vision festival 2026, day 5 @ abrons art center, jun 27 - william hooker quartet / alan braufman quartet / bobby zankel wonderful sound 3 / william parker’s rhythm & soul
photography by © Clara Pereira / text by Filipe Freitas
On Saturday, June 27, Day 5 of the Vision Festival featured four distinct concerts, each informed by freedom and hope for a better world.
WILLIAM HOOKER QUARTET
We arrived late but still caught a fair glimpse of drummer William Hooker, who led a quartet turned quintet featuring Mara Rosenbloom on piano, Ahmed Abdullah on trumpet, Jair-Rohm Parker-Wells on bass, and the recently announced Dave Sewelson on baritone saxophone. When we entered, Hooker was delivering an energetic mallet-driven solo, which was followed by a dissonant excursion of trumpet cries, baritone growls, dense piano clusters, and reverb-drenched bowed bass enhanced with a wah-wah effect. The heavy, cacophonous interplay conjured dark, menacing clouds in the sky.
alan braufman quartet
The next performance was absolutely stunning. Seventy-five-year-old alto saxophonist and flutist Alan Braufman was backed by the incredible rhythm section of Japanese pianist Eri Yamamoto, bassist Luke Stewart, and drummer Chad Taylor. They opened with “Angels”, a half-marching, half-dancing protest song enriched by spectacular saxophone hooks and Yamamoto’s unfailing sensitivity, both as an accompanist and improviser. “Home”, a modal hymn drawn from his 2020 album The Fire Still Burns, made my night: Stewart’s fervent bowed bass seamlessly gave way to pizzicato, Taylor’s mallet work on toms and cymbals added remarkable depth, while Braufman’s eloquent lines reached my soul with spiritual fire. The group kept captivating me with “Chasing a Melody”, marked by irreverent playfulness and propelled by walking bass and a brisk hi-hat pulse, the “Caravan”-like Afro-Latin groove of “Snow in Central Park”, and the title track of his latest album, “Anthem for Peace”, both melodically led by Braufman’s flute. This was the uplifting hope I had been looking for.
bobby zankel wonderful sound 3
Altoist Bobby Zankel followed, leading an experimental trio with Cooper-Moore on didley bow and Chad Taylor on drums. The performance—dedicated to Sonny Rollins— began fluidly, with saxophone and drums in conversation, before erupting into tongues of fire with the addition of the didley bow, which frequently complemented the rhythmic foundation while operating in the lower register as a bass voice. Dynamic but somewhat unvaried, the trio concluded with a 4/4 blues that allowed ample freedom for exploration.
william parker’s rhythm & soul
Seasoned bassist William Parker, whose compositions are invariably compelling, closed the night with his Rhythm & Soul project, a quintet featuring a robust frontline of tenor saxophonist Mixashawn Rozie, cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, and violinist Jason Kao Hwang. The ensemble was rounded out by the resourceful drummer Hamid Drake. A new composition, “Wounds Inside”, dedicated to Black people who have been systematically persecuted and oppressed, provided a vigorous opening, prominently featuring Rozie’s spoken word and searing tenor lines. Musicality and interaction were permanent throughout.
Hope is still here and ready for another 30 million breaths and heartbeats