# A field guide to the Winter Jazzfest marathon: Photos, Videos, Sounds

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2020/01/06/a-field-guide-to-the-winter-jazzfest-marathon-photos-videos-sounds/
- Published: 2020-01-06T17:59:26+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**It’s time to start making your plans.**

After all, the [Winter Jazzfest](https://www.winterjazzfest.com/) is right around
the corner — and its wild profusion of sounds and scenes can feel totally overwhelming,
without a little prep.

This year’s festival carries a focus on wellness, with an expanded [talk series](https://www.winterjazzfest.com/talks-2020)
mainly devoted to the subject. (I’ll be co-moderating two panels myself.)

New for 2020 is the [Winter Jazzfest Hub](https://www.winterjazzfest.com/hub) at
the Moxy NYC East Village, where WBGO will host broadcast live editions of Midday
Jazz, Afternoon Jazz and The Checkout. (We’ll also host performances, on Thursday,
Friday and Saturday nights; stay tuned for more about those.)

There are also standalone concerts, like an [all-star showcase](https://www.winterjazzfest.com/kris-davis-terri-lyne-carrington-val-jeanty-trevor-dunn)
for pianist Kris Davis’ album _Diatom Ribbons_, on Sunday at (Le) Poisson Rouge.
But as always, the marquee event during Winter Jazzfest is its two-night Marathon,
across a range of venues in Manhattan. There’ll also be a one-night [Brooklyn Marathon](https://www.winterjazzfest.com/2020-friday-jan-17th)
this year, on Jan. 17 — but for our purposes here, we’ll focus on this weekend’s
offerings.

So here are five picks apiece for Friday and Saturday — a mere sliver of suggestion
for those drawing up their itineraries, and a small heap of recommended listening
for those who may not even be attending, but still want to listen in.

**FRIDAY**

(See the [full schedule](https://www.winterjazzfest.com/2020-friday-jan-10th) for
Friday’s Marathon.)

**Sunny Jain’s ‘Wild Wild East’**

_6:45 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street_

He’s best known as the leader and percussive engine behind Red Baraat, which has
logged some memorable hours at Winter Jazzfests past. But Sunny Jain also works 
as a solo artist, and his latest venture is _Wild Wild East_, due out on Smithsonian
Folkways on Feb. 21. The album, which Jain will preview here, draws from the musical
conventions of Bollywood, surf-rock and the spaghetti western in order to make a
point about the modern immigrant experience.

**Makaya McCraven, ‘In These Times’**

_9:30 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street_

At the present moment, not many jazz musicians are more effective tastemakers than
Makaya McCraven, a drummer-bandleader who combines a hip-hop production model with
the flickering spark of collective improvisation.

Last year McCraven played Winter Jazzfest with a version of the group on his acclaimed
album _Universal Beings; _this year he’ll present “In These Times,” a piece commissioned
by Le Guess Who? in the Netherlands. This clip from the festival features a front
line of Marquis Hill on trumpet and Irvin Pierce on saxophone. (They don’t enter
until around 4:00, but it’s worth hearing what happens in the meantime, via McCraven,
keyboardist Greg Spero and bassist Junius Paul.)

**Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet with Gretchen Parlato**

_9 p.m., (Le) Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker Street_

Drummer-bandleader Mark Guiliana is Artist In Residence at this year’s Winter Jazzfest,
performing in about a half-dozen different settings. Among them is his Jazz Quartet,
which made its debut at The Village Vanguard last year.

[[

CREDIT SHERVIN LAINEZ

Joining them here as a featured guest is Guiliana’s spouse, vocalist Gretchen Parlato.(
She has a cowriting credit on “Inter-Are,” from the fine 2017 album _Jersey._)

**MAE.SUN**

_9:45 p.m., The Dance, 428 Lafayette Street_

Saxophonist and flutist Hailey Niswanger formed MAE.SUN in a glow of spiritual surrender,
informed by her studies in Zen. The project, which includes vibraphonist Nikara 
Warren, guitarist Andrew Renfroe and keyboardist Axel Laugart, recently released
its second album, _Vol. 2: Into the Flow_. For a good taste of its affirmative vibe,
lock into a track called “Bond,” which features vocals by Amber Navran of Moonchild,
and Niswanger’s soulful ministrations on soprano.

**Halvorson & Dieterich**

_10:45 p.m., Nublu, 151 Avenue C_

Mary Halvorson and John Dieterich are both guitarists of spiky and exploratory temperament,
though they travel in slightly different orbits — she mainly among avant-garde improvisers,
he in an art-rock realm.

[[

But there’s less daylight between them than you might imagine, and not just because
Deerhoof, the band in which Dieterich plays, is one of Halvorson’s faves. Listen
to their duo album, _A Tangle of Stars, _and you’ll hear a deep simpatico, along
with a will to find lyricism in oft-unlikely places.

**SATURDAY**

(See the [full schedule](https://www.winterjazzfest.com/2020-saturday-jan-11th) 
for Saturday’s Marathon.)

**Steve Lehman Trio + Craig Taborn**

_6:30 p.m., Zinc Bar, 82 West Third Street_

Alto saxophonist Steve Lehman had one of the most critically acclaimed releases 
of 2019 in _The People I Love_, which augments his trio with pianist Craig Taborn.

[[

Part covers album, part self-examination, it’s another example of the hard-charging
futurism that is Lehman’s trademark; see for example “Ih Calam and Ynnus,” whose
title suggests a tribute to free-jazz titans Malachi Favors and Sunny Murray.

**Marquis Hill: _New Gospel _Revisited**

_6:45 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street_

[[

Marquis Hill is a trumpeter with mastery of jazz fundamentals, but he’s also determined
to meet R&B, soul and gospel on their own terms. _Love Tape_ is his latest statement
along these lines; _New Gospel, _which he’ll revisit here, was his first, released
in 2011.

**Amirtha Kidambi & Lea Bertucci **

_7 p.m., Nublu, 151 Avenue C_

[[

_Phase Eclipse _is the recent album by this intrepid duo, featuring Kidambi’s shapeshifting
vocals and Bertucci’s manual tape manipulation. Meditative but rarely meandering,
it’s a meeting of minds that explores the idea of the loop, as well as the promise
of spontaneous dialogue. It should be even more engaging in person.

**Nduduzo Makhathini**

_8:30 p.m., Zürcher Gallery, 33 Bleecker Street_

Pianist-composer Nduduzo Makhathini recently made news by joining the roster of 
Blue Note Records — the first South African artist to do so. But he’s hardly a brand-
new face, for those who have been tuned to the right frequencies. Here is a clip
from the International Jazz Extravaganza in South Africa in Durban, featuring “Amathambo,”
the opening track from his 2017 album _Ikhambi_.

**Anna Webber**

_12:15 a.m., The Dance, 428 Lafayette Street_

Flutist and tenor saxophonist Anna Webber had one of the sit-up-and-take-notice 
albums of 2019 with _Clockwise _(Pi Recordings), featuring a septet of avant-garde
improvisers on the higher end of the skill spectrum.

[[

CREDIT LIZ KOSACK

The album, inspired by the percussion pieces of new-music icons like Stockhausen
and Xenakis, brings out the best in those players, including pianist Matt Mitchell
and drummer-percussionist Ches Smith.

![Nubya Garcia with her band at the 2019 Winter Jazzfest](https://i0.wp.com/www.
wbgo.org/sites/wbgo/files/styles/medium/public/202001/Nubaya_2019.jpg?w=640&ssl=
1)

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