518 retro-electronica artist Wes Seneca, having unleashed the full-length album While Rome Burns in March 2023, has given a sneak peek into his upcoming project with the single and video for “Sam.”
EPSON MFP image
“Sam” is based on a voice sample from Jim Gallagher of the late 1980s Albany-based band E Plemnista. Gallagher, the front man and trumpeter, was cautioning a fan standing too close to the band during a performance. Gallagher and then bandmates Josh Vincent, Frank Cristafaro, Nick Nealon and Michael Eck were known for their physically aggressive performances and concert-related injuries.
Wes Seneca resides in the Capital Region and calls on musical influences that stretch from Germany’s Kraftwerk to DEVO and Wolf Alice. A veteran Capital Region acoustic performer, John Wesley “Wes” Seneca trades in what he calls “retro-electronica,” music created with decades-old electronic gear and recorded not with software on a laptop, but on a hardware digital workstation.
Wes is in many ways a creation of the global pandemic. When his acoustic group could not perform in front of live audiences, he took to the basement and conjured up a wide-ranging collection of audio tracks which took shape several years later, as the album While Rome Burns.
Even now that his acoustic group has found its way back to the stage, “Wes” continues create more electronic music and the single and video “Sam” are simply a sneak peek at a forthcoming 2024 release.
Prior to the release of the upcoming and currently untitled EP, “Sam” is available only as a free download at wessenecamusic.com.
Cool Cool Cool has announced a winter/spring “Never Noticed Tour” that will find them hitting the Southeast, Northeast and Colorado, with shows in Syracuse, Buffalo and Saratoga Springs this March.
This first-ever headlining run for Cool Cool Cool features many former members of Turkuaz, building off the success of their debut single “Never Noticed,” Cool Cool Cool is bursting at the seams to bring their show to fans both new and old. The set will include new and original Cool Cool Cool material, songs from individual members’ solo projects, the band’s favorite hard-hitting covers, and many more surprises.
Cool Cool Cool blends the best of funk, house and R&B to create a truly unique sound. With dynamic female-led vocals, a tight horn section, swirling synths and a rhythm section that lays down a wicked groove, this band knows how to deliver an electrifying performance. When you see Cool Cool Cool in person, you’ll be swept up by the energy of their music and unforgettable live show.
We are thrilled about our very first headlining tour, and so excited to share our original music with all of our friends, fans and family in all of these cities and venues we love. It feels awesome and I’m so proud of us and what we’ve created together.
Sammi Garett
Cool Cool Cool showed what they are truly capable of in 2023, including sprawling tours with Rock & Roll Hall of Fame legends Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew on their ‘Remain In Light’ tour, as well as support for Andy Frasco’s ‘L’Optimist’ tour. In addition to traveling throughout the year on these endeavors, the band was able to headline festivals, perform Evening With concerts, play late-night dance parties, and collaborate for numerous writing and studio recording sessions.
Cool Cool Cool’s Never Noticed Tour will kick off the next chapter for the band with new shows and new music just waiting to be heard and grooved with.
This tour is special for us. Over the years we’ve all put our hearts, countless hours, and full dedication into our crafts. Coming together as a band to be creative and adventurous has been an amazing experience. All of the cities on this run are locations we love, places we have made friends and fans, and honestly, it feels like a coming home tour in many ways. From Turkuaz shows, solo projects, sit ins, and now Cool Cool Cool, these are venues I know we all can’t wait to reconnect with, and build new families from.
Greg Sanderson
Tickets for Cool Cool Cool’s “Never Noticed” Winter/Spring Tour are available here.
Cool Cool Cool “Never Noticed” Winter/Spring 2024 Tour Dates
2.23- Brooksville, FL- Whippersnap Festival 2.24- Miami, FL- Jam Cruise Pre-party 2.25- Miami, FL- Jam Cruise 20 3.05- Charleston, SC- Pour House 3.06- Raleigh, NC- Lincoln Theatre 3.07- Baltimore, MD- The 8×10 3.08- Ardmore, PA- Ardmore Music Hall 3.09- Hamden, CT- Space Ballroom 3.12- Portsmouth, NH- The Press Room 3.13- Brattleboro, VT- The Stone Church 3.15- Saratoga Springs, NY- Putnam Place 3.16- Syracuse, NY- Middle Ages Beer Hall 3.17- Buffalo, NY- Buffalo Iron Works 4.05- Steamboat Springs, CO- Old Town Pub 4.06- Denver, CO- Cervantes
NYC Winter JazzFest has announced the complete list of artists to be featured at the 20th annual event, held January 10-18, 2024.
Founded by New York concert impresario Brice Rosenbloom, NYCWJF has become the definitive all-inclusive jazz event that offers a “state of the union” of jazz and its many stylistic camps from avant-garde to post-bop, jazz-funk, fusion, hypermodern through-composed music and jazz-inflected world music.
From party bands to ambient electronic groups to the most advanced compositional approaches – audiences sample everything the jazz world has to offer. As a destination event, attendees regularly travel from other states and countries to attend the festival. Many in the industry see it as jazz’s answer to SXSW.
It is our 20th season. We began in 2005 at the Knitting Factory on Leonard Street with the mission of highlighting music that deserved wider attention while the APAP conference was in town, and that mission remains. Over the years that mission has expanded to focus on artists with meaningful messages, in the desire to serve as a beacon for racial and gender justice, community building and wellness. Especially in these times of divisiveness,, we understand the importance of nurturing community through music.
founder and producer Brice Rosenbloom.
The NYCWJF has become a creative home for pathbreaking artists from the local NYC scene and globally, and a pivotal destination for arts leaders and cultural cognoscenti, hardcore fans and new listeners alike. The festival has grown at a rapid pace, from the original one-day single-location program to annual schedules putting as many as 150 groups (over 600 artists) on 20 stages throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn.
A number artists who have gone on to wide industry acclaim including GRAMMYs, MacArthurs and or other major platforms for their work are among past performers: Jon Batiste, Kamasi Washington, Gregory Porter, Jason Moran, Vijay Iyer, esperanza spalding, Robert Glasper, Gretchen Parlato and more. These artists look back to their early WJF appearances as pivotal in terms of artistic growth and audience growth as well. Participants from our very earliest WJF days performing at this year’s festival include Marc Ribot and Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber.
Likewise, NYC Winter Jazz Fest will find unique ways to celebrate artists lost who will always be at the root of this music community: Max Roach, Alice Coltrane, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Curtis Fowlkes, Pharoah Sanders, Sun Ra, J Dilla, and Amp Fiddler.
Our artist-in-residence this year, saxophonist and multi-reedist Shabaka, will perform in six different configurations over the course of the festival. Shabaka’s work transcends conventional notions of genre and draws from a vast palette of cultural influences. While he’s undeniably a pioneering voice in the renaissance of British jazz, his remit is much broader: he has also performed classical concertos with world-leading orchestras; led several hugely influential bands (Sons of Kemet, The Comet is Coming, Shabaka and the Ancestors) and has recently released a critically lauded solo album, Afrikan Culture, a work of exceptional beauty and urgency, focused around the shakuhachi, an east Asian instrument of which Shabaka is a major exponent.
In addition to what is sure to be a revelatory (NOW SOLD OUT) January 11 duo set at Dizzy’s Club with the great Joe Lovano (preceded by an intimate chat at Jazz Congress on the “Universality of Jazz”), Shabaka will take part in both of our Marathon nights in ensembles including Jason Moran, Saul Williams, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and more. He will perform at the January 14 tribute to Black cultural center, The East, (see below) and our Impulse! Records showcase at Le Poisson Rouge (LPR) on January 15 (NOW SOLD OUT).
Schedule of NYC Winter Jazz Fest Events
January 10
Take Two: Tyshawn Sorey x Max Roach — Members, Don’t Git Weary + Gilles Peterson (SOLD OUT)
On what would have been the late Max Roach’s 100th birthday, Pique-nique and NYC Winter Jazzfest along with BMI, present composer and MacArthur Fellow Dr. Tyshawn Sorey, who continues the innovative “Take Two” deep listening series. An ongoing series in Brooklyn and elsewhere, Take Two debuted at last year’s festival with an event in memory of Pharoah Sanders. This year Sorey devotes his attention to Max Roach’s 1968 Atlantic Records classic Members, Don’t Git Weary, which featured a new generation of future heavyweights: Gary Bartz, Charles Tolliver, Stanley Cowell, Jymie Merritt and Andy Bey. Tolliver and Cowell would go on to form the seminal Strata-East label and in many ways this record embodies the template of that sound.
The evening will consist of an uninterrupted playback of the 1968 album followed by Sorey and his ensemble making it their own, reacting to what they heard, feeding off audience energy and a shared listening experience. His ensemble includes highly acclaimed young musicians including trumpeter Adam O’Farrill, saxophonist Mark Shim, pianist Sullivan Fortner and bassist Matt Brewer, plus guest vocalist Fay Victor. The artists will connect the dots between record culture and live music culture. BBC Host and musical impresario Gilles Peterson will serve as master of ceremonies and also DJ a late-night set after the performance.
January 11
Winter Jazzfest x Jazz Congress
Jazz at Lincoln Center produces Jazz Congress, an annual conference designed to bring together artists, media and industry leaders in the global jazz community to exchange ideas in order to nurture and grow the jazz community and the underlying business and organizations that promote, produce, present, market and support the music. The conference was co-produced in association with JazzTimes from 2018 to 2021. After a hiatus in 2022 and 2023, Jazz Congress returns as a one-day event on January 11, 2024. In 2024, Jazz Congress will collaborate with Winter Jazzfest in honor of its 20th anniversary. This will include a NYC Winter Jazzfest 20th Anniversary Panel titled “Universality of Jazz” featuring British multi-instrumentalist and 2024 WJF Artist-in-Residence Shabaka, bassist, composer and vocalist esperanza spalding, and South African pianist and composer Nduduzo Makhatini. The evening concert by Joe Lovano and Shabaka is now SOLD OUT.
January 12 & 13
Winter Jazzfest Manhattan & Brooklyn Marathons
Our epic WJF Marathons will once again unfold across two nights (January 12 & 13), at eight Manhattan venues followed by eight more in Brooklyn the following night. Manhattan Marathon highlights include The Jazz Passengers Remember Curtis Fowlkes (Jan. 12), Marc Ribot’s 70th Birthday celebration (Jan. 12),and a Candid Records showcase (Jan. 12) that will include Terri Lyne Carrington +Social Science plus new label signings Zaccha’eus Paul, Morgan Guerin and Milena Casado, hosted by Carrington.
January 12 & 13
Winter Jazzfest Manhattan & Brooklyn Marathons
Our epic WJF Marathons will once again unfold across two nights (January 12 & 13), at eight Manhattan venues followed by eight more in Brooklyn the following night. Manhattan Marathon highlights include The Jazz Passengers Remember Curtis Fowlkes (Jan. 12), Marc Ribot’s 70th Birthday celebration (Jan. 12),and a Candid Records showcase (Jan. 12) that will include Terri Lyne Carrington +Social Science plus new label signings Zaccha’eus Paul, Morgan Guerin and Milena Casado, hosted by Carrington.
For the first time, NYC Winter Jazzfest will partner withPhiladelphia-based presenter Ars Nova Workshop for a showcase of Philadelphia artists at Nublu (Jan. 12); TSFJAZZ/Paris Jazz Club host their annual French jazz artists showcase (Jan. 12),a sunset performance with Laraaji (Jan. 13), Next Jazz Legacy ensemble performs to open the night at City Winery (Jan. 12), keyboardist and producer Ray Angry hosts a stage curated by Future X Sounds (Jan. 13); Joshua Abrams and Tisziji Muñoz Curate “The Harvest Time Project,” a series of ever-evolving live iterations of Pharoah Sanders’ 1977 record Pharoah with a rotating cast of special guests each night (both marathon nights) with different guests including James Brandon Lewis, Chad Taylor, Surya Botofasina, Carlos Niño, Nate Mercereau, Irreversible Entanglements and special guests; a Jazz Passengers tribute to late trombone great Curtis Fowlkes; Ray Angry and J.Period host a 50th Birthday tribute to J. DIlla and remembering Amp Fiddler; three 70th birthday sets from Marc Ribot and much more.
January 14
A Night at The East (Crown Hill Theatre)
Curated by author and music journalist Marcus J. Moore and NYCWJF’s Brice Rosenbloom, an all-star lineup including Billy Hart and Gary Bartz alongside David Murray, Ahmed Abdullah, Charles Burnham, Nicole Mitchell, Moor Mother, Shabaka, Luke Stewart, Julius Rodriguez, Elucid and Kweku Sumbry will pay tribute to this all-but-forgotten Brooklyn landmark, where hundreds of shows self-produced by Black artists took place in Central Brooklyn from 1969-1975.
January 15
Impulse! Records Showcase at LPR (SOLD OUT)
Impulse! Records is proud to present today’s most groundbreaking jazz stars with an evening headlined by Shabaka, debuting material from his upcoming solo album with guests esperanza spalding and more. Trailblazing jazz harpist Brandee Younger will honor the music of Alice Coltrane. Liberation-oriented free jazz collective Irreversible Entanglements will perform; plus instrumental power-trio The Messthetics (former Fugazi members Joe Lally and Brendan Canty with unclassifiable guitar wonder Anthony Pirog) with keeper of the avant flame James Brandon Lewis and harpist Brandee Younger.
January 16
My Words Are Music: A Celebration of Sun Ra’s Poetry (Nublu)
Sun Ra is better known to most as a musician than a poet, but he identified equally as both. This evening provides direct access to the sentiments of a poet who never called Earth home. Featuring recitations of Sun Ra’s poems and original works by the participating artists, this spoken word event will immerse the listener in the rhythms of celestial verses, hosted by poet, activist and educator Mahogany L. Browne with music by poet and educator Jive Poetic. Special guests include Carl Hancock Rux, Moor Mother and Abiodun Oyewole.
January 17
Celebrating Ryuichi Sakamoto (Roulette)
Join us in celebration of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s musical legacy as New York’s finest musicians come together for a tribute concert on January 17, marking what would have been his 72nd birthday. From the revolutionary Thousand Knives to the iconic sounds of the Yellow Magic Orchestra and the Oscar-winning film scores, the Sakamoto Tribute Ensemble (led by violinist Meg Okura and cellist Rubin Kodheli) will interpret his enduring compositions with the utmost reverence. The special guests, Sakamoto’s friends and collaborators including DJ Spooky, Yuka C. Honda and others will share their words and music in a heartfelt tribute.
January 18
MONONEON & Friends (Brooklyn Steel)
Closing out NYCWJF 2024 will be Mononeon and Friends at Brooklyn Steel. The outrageously clad master of the electric bass will have on hand Knower, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Hannibal Buress, Tivon Pennicott, David Fiuczynski and more for a night to remember. This event is supported by Memphis Tourism.
Danish musician Mikkel Hess brings his roving global collective Hess Is More to National Sawdust, in the groundbreaking experiential program Apollonian Blackout.
JAZZ TALKS AFTERNOON SERIES
As in past years, NYCWJF 2024 will program a series of Jazz Talks. These panel discussions spark intellectual reflection and provide the public with a wider context for understanding all that goes on in the artistic lives of our performers.
Thursday, January 11, 2:30 PM
The Universality of Jazz
With panelists Shabaka, Nduduzo Makhathini, esperanza spalding and moderator Mike Bindraban
After over 100 years, the music we call jazz is still thriving, expanding, and influencing music and culture globally. In a dynamic conversation with three artists from around the world and across the diaspora of Black American Music—Shabaka who hails from Barbados and London, esperanza spalding from the United States, Nduduzo Makhathini from South Africa, along with moderator Mike Bindraban from The Netherlands—we will explore the universality of this music, examining past perspectives and imagining broader paths forward.
Jazz At Lincoln Center, The Appel Room
This conversation is included as part of Jazz Congress, registration required
Saturday, January 13, 2:00 PM
Power to the Artists! Reimagining the Music Industry with Blockchain Tech
With panelists Mark de Clive-Lowe, Pozibelle and Gavin Wong, and moderator Simon Rentner
The music industry is broken and needs immediate resuscitation, and this is especially true for independent artists. Web3—the next, decentralized iteration of the Internet—has the potential to ease these pains by creating low-effort revenue streams for artists. Pianist and live electronics wizard Mark de Clive-Lowe (Everwave.xyz), DJ and Producer Pozibelle, and content creator and entrepreneur Gavin Wong (Sidechainme.com) will share case examples of Web3 working for the artists, such as perpetual royalties and revenue sharing. They’ll also share some of the pitfalls of Web3 and answer your questions. This is a conversation geared toward fans, consumers, and industry-folk alike who all dream of a better world for artists, especially the ones navigating niche cultures like jazz. As Bird might say, “Now’s The Time” for the artist to control their own brands and take action.
Moxy Williamsburg, The Garden Room
Saturday, January 13, 4:00 PM
Live At The East: The Meaningful Music of a Brooklyn Community
With panelists Basir Mchawi, Ahmed Abdullah and Fela Barclift
Beginning in the late 1960s, The East served as a Pan-African cultural organization founded by teenagers and young adults in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. The East taught lessons to Black children that they wouldn’t get in public schools: a full and robust education that centered Africa and the Caribbean. The East was also a hotbed of a thriving Brooklyn jazz scene that hosted the likes of Pharoah Sanders, Max Roach, Betty Carter, Sonny Rollins, Juju, Gil Scott-Heron and many more. Fortunately, some of those sessions are captured on Juju’s 1973 album Live at the East, which has come to mean something special. It means the work on said album is vigorous, a rightful celebration of Black Classical Music. In a special panel discussion, held in conjunction with a one-time-only performance of the music of The East the following night, we delve into the venue’s musical impact on Bed-Stuy and Brooklyn as a whole.
Moxy Williamsburg, The Garden Room
In addition, on January 4, prior to the official start of NYC Winter Jazzfest, we are proud to present a screening of The Sun Rises in the East at Nitehawk Cinema Williamsburg — the first feature-length documentary to explore the inspiring story of The East and the people behind it. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion.
Saturday, January 13, 6:00 PM
The Art Of Being A Multi-Hyphenate
With panelists Jashima Wadehra, Shelly Hartman, Trishes and Queen Esther
Presented with Keychange U.S
Confirmed performers:
Abiodun Oyewole (The Last Poets)
Alex Zhang Hungtai, Che Chen, Leo Chang
Alexis Lombre
Alissia
Allysha Joy
Angelika Niescier, Tomeka Reid, Savannah Harris
Anna Webber “Shimmer Wince”
Anthony Tidd’s Sanity with Ursula Rucker
Bark Culture
Billy Hart
Black Buttafly
Brandee Younger Trio
Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber
Carl Hancock Rux
Carlos Niño
Caroline Davis’ Alula
Charles Burnham
Christie Dashiell
Cisco Swank
Cyro Baptista
Elsa Nilssen
Elucid
esperanza spalding
Gary Bartz
Genevieve Artadi Trio ft. Louis, Cole, Pedro Martins, Isis Geraldo
Georgia Anne Muldrow
Ghost-Note
Gilles Peterson
Guy Mintus
Hannibal Buress
Hess Is More
Immanuel Wilkins
Irreversible Entanglements
Jason Lindner
Jason Moran
Joe Lovano
Joel Ross
José James Presents 1978
Joshua Abrams
Julius Rodriguez
Kalia Vandever
Karl Denson Project
Knower
Kweku Sumbry
Laraaji
Little Big w/ Aaron Parks, Greg Tuohey, DJ Ginyard & JK Kim
Luke Stewart
Mahogany L. Browne & Jive Poetic
Marc Ribot Celebration (3 groups)
Marshall Allen’s Ghost Horizons
Mary Halvorson & Thomas Fujiwara
Matana Roberts
Melanie Charles Trio w/ Endea Owens and Savannah Harris
Micah Thomas Trio
Miguel Atwood Ferguson
Milena Casado
MonoNeon
Moor Mother
Morgan Guerin
Natalie Greffel
Natural Information Society
Nduduzo Makhathini
Next Jazz Legacy
Nicole Mitchell
Oran Etkin
Queen Esther
Rafiq Bhatia with Chris Pattishall
Ray Angry
Rich Medina
Rogê
Roy Nathanson’s “82 Days”
Samora Pinderhughes
Saul Williams
Shabaka (Artist-in-Residence)
Simon Moullier
Terri Lyne Carrington + Social Science
The Harvest Time Project: A Tribute to Pharoah Sanders w/ Tisziji Muñoz, Joshua Abrams
The producers of the newly reimagined Broadway production of The Who’s TOMMY have announced full principal casting for the upcoming run at the Nederlander Theatre, with previews beginning March 8 and opening night slated for March 28.
Producers Stephen Gabriel and Ira Pittelman have selected a handful of actors who will reprise their roles from the Goodman Theatre production in Chicago. Among them are Alison Luff as Mrs. Walker, Adam Jacobs as Captain Walker, John Ambrosino as Uncle Ernie, Bobby Conte as Cousin Kevin, and Christina Sajous as The Acid Queen. The actors join previously announced Ali Louis Bourzgui starring as Tommy Walker, who is reprising his Jeff Award-winning role from the Goodman. Additional casting for The Who’s TOMMY on Broadway will be announced soon.
Completing the cast areHaley Gustafson, Jeremiah Alsop, Ronnie S. Bowman Jr., Mike Cannon, Tyler James Eisenreich, Sheldon Henry, Afra Hines, Aliah James, David Paul Kidder, Tassy Kirbas, Lily Kren, Quinten Kusheba, Reese Levine, Brett Michael Lockley, Nathan Lucrezio, Alexandra Matteo, Mark Mitrano, Reagan Pender, Cecilia Ann Popp, Daniel Quadrino, Olive Ross-Kline, Jenna Nicole Shoen, Dee Tomasetta, and Andrew Tufano.
The new production of The Who’s TOMMY premiered this past Summer at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago where Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune named TOMMY as #1 in the Best of Chicago Theater list for 2023, saying, “Tommy explodes with life – it’s a truly ready-for prime-time stunner. Broadway has nothing else like this wizardry going on.”
The Chicago production of The Who’s TOMMY won 9 Joseph Jefferson “Jeff” Awards, the most for any show this season, including Best Director for Des McAnuff and Best Production.
Three decades after the epic pop-culture musical theatre sensation first bowed on Broadway, original Tony Award®-winning creators Pete Townshend (music, lyrics, book) and Des McAnuff (book, direction) have reunited to bring the story of Tommy Walker to today’s audiences.
Myth and spectacle combine in The Who’s exhilarating 1969 rock opera, TOMMY—including the unforgettable anthems “I’m Free,” “See Me, Feel Me,” “Sensation” and “Pinball Wizard.” After witnessing his father shoot his rival, the young Tommy Walker is lost in the universe, endlessly and obsessively staring into the mirror. An innate knack for pinball catapults him from reticent adolescent to celebrity savior.
The Who’s TOMMY creative team includes choreographer Lorin Latarro (Into the Woods, Mrs. Doubtfire and Waitress); music supervision and additional arrangements by Ron Melrose (Jersey Boys on Broadway, London and National Tour); musical direction and additional orchestrations by Rick Fox (Rent, Jesus Christ Superstar); set design by David Korins (Hamilton, Beetlejuice, Here Lies Love ); projection design by Peter Nigrini (Here Lies Love,MJ and Dear Evan Hansen); costume design by Sarafina Bush (for colored girls…, Pass Over on Broadway); lighting design by Amanda Zieve (Broadway associate on Escape to Margaritaville and Allegiance); sound design by Gareth Owen (Back to the Future, & Juliet and MJ); and wig and hair design by Charles LaPointe (Hamilton, Beautiful). Casting is by Tara Rubin Casting/Merri Sugarman, CSA. Additional Chicago Casting by Lauren Port, CSA and Rachael Jimenez, CSA. Tripp Phillips is the Production Stage Manager and Bespoke Theatricals is General Manager.
Pete Townshend’s prior awards for The Who’s TOMMY include a Grammy Award (1993) for the Original Broadway Cast Recording, Tony Award for Best Score (1993), Toronto’s Dora Mavor Moore Award (1995) and the UK’s Olivier Award (1997). For directing The Who’s TOMMY, Des McAnuff received previously, the Tony and Drama Desk Awards (1993), Toronto’s Dora Mavor Moore Award (1995) and the UK’s Olivier Award (1997).
Tickets to The Who’s TOMMY at the Nederlander Theatre are now on sale at TommyTheMusical.com.
