“The Red Hook Jazz Festival exists contentedly on the margins, like its namesake neighborhood and much of the music on its bill…The mood in the audience was neighborly, with a higher ratio of small children to youngish adults than I’ve seen at any musical event not expressly pitched as a kids’ show.”  
 
    — Nate Chinen, New York Times
 
“The lineup seems to get better every year at the Red Hook Jazz Festival, held on two successive Sundays at the Urban Meadow. These bands have widely varying instrumentation but a shared independent spirit, an ethic as purposeful and rigorous as it is experimental.”
 
    — David R. Adler, Village Voice
 
“Lemme tell ya, this is what makes Brooklyn Brooklyn, it really is.”
 
    — former Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz, proclaiming “Red Hook Jazz Festival Day” in Brooklyn at the 2012 RHJF
 
Celebrating its eighth continuous year of presentation the finest artists in jazz, proudly from the grassroots, the 2015 Red Hook Jazz Festival will be presented on two consecutive Sundays, June 14 and 21 from 1-6 PM in the community garden and ecological center the Urban Meadow, located at the corner of President and Van Brunt Streets near the Columbia St. waterfront in Brooklyn, NY. General admission will be $10 and will be available at the Meadow entrance — no advance tickets will be sold. As with all past editions of the festival, all children will be admitted to both days of the festival free of charge.
 
The lineups this year represent the infinite variety the music exhibits in the 21st century, embracing countless traditions and global cultures. The schedule for the 8th annual Red Hook Jazz Festival will be:
 
June 14
Jason Kao Hwang/Amygdala
Jason Kao Hwang: violin, viola, compositions
Rami Seo: gayakeum
Michael Wimberly: djembe
 
Alon Nechushtan Quintet
Alon Nechushtan: keyboard
John Ellis & Donny McCaslin: saxophones
Chris Lightcap: bass
Adam Cruz: drums
 
Shai Maestro Trio 
Shai Maestro: keyboard
Jorge Roeder: bass
Ziv Ravitz: drums
 
Ben Monder Trio 
Ben Monder: guitar
Eivind Opsvik: bass
Jochen Rueckert: drums
 
Trio X + Rosi Hertlein 
Joe McPhee: saxophones, trumpets
Dominic Duval: bass
Jay Rosen: drums
Rosi Hertlein: violin, vocals
 
 
June 21
KWIKK
Karl Berger: vibes
Warren Smith: drums
Ingrid Sertso: vocals
Kenny Wessel: guitar
Ken Filiano: bass;
 
Ari Hoenig – Brian Charette Organ Duo
Ari Hoenig: drums
Brian Charette: organ
 
Rez Abbasi’s Junction 
Rez Abbasi: guitar
Mark Shim: tenor saxophone, EWI
Ben Shivers: keyboards
Jaimeo Brown: drums
 
Eric Person Trio
Eric Person: saxophones, flute
Adam Armstrong: bass
Shinnosuke Takahashi: drums
 
Brooklyn Qawwali Party
Loren Stillman: alto saxophone
Brian Drye: trombone
Rob Jost: French Horn
Noah Jarrett: acoustic bass
Michael Bellar: harmonium
Brook Martinez: drums
 
The Red Hook Jazz Festival is co-directed by Mike Golub, Tamar Smith and James Keepnews. It was conceived by Mike in 2008 as an opportunity to present artists who lived locally and to bring new attention to the work of the Urban Meadow, which had been reclaimed from an abandoned lot down the street from the Smith-Golub home. Over the course of subsequent years, while remaining an entirely volunteer-run event, the Red Hook Jazz Festival has established itself as a major annual event for jazz listeners globally, recognized for its relaxed vibe, family-friendly environment, strong commitment to giving younger ears an opportunity to hear this vital music by waiving admission costs for children and by the RHJF’s continued presentation of the greatest jazz talents performing today. In June 2012, then Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz declared one day of the RHJF “Red Hook Jazz Festival Day” in Brooklyn.
 
Please read Nate Chinen’s review of the 2012 RHJF for the New York Times:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/13/arts/music/red-hook-jazz-festival-at-urban-meadow-in-brooklyn.html
 
Watch George Coleman Jr.’s Rivington Project throw down at last June’s fest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=semr_mXRs4A
 
Here are video excerpts from performances that took place during the 2013 RHJF:
Local Red Hook musician Willie Martinez and his La Familia Sextet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIv-XhEnhL4
Clarence Penn Quartet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfoaiwaUjV0
Mike Pride’s Bacteria to Boys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdQort5zOOA
Allison Miller’s Big Molasses: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiRXtLbKFTw
 
For more information about the Red Hook Jazz Festival, please see its Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RedHookJazzFestival.
 
For more information about the Urban Meadow, please visit: http://urbanmeadowbrooklyn.blogspot.com