“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
“The Red Hook Jazz Festival deserves an award for ‘event deserving wider recognition’.”
— Tom Greenland, New York City Jazz Record
“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
Postponed from this past June because of inclement weather, and celebrating its eighth continuous year of presenting the finest artists in jazz proudly from the grassroots, Day 2 of the 2015 Red Hook Jazz Festival will be presented on Sunday, September 20 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 the festival free of charge.
NOTE: The schedule for Day 2 has changed since our first announcement earlier this year with the additional of Nate Radley and Vinnie Sperrazza’s groups, and will include (in order of appearance):
Kenny Wessel Quartet
Kenny Wessel: guitar
Matt Pavolka: bass
Lisa Parrot: saxophones
Warren Smith: percussion
The Mighty Grinders
Brian Charette: organ
Yotam Silberstein: guitar
Mark Ferber: drums
Vinnie Sperrazza Apocryphal
Vinnie Sperrazza: drums
Loren Stillman: alto saxophone
Brandon Seabrook: guitar
Eivind Opsvik: bass
Eric Person Trio
Eric Person: saxophones, flute
Adam Armstrong: bass
Shinnosuke Takahashi: drums
Nate Radley Quintet
Nate Radley: guitar
John Ellis: saxophones
Jonny Lam: pedal steel guitar
Gary Wang: bass
Mark Ferber: 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
