Event Info
*Artist Set Times Below*
Now in its third year, Brooklyn’s ultimate jazz festival includes film, dance, panel discussions, student workshops; and a three-stage, three-night live music marathon that celebrates some of the most exciting global legends in jazz, and groundbreaking new jazz artists from Brooklyn and beyond.
BRIC JazzFest Marathon Saturday will feature artists including Maceo Parker, GoGo Penguin: Koyaanisqatsi A new score (performed live), Rudresh Mahanthappa Indo-Pak Coalition, Harriet Tubman, Imani Uzuri: Wild Cotton, Theo Croker Escape Velocity, Matana Roberts, and Butcher Brown. Set times and more information about each performer below!
These ensembles perform staggered sets in multiple spaces throughout BRIC House so you can move freely among performances and catch as many artists as you like each night—all happening in the state-of-the-art Ballroom, the relaxed Stoop overlooking the upcoming Brooklyn Photographs exhibition in BRIC Gallery, and our intimate jazz club in the BRIC Artist Studio. Don’t forget to check out the set times for BRIC JazzFest Marathon Thursday and Friday, too!
All tickets are General Admission: STANDING*
Artist Bios + Set Times
Butcher Brown
7:30-8:30PM
Butcher Brown is an up-to-the minute throwback to the great progressive jazz bands of the 1960s and ’70s. Dedicated to innovation, informed by a love of the past, the group’s modernistic fusion is aptly described as “hip hop Mahavishnu.”
Players include Devonne Harris (aka DJ Harrison), Andrew Randazzo (bass), Marcus Tenney, Morgan Burrs, and Corey Fonville (drums).
Matana Roberts
7:50-8:50PM
Matana Roberts is an internationally renowned composer, bandleader, saxophonist, sound experimentalist and mixed-media practitioner. The award-winning Roberts (2014 Doris Duke Impact Award and 2016 Doris Duke Artist Award) has been called “a major talent” (The Wire) and “the spokeswoman for a new, politically conscious and refractory Jazz scene.” (Jazzthetik)
GoGo Penguin: Koyaanisqatsi A New Score (performed live)
8:30-10:00PM
GoGo Penguin, from Manchester, England, is predominantly an acoustic piano trio, but its music draws from many areas of contemporary electronic music, hypnotic melodies, grinding bass lines, and a rumbling low-end. For BRIC JazzFest this year, the trio is presenting an exhilarating new project featuring a performance of their original score to Godfrey Reggio’s cult film Koyaanisqatsi, performed live with the film.
Players include Rob Turner (drums), Nick Blacka (double bass), and Chris Illingworth (piano).
This production was originally commissioned by HOME in Manchester as part of the Music and Film Project, supported by Film Hub North West Central, part of the BFI Film Audience Network, and the PRS for Music Foundation.
Theo Croker: Escape Velocity
8:50-9:55PM
As the grandson of the late trumpeter Doc Cheatham, and former student of legendary jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd, trumpeter Theo Croker is an artist steeped in jazz tradition. Well-versed in the swing, bop, and modal styles of acoustic jazz, Croker’s own music reveals a love of organic funk, soul, and gooey, groove-oriented hip-hop.
Players include saxophonist Anthony Ware, keyboardist Michael King, guitarist Ben Eunson, bassist Eric Wheeler, and drummer Kassa Overall. Also adding color to the proceedings are guitarist Femi Temowo and saxophonist Irwin Hall.
Imani Uzuri: Wild Cotton
9:10-10:15PM
Imani Uzuri is a vocalist, composer, and cultural worker called “a post modernist Bessie Smith” by The Village Voice. She has also collaborated with noted artists across various disciplines including Carrie Mae Weems, Vijay Iyer, Robert Ashley, Herbie Hancock, John Legend, Sanford Biggers and Wangechi Mutu, among others. Wild Cotton is Imani Uzuri’s improvisational conceptual project exploring the undocumented soundscapes of enslaved Black American ancestors still haunting us today. Additional players: Marcus Gilmore (drums).
Uzuri will also share her experience as a musician and activist as a speaker at our free Jazz & Justice Panel Discussion on Tuesday, October 17.
Harriet Tubman
10:15-11:30PM
Harriet Tubman was formed in 1998 when the guitarist Brandon Ross and drummer J.T. Lewis joined with electric bassist Melvin Gibbs. Spiritually inspired by the iconic freedom fighter whose name they carry, this band takes concepts explored by musical mentor Ornette Coleman and combines them with ideas dealing with the development of spontaneous musical composition and expansive free improvisation. Encompassing, but not limited to rock, soul, and electronica, their music is, in the words of NPR, “Black music at its best.”
Melvin Gibbs will also share his experience as a musician and activist as a speaker at our free Jazz & Justice Panel Discussion on Tuesday, October 17.
Rudresh Mahanthappa Indo-Pak Coalition
10:35-11:50PM
The saxophonist/composer Rudresh Mahanthappa hybridizes progressive jazz and South Indian classical music in a fluid and forward-looking form reflecting his own experience growing up a second-generation Indian-American. Led by Mahanthappa, the Indo-Pak Coalition transcends any preconception of Indo-jazz fusion by synthesizing jazz with the improvised musical forms of South Asia. The group’s performance at BRIC JazzFest is also the album release party for Agrima, which will come out on October 17, 2017.
Agrima by Rudresh Mahanthappa and Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition has been made possible with support from Chamber Music America’s 2015 New Jazz Works program funded through the generosity of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
Maceo Parker
10:20PM-12:00AM
Maceo Parker: his name is synonymous with funky music, his pedigree is impeccable, his band is the tightest little funk orchestra on earth—and this legendary jazz saxophonist will be headlining the final night of BRIC Jazz Fest 2017.
After starting his career playing with James Brown in the ’60s and George Clinton in the ’70s, Maceo has enjoyed a remarkable solo career in the years since, including numerous records—starting with 1990’s Roots Revisited all the way to 2012’s Soul Classics—and collaborations with Ray Charles, Ani Difranco, James Taylor, De La Soul, Dave Matthews Band, and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
Venue Information:
BRIC House is Brooklyn’s cultural living room: a 40,000 square foot multi-disciplinary arts and media complex in the former Strand Theatre, where emerging and established artists can create work that deepens their practice and engages the diverse communities of the borough.
Beginning Nov. 1, 2022, attendees of any BRIC House programming will no longer 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. If you have questions regarding this protocol, please email [email protected]
BRIC is committed to welcoming people of all abilities. BRIC’s main entrance, located on Rockwell Street, is fully accessible. In addition the main floor of BRIC House has 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 a specific access request, or to let us know other ways we can provide you with a welcoming experience, please contact Benno Orlinsky at [email protected] or (718) 683-5637.
*We can always accommodate wheelchair/mobility device accessible seating, please purchase your ticket(s) online, and call 718-683-5608 to give us notice.