threadgill and co-founded the power jazz trio, Harriet Tubman; bassist Gregg August, known for his Grammy-nominated Dialogues on Race, and his work with J.D. Allen, and drummer Chad Taylor, a co-founder of the Chicago Underground ensembles and the percussive choice for musicians like Pharoah Sanders, Peter Brötzmann and Jamie Branch.
AJOYO
The Brooklyn-based ensemble Ajoyo is the collective vision of saxophonist/composer Yacine Boularès, vocalist/songwriter Sarah Elizabeth Charles, keyboardist/producer Jesse Fischer, guitarist Michael Valeanu, bassist Kyle Miles, and drummer Philippe Lemm — a mystic brew blending North and West African trance-based traditions, future jazz, creative improvisation and soul songwriting. An Independent Music Award winner, Ajoyo’s latest project War Chant features guest spots from Joel Ross, Takuya Kuroda, Vuyo Sotashe and Akie Bermiss. War Chant was featured on NPR, Pop Matters, and Apple Music editorial playlists, and All About Jazz wrote, “The music exudes sophistication, yet responds to a primordial pulse.” With music that celebrates life, love, and justice, Ajoyo chants in the name of Fela Kuti, Oum Khalsoum, Charlie Parker, and Donnie Hathaway.
BRIC JAZZFEST 2022 SPONSORS AND PARTNERS
BRIC House is Brooklyn’s cultural living room: a 40,000 square foot multi-disciplinary arts and media complex where emerging and established artists can create work that deepens their practice and engages the diverse communities of the borough.
COVID-19 policy: Attendees of any BRIC House programming do not have to show proof of vaccination or a negative test to enter the building. Masks are encouraged but not required in all BRIC operated spaces. To learn more, visit:
BRIC IS COMMITTED TO WELCOMING PEOPLE OF ALL ABILITIES
The main floor of BRIC House has an accessible entrance on Rockwell Place, in addition to an accessible, all-gender bathroom. The BRIC Media Center, located on the 2nd floor, is accessible via elevator. The Gallery level is accessible via a wheelchair lift. Portable FM assistive listening devices are available for programs on the Stoop and in the Ballroom upon request. To make specific access requests for an in-person or virtual program, please contact [email protected] at least two weeks prior to the event of interest.
BRIC JazzFest
One of BRIC’s premiere performing arts programs, JazzFest is an acclaimed marathon Jazz music festival that brings together legendary figures, groundbreaking artists and newcomers from across the genre.
