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Wandering Visions: The 2011 Vision Festival

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Vision Festival
By Steve Dalachinsky

“a paradise of flowers where peace might build her nest." —Percy Shelly

For 16 years the Vision Festival has led a nomadic existence.

Wandering from one venue to another, this brave band of Visionaries,which I am proud to be a part of, with the ever present, stalwart & persistent Patricia Nicholson Parker at the helm & a sometimes shifting cast of characters amongst the faithful, has plodded thru the institutionalized, gentrified, money-hungry waters of the lower east side bringing with it always a sense of unity, community & creativity in the arts.

The festival is a floating institution of architects without a permanent structure yet with all the blueprints ever needed to perfect the perfect architecture. One of harmony and productive Utopian ideals, surviving all the adversities that follow something new, vibrant, anti-commercial & fiercely independent.

It's roots go way back into jazz history. Mingus's Newport Rebels in the 1960's. Such organizations as The AACM out of Chicago and Black Artist's Group from St. Louis.

And here at home, the Loft Jazz scene with such venues as Sam Rivers' Studio Rivbea that produced the famous Wildflowers sessions. Studio We. Environ. Lady's Fort. Rashied Ali's Ali's Alley. Ornette's Artist House on Prince Street. The Sound Unity Festival in the mid-80's. The Stork Festival and Vision's direct parent, The Improvisers Collective in the early '90s.

What makes these unique is that they were completely artist-run. Most, though, as with Mingus' attempt, were short lived and some, like with Rivers and Ornette had “permanent" homes.

After two years of presenting mixed media concerts at The Improvisor's Collective, dancer/choreographer Patricia Nicholson Parker along with saxophonist Assif Tsahar decided to go for broke and begin an all-out inter-disciplinary festival that would last for more than a week.

Since then it has ranged in scope from five to eleven days and began to include commisioned pieces as well as praise days for special musicians both living and dead each year, such as Jimmy Lyons, Fred Anderson, Billy Higgins, Bill Dixon and the legendary Kidd Jordan.

This year will include tributes to Billy Bang, Marion Brown and Peter Brötzmann.

Most of the money has been raised privately or through grants. And it can be said that this is the first time in U.S. history that an artist-run not-for profit “Avante-garde" jazz festival has survived this long “with minimal marketing, careful budgeting and consistently high caliber performances."

It has at this point become an international phenomena and now many festivals around the world include in their programs a Vision night.

Originally called Vision for the 21st Century (a name it has more than lived up to), the festival began at the Learning Alliance (Lafayette and Houston St.) in 1996 moved to The Angel Orensanz Foundation (Norfolk St.), where it has been presented most frequently and then to such venues as the basement of St. Nicholas of Myra Church (10th St. & Ave A) in 1999, the former Electric Circus (New Age Cabaret, 23 St. Mark's Pl.) in 2000, the new Knitting Factory (74 Leonard St.) in 2001, back to Orensanz then on to St. Patrick's Youth Center (268 Mulberry St.), then back to Orensanz, to Clemente Soto Velez (Rivington and Suffolk St.) and the Abrons Art Center (466 Grand Street).

It has also spawned several spin off series that continue all year round.

Here's a sampling of some past participants:

Musicians: Bill Dixon, William Parker, Fred Anderson, Milford Graves, Charles Gayle, Matthew Shipp, John Zorn, Thurston Moore, Yo La Tengo, Marilyn Crispell, Cat Power, Henry Grimes, Joëlle Léandre, Sabir Mateen, Dave Burrell, Sunny Murray and Daniel Carter.

Dancers: Yoshiko Chuma, Trevor Offut, K.J. Holmes, Gus Solomon, Parker herself, Elaine Shippman.

Visual Artists: Richard Nonos, Alain Kirili, Yuko Otomo, Luccio Pozzi, Kiki Smith, Marilyn Sontag, Katie Martin, Jeff Schlanger, Kazuko Miyamoto and Jo Wood Brown.

Poets: Jayne Cortez, Amiri Baraka, Daniel Berrigan, Tracy Morris, Bob Holman, Edwin Torres, David Budbill, Chavisa Woods, and Steve Cannon.

Many of the artists, too numerous to mention, from the above categories, have at various times collaborated together to create inter-disciplinary works.

This year's Vision Festival will run from June 5th to the 11th and though it leans heavily toward music will, as always, present dance, poetry and visual art.

We would all hope to aspire to the credo “IN ORDER TO GIVE PEACE YOU MUST HAVE PEACE" as Albert Ayler so aptly put it and that waging war in the name of peace is just not the paving stone of Unity.

We all know that it's about building. Communicating. Working together for the greater good. Playing together in a big band in this big brutal sandbox in the most musical, magical ways possible.

The WAYS of CREATIVITY.

Touching the spaces of people's lives with the deepest chords imaginable. Making connections. Always connecting somehow. This is not scientific but IS about the science of LOVE and deep deep friendship in all it's possible combinations.

JOY. ANGER. SADNESS. FRUSTRATION.

It's about human beings searching in an ever-expanding world that, still in the 21st century, is out of touch with itself and has so little knowledge of it's own creative forces amd infinite possibilities for growth in a non-consumerist, productive way. It's about seeking that way. Finding that way.

It is almost Miraculous in the true sense of the word that the Vision Festival is celebrating its 16th anniversary.

I've had “Visionitis" for quite some time and I hope it never goes away. So I leave you with the usual chant.

LISTEN. OPEN UP YOUR EARS and LISTEN.

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