VISION FESTIVAL 22 - DAY 4 - at JUDSON CHURCH - NYC, JUN 1

Odean Pope, 2014

@ Vision 22, Judson Church, NYC

Odean Pope Saxophone Choir, 2017

@ Vision 22, Judson Church, NYC

Craig Taborn, Darius Jones, William Parker, Gerald Cleaver, 2017

@ Vision 22, Judson Church, NYC

Nicole Mitchell, 2017

@ Vision 22, Judson Church, NYC

Mike Reed, 2017

@ Vision 22, Judson Church, NYC

Tomeka Reid and Mike Reed, 2017

@ Vision 22, Judson Church, NYC

Artifacts Trio, 2017

@ Vision 22, Judson Church, NYC

Mike Reed, 2017

@ Vision 22, Judson Church, NYC

Nicole Mitchell, 2017

@ Vision 22, Judson Church, NYC

Tomeka Reid, 2017

@ Vision 22, Judson Church, NYC

Mike Reed, Nicole Mitchell, Tomeka Reid, 2017

@ Vision 22, Judson Church, NYC

Odean Pope and Darius Jones' sets - photography by © Filipe Freitas / Artifacts Trio set -photography by © Clara Pereira / text by Filipe Freitas

//DAY 4//

Saxophonist Odean Pope delighted the audience with fabulous arrangements of acknowledged tunes with his expansive Saxophone Choir.
The sparkling harmonic sequences led to soulful approaches and the balance between the improvised and the arranged was formidable.
They kicked in with “To the Roach”, a piece dedicated to the drummer Max Roach, and proceeded with bubbling sax improvisations on “Coltrane Time”, Pope’s ballad “Cis” and an Afro-Latin piece packed with baritone fills whose title I couldn’t determine. They concluded with a short orchestration of Coltrane’s “Giant Steps”.

My favorite performance of the festival (no doubt about it!), was Darius Jones, who killed it without even blinking, leaving everyone in a suspended sort of ecstasy. He brought an ultra responsive, appealingly bullish rhythm section with him known as Farmers By Nature, whose inspired members consist of Craig Taborn on piano, William Parker on acoustic bass, and Gerald Cleaver on drums. This striking non-stop performance stirred a tornado of emotions as sonic masses were built, gaining consistent textures to be disintegrated in the next minute with immaculate expression. Jones, mighty without being painful, even put his sax to weep a couple times.
Grandiose levels of chemistry like these are hard to find and their music has this urgency that truly frees my soul. This blast that needs to be recorded!!
*Note: The only complaint about this particular set was the short duration. Clara wasn’t able to attend and I was so mesmerized with the sound that I couldn’t move from where I was in order to take a proper picture. My bad!

Those who stayed until late were rewarded with a great performance by Artifacts Trio – Nicole Mitchell on flutes and electronics, Tomeka Reid on cello, and Mike Reed on drums.
Toggling between the finely calibrated and the abstract, this creative equilateral triangle delivered beautiful renditions of tunes by Anthony Braxton, Air, Leroy Jenkins, Steve McCall, Amina Claudine Myers, and Fred Anderson. Whether moving through labyrinthine narrow paths or improvised expansive avenues, they rode admirably throughout, deserving the standing ovation at the end.