Monday, May 1 at 6PMThe RotundaRegister now!

From March 24 – June 6, The Velocity Fund is accepting applications — we invite artists living in the city of Philadelphia to apply with their new project ideas. Come to an Info Session at one of their partnering sites this spring, to learn more about how you can apply: bit.ly/velocityinfosessions2023

The Velocity Fund directly supports Philadelphia-based artists with project grants up to $5000. Open to a wide range of experimental practices, particularly those that emphasize collaboration among artistic genres. Over the past five granting cycles, The Velocity Fund has supported sixty-four dynamic projects around the city — with a wide range of public outcomes, from video synthesis workshops to horror podcasts highlighting BIPOC authors, interactive memoir performances to traveling cabarets, digital community archives to speculative time portals, environmental sculpture to collaborative films reimagining re-entry. 

The Velocity Fund is administered by Philadelphia Contemporary, with support from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts’ Regional Regranting Program. The program was established in 2007 to recognize and support the movement of independently organized, public-facing, artist-centered activity that animates local and regional art scenes but that lies beyond the reach of traditional funding sources. 

DIRECT LINKS:

→ Apply now: velocityfund.org/apply

→ Learn more at an Info Session this spring: bit.ly/velocityinfosessions2023

→ Reach out with questions: velocity@philadelphiacontemporary.org 

→ Keep up with announcements: @thevelocityfund

IMAGE DESCRIPTION:

Against a bright green background, a graphic of a sunny yellow page with top quarter folded down, to reveal white. The Velocity Fund logo, in black, appears at the top left corner, with other logos in the bottom right. Two thin black lines run vertically over and under the yellow page graphic. Text reads: “APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN! Apply by June 6” followed by the website link: “velocityfund.org/apply”

Al Bustan presents The Dido Problem Screening

Join us for a screening of the short film and public intervention project The Dido Problem by Huniti Goldox (Areej Huniti & Eliza Goldox). The screening starts at 6:00pm, followed by a conversation with the artists moderated by Mohannad Ghawanmeh and Deborah Thomas.

Film Summary: The Dido Problem is a film that engages with water politics and the reenactment of mythology. The starting point is re-imagining the myth of Dido and her resistance towards oppression and territory. Through digital and material speculations, the film touches on the notion of enforced mutation and historical fabrication within ecological and social spheres. By following water histories and cycles, The Dido Problem attends to the complex circulation of matter and desire and how it gets mutated by exploitation.

Film Duration: 31 minutes

HUNITI GOLDOX is an artist duo consisting of Areej Huniti & Eliza Goldox. In their practice they are interested in how political systems, transitions and violence affect water bodies and landscapes. Through contextual examinations of geopolitical realities, marginalized oral histories and mythologies they create films, videos, VR-works, installations, conversations, texts, workshops and interventions. They started with a project on a buried river in Amman/ Jordan and extended to the swamp lands and Mediterranean coast of Tunisia, the artificial lake-land of Leipzig and the urban development projects around Tirana River.

Areej Huniti received an MA in Global Digital Cultures from SOAS University of London and Eliza Goldox was awarded an MA in Art & Design at Chelsea College/University of the Arts London. Their collaborative work was exhibited and screened at Darat Al Funun, The MMAG Foundation & The Jordan National Gallery, Goethe Institute in Amman, SomoS Art House in Berlin, School Of Waters/ Biennale Mediterranea in San Marino, Sheffield Film Festival, D21 in Leipzig, TBA Academy/ Ocean Uni, Tirana Art Lab, Manifesta 14 in Kosovo and Hauser & Wirth Menorca.

Admission is FREE but registration is required. Please register HERE 

Fire Museum Presents: 

Iva BittováHailing from the present-day Czech Republic, Iva Bittová is one of Europe's most innovative and celebrated artists. She began her career as an actor in the mid-1970s, appearing in several Czech and Slovak feature films. Born to famed Roma violinist Bittó Kálmán, she was playing violin and singing at a very early age. In 1987 Iva & percussionist Pavel Fajt released an album of original minimalist fusion of alternative rock music with Slavic and Roma motifs. Iva Bittova's first solo record ("Iva Bittova" - 1991) fully outlined her extraordinary complexity as an artist. She composed all of the 14 tracks on the album, except for Czech folk song "One Sister".

Bittova is one of those rare artists who know how to put all possible extremes of the emotional scale into one song: she laughs and cries, cackles as a hen, chirps as a bird, slaps her tongue, makes strange throat noises. Bittova's violin playing is as impressive as her vocal acrobatics, distilled from different techniques, constantly mixed. She might pluck her instrument as a ukulele or a banjo,or play with a bow or a wooden stick to get a rhythmical pattern from the string. Bittova uses everything she has, plays with her entire body, beats a rhythm with her feet.

In addition to her solo concerts Bittova has collaborated and performed with Jiri Stivin, Emil Viklicky, Fred Frith, Tom Cora, Chris Cutler, David Moss, Pavel Fajt and many others.

Antonin Fajt:

Antonin Fajt's music combines elements of folkloric traditions of Eastern Europe, jazz and classical composition. Toni grew up in Lelekovice, in the Moravian region of Czech Republic in a musical family. His mother, Iva Bittová is a singer, violinist and composer, and his father, Pavel Fajt is a drummer and composer. Antonín moved to the Hudson Valley, NY in 2007. He likes to work with preparations, folk materials, sampling, texture, and repetition. Toni holds a BA in music from Bard College ’14, where he studied under the mentorship of the composer Joan Tower.

Besides music, he likes to cook, work outside, make events, and pretend to know things. He's been fortunate to work with wonderful musicians such as Dean Sharp, Niloufar Shiri, Window Quartet, Andrei Kvapil, Henry Birdsey, George Mráz, Jessika Kenney, Eyvind Kang, Michael Dessen, PUBLIQuartet, & the ICE ensemble. He can be heard with his group Mantis with Niloufar Shiri, in duo with Iva Bittová, or in improvised music scenes in New York and southern California. He holds an MA from the Integrative Composition, Improvisation and Technology program at UC Irvine where he is currently finishing his PhD dissertation and composing a larger musical work centered around the Hudson River and its two-way flow as a representation of time.

Unseen Rain:

Unseen Rain is an experimental ensemble from Philadelphia. Delving into the sound worlds of places beyond human reach, the music evokes the echolocation of ocean floors, the bustling of anthills, and the cosmic reverberations of extraterrestrial life. The group’s instrumentation of strings, vibraphone and modified drum kit lends itself to an intimate, quieter aesthetic that embraces space and slow-building forms.

Unseen Rain was formed by violinist June Bender in 2017. Recent projects include the release of their debut album, Out Beyond, and film scoring for the documentary, Queer Genius directed by Catherine Pancake.

June Bender violin/compositions

Alban Bailly guitar/cello/electronics

Matt Engle double bass

Mike Szekely percussion

Andy Thierauf vibraphone

Admission is FREE. Registration is encouraged. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/iva-bittova-antonin-fajt-duo-unseen-rain-tickets-516056277217

To commemorate the fifth anniversary of the passing of our beloved friend, colleague, and extraordinary artist Lili Bita, The Rotunda is proud to present a reading and performance of her works in poetry, prose, and drama, including work inspired by it.  Greek-born and a proud resident of Philadelphia, Lili long graced The Rotunda's stage with dynamic performances of ancient tragedy and modern drama, including one-woman shows she brought around the world.  Acclaimed as a modern Sappho, her love poetry in particular won plaudits from some of the leading voices of her time, and her work remains an enduring legacy for our community and for future generations.  We are proud to honor and celebrate her.

Performers/readers to be announced soon. 

Admission is FREE for everyone. 

Event HorizonpresentsTackless, Electronic Memory and KaneLoggiaHYPOTHESIS

More info: eventhorizonseries.org/

The Event Horizon concert series takes place at The Rotunda and features Electronic, Avant Garde, and Experimental music along with the work of live video projection artists.

Electronic Memory is a duo consisting of Ken Palmer (PYXL8R, Brainstatik) and Mike Hunter (Ombient, Proteus-3, Mayakara, Black Thujone, Brainstatik and host/ producer of the WPRB radio program, Music WIth Space.) They utilize various electronic and electro-acousti instruments to take the listener on an aural journey through endless soundscapes.

Close your eyes and surf the waveforms…

Tackless is the music of John Piatkowski, a composer and keyboardist from New Jersey, USA. Often electronic and at turns, orchestral, there is no route untaken to arrive at the destination of exalted emotion within a given soundscape. John Piatkowski draws from years of genre-crossing playing with groups such as The Roadside Graves, Fun Machine, and Ari Why and the Invisible College.These interactions have generated multiple albums, recordings and tours which further inform the sonic areas that Tackless seeks to access. Currently, Tackless is performing live on upcoming dates through 2023 in the northeastern US as work on the new, debut album is underway.

KaneLoggiaHYPOTHESIS are an experimental duo of master improvisors burning through the realms of noise, psych, free jazz, and avantgarde, bringing you out of your brain and into your heart where the sound is felt and does it’s most needed work…Their electrifying music can rock like crazy, making you dance and giving you what you need…like a slice at midnight….The glorious joy of their music can send your spirit soaring, and it’s endlessly deep textures will challenge your ears to stay alert and inquisitive.

The concerts are always FREE and open to all.

The Women's Coalition for Empowerment, Inc. presents the Creatives Chat Series 2023, a pop-up series of curated discussions infusing creative industry topics, best practices, networking and live music.

Moderated by Shekhinah B. , author of the Art Economic Empowerment Workbook, an artistic multihyphenate, arts administrator, Edutainer, and vocal performer.

We welcome artists from every discipline to attend. This event will be an open dialogue between attendees and the moderator, a judgement free zone to explore innovative approaches towards creative freedom.

Free | Open to the Public | Live Music | Free Food | Networking

Registration is encouraged. Please register HERE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MONDAY, MAY 8, 2023

CELEBRATE SPRING AND THE ARTS

WITH A FREE SHOWCASE IN WEST PHILLY

Poet-tree En Motion Returns on May 24 to The Rotunda

 with Multidisciplinary Arts and Cultural Presentations

WEST PHILADELPHIA – The arts are aflame once again and everyone is welcome to join for free from 7-10 p.m. on Wednesday, May 24 when Poet-tree En Motion returns to The Rotunda in West Philadelphia.

This season’s multidisciplinary arts showcase, titled “In Celebration of the Rites of Spring,” will feature live Afro-Brazilian music, spoken-word poetry, theatrical dance, movement meditations, DJ’ed dance beats, “hippie-punk music,” live painting, and a fire arts performance.

Every Poet-tree En Motion event (now in its 16th year) welcomes the active participation from the audience whether it is to dance, to move in healing meditation, to engage in call-and-response chant, or in other ways.

“The whole thing is a ritual: the coming together of the performers and the audience,” says artistic director Gabrielle de Burke. “I am down with everyone participating the way they feel. Throughout all of the events, there is an engagement in the community.”

The culmination of the event on May 24 will feature a world music performance inside The Rotunda that will then lead the audience on a percussive procession to the outdoor performance space. There, the audience will behold the fire and flow arts finale set to the soundscapes of DJ’ed vibrations.

The Poet-tree En Motion is supported by grants from the University of Pennsylvania. Admission is free. Donations are suggested to benefit Lakota People's Law Project and Survival International. Tips for the artists are also welcome.

For information about Poet-tree En Motion, email plumdragoness@gmail.com. To be updated about the seasonal events, join the Facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/116980678334215.

ABOUT POET-TREE EN MOTION:

Poet-tree En Motion works to inspire both artist and audience to connect and work together toward cultivating the arts community in Philadelphia, welcoming artists of all kinds to experience performances local to the neighborhood, and offering the opportunity at each show for community participation to sign up in the all-genre open mike/stage and jam session component of the events.

FEATURED ARTISTS:

Plum Dragoness / aka Gabrielle de Burke 

@plumdragoness @dragonspiritarts @authentic.eccentrics

Lyrical poetess, emcee, theatrical dancer, event host, resident artist, cultural producer, mindful-movement facilitator, arts educator and creator

Zara Tagnac @ztlovestoread

A Jamaican-American poet and author who writes in the styles of primarily slipstream and magical realism. She will perform two interactive poems.

Line On Some Trip (L.O.S.T.) @line.on.some.trip

Hippie-punk music featuring quirky songs that tackle serious topics, including mental illness, family relations, capitalism, misogyny, racism and the fragility of life. She conveys her message through instinctual guitar playing and a voice that transforms from sweet and childlike to powerfully enraged in a blink of an eye.

Xande Cruz @xandecruzmusic

A percussionist and singer-songwriter who plays traditional Afro-Brazilian music with a modern twist. His world music unites funk guitars, bass, drums, horns, samples and lyrical vocals. The resulting unique sound is as soulful as it is joyful.

B.A.D. Blaze @b.a.d._blaze_philly

A Philadelphia-based fire troupe melding their flow arts stories through movement and fire dancing that sets the stage ablaze with a variety of props and acrobatics set to danceable and digable DJ beats.

Big Cuz @mostsleptonradio

Big Cuz is a DJ, emcee, host, event planner, and program director of 98.5 FM (Uptown Radio) since 2018 in Philadelphia.

Angi Vita @playabodyart

Philadelphia-based professional face and body painter who also creates live paintings

FOR EVENT LISTINGS:

Poet-tree En Motion: “In Celebration of the Rites of Spring,” multidisciplinary performing arts showcase 7-10 p.m. Wednesday, May 24 at The Rotunda, located at 4014 Walnut St. in West Philadelphia. Doors open at 7 pm. The community arts event will feature live Afro-Brazilian music, spoken-word poetry, theatrical dance, movement meditations, “hippie-punk” music, live painting, Dj’ed dance beats, and a fire arts performance. The event is free. Donations will benefit Lakota People's Law Project and Survival International. For information, email plumdragoness@gmail.com or visit www.facebook.com/groups/116980678334215 and www.therotunda.com.

CAPTIONS:

Plum Dragoness Pics:

Poet-tree En Motion artistic director Gabrielle de Burke (stage name Plum Dragoness) performs theatrical dance combined with spoken-word poetry and movement meditation.

Zara Tagnac Pics:

Zara Tagnac is a Jamaican-American poet and author who writes in the styles of primarily slipstream and magical realism. She will perform two interactive poems.

Line On Some Trip (L.O.S.T.) Pic:

Hippie-Punk musician and artist Line El Dirini will perform quirky songs that tackle serious topics such as mental illness, complex family relations, the effects of capitalism, misogyny and racism on society, and the acceptance of the fragility of life. 

Xande Cruz Pics:

Xande Cruz is a percussionist, songwriter and performer of Brazilian roots who will perform world fusion music during the next Poet-tree en Motion on May 24 at The Rotunda in West Philly.

B.A.D. Blaze Pics:

Ambra:

Ambra Renee is a Philly-based fire and flow artist who will blow you away with her sexy fire fans skills and more when her troupe B.A.D. Blaze performs at the next Poet-tree En Motion on May 24 at The Rotunda in West Philly.

Dafna:

DAFNA is a trained ballet and modern dancer who also performs with fire fans, a fire hoola hoop and more. Catch her be amazing with her fire arts troupe B.A.D. Blaze when they perform at Poet-tree en Motion on May 24 at The Rotunda in West Philly.

Bryce:

Bryce Adams is a professional breakdancer, acrobat, Parkour athlete, and fire perform who will dazzle during the fire arts performance with B.A.D. Blaze at the next Poet-tree en Motion event May 24 at The Rotunda in West Philly.

DJ Big Cuz Pics:

DJ Big Cuz will entertain the crowd with his DJ’ed beats during he fire arts performance at the next Poet-tree En Motion event May 24 at The Rotunda in West Philly.

Angi Vita Pics:

Artist Angi Vita is an artist and face painter who will provide stunning original work during the Poet-tree En Motion event.

ARTIST BIOS:

PLUM DRAGONESS

Native to West Philadelphia, Plum Dragoness (a.k.a. Gabrielle de Burke) is a multi-talented thespian, dancer, martial artist, instructor, poetess, and writer who has been involved with performing arts since childhood. She is known for her poetic style, vocal performance, fire dance, flow arts, and choreographic flair throughout Philadelphia and abroad.

Over the past 17 years, she has toured as a solo artist, founding member/core performer/assistant artistic director of Archedream for HumanKind among many others. She has independently released two albums of original work with the project Plum Dragoness & the Elements, known for its fusion of multimedia, live world-beat musical infusions, spoken-word vocals, and lyrical poetry. She has also helped bring together the all-female performance group trio The Femme-Mynistiques, who released their debut EP “Here She Comes…” in the summer of 2016.

Since 2007, Plum Dragoness has been a resident performance artist, as well as host and organizer for the successful performing arts series Poet-tree En Motion. This has allowed her the opportunity to share her own creative performances (including collaborative projects she initiated) and work created by many unique artists within the West Philadelphia community and beyond.

Her work as a healing arts practitioner and instructor continues to intersect with her work as an interdisciplinary performance artist through the incorporation of internal and martial arts forms in combination with dance, poetry, and theater presentation. She has been teaching in the Philadelphia area and abroad since 2000.

On Instagram: @plumdragoness @dragonspiritarts @authentic.eccentrics

ZARA TAGNAC

Zara Tagnac is a Jamaican-American poet and author of primarily slipstream and magical realism. Her prose has been published by Writer’s Retreat UK and Sketel Magazine (Jamaica). Her poetry has been published twice by Wildfire Words (UK), in three collections published by Paper Pens, & Poetry (India), and Black Quantum Futurism (U.S.). Her first poetry chapbook, "Through the Ether," will be available soon.

ayanalovesprose@gmail.com

On Instagram: @ztlovestoread

LINE ON SOME TRIP (L.O.S.T.)

Is the project of Philly-based hippie-punk musician and artist Line El Dirini. Line's quirky songs tackle serious topics such as mental illness, complex family relations, the effects of capitalism, misogyny and racism on society, and the acceptance of the fragility of life. She conveys her message through instinctual guitar playing and a voice that transforms from sweet and childlike to powerfully enraged in a blink of an eye. 

Born and raised in the suburbs of Paris, Line (pronounced Lean) grew up in a Syrian-Palestinian immigrant household. From 2006 to 2014, she travelled across Europe and lived in England, Italy, Scotland and Hungary where she found many human and artistic inspirations before setting roots in NYC and founded the curatorial project “Bushwick Underground Music & Arts.”

Line moved to Philadelphia in 2019. There she started The West Philly Open Mic in the summer of 2020, a spring-summer weekly eclectic outdoor gathering that emerged during the pandemic as a solution for community members to share creatively in a safe environment.

In early 2022, she started a four-piece band called “Line & the Lost boys” with Jacob Frank on drums, Sam Sander-Effron on trombone and Nicholas Anzivino on bass. 

Line released the album “Walkin' a forgotten path” in October 2022, which gather songs written over the course of 13 years. Home-recorded during the years of the pandemic, this album intends to help people struggling with depression and anxiety. 

On Instagram: @line.on.some.trip

XANDE CRUZ

A percussionist, songwriter and performer born and raised in the Butantan neighborhood of São Paulo, Brazil during the Military Dictatorships of the 1960s-1980s. His deep concern for justice stems from exposure to social injustice and racial discrimination as a child. Lack of opportunity, inflation, and an adventurous spirit led him to move to NYC in the early '90s. It was in New York that he developed his passion for creating music. He writes songs that reflect the love for his native Brazilian roots, creating music that blends urban and traditional sounds to ignite passion. When writing and performing he envisions colors and sounds as a way to convey the love of music to the audience.

On Instagram: @xandecruzmusic

www.xandecruz.com

B.A.D. BLAZE -- Fire Arts Troupe

Instagram: @b.a.d._blaze_philly 

Ambra Robinson, aka Ambra Renee, is a Philly-based fire performer. Her journey with fire spinning began in 2017 after performing with Setu Tribe in the great circle at “the big burn.” Inspired by her Setu sisters and the PEX community, she continues to tell her stories through movement and fire dancing. Her favorite prop is fire fans.

Ambra is also a radio co-host on 98.5 FM’s “Uptown Date Night.” When she’s not spinning fire, Ambra enjoys experimenting with flow props while roller skating.

On Instagram: @ambra_luv

Dafna Cohen, aka DAFNA, is a trained ballet and modern dancer who has found her way back to dance through hoola hooping and skating. She has performed with Philly Fire Jawn at the big burn, PEX parties, the Ghostly Circus, and many private parties on her skates with LED hoops, fire hoop, and fire fans. When not delighting audiences, she is a physical therapist and mom to three boys.

On Instagram: @cohen_dafna

Bryce Adams, aka Bryce is Nice, is a professional break-dancer, acrobatics coach, flow artist, and fire performer. He has been practicing his art for over 10 years. He is also a professional Parkour athlete and all-around entertainer that will dazzle you with his backflips.

On Instagram: @bryceiznyce

DJ BIG CUZ

Big Cuz is the program director of 98.5 FM (Uptown Radio) since 2018 in Philadelphia, the eighth biggest radio market in the United States.

Working with a small group of motivated individuals, 98.5 FM has grown from one weekly show to 30 original programs and a shining beacon for North Philadelphia.

Michael started off in the music business in 2002 as an emcee. Then he became a host, an event planner, and now a DJ. Since 2006, Michael has been working with Philadelphia At Risk Youth professionally as a social worker. Michael’s work specialized in transitioning youth out of the system and into successful roles as adults.

Michael is the founding member of the Philadelphia Freedom Project 501c3, which teaches leadership training through community service. Michael created Most Slept On Radio, a FM radio brand devoted to showcasing local and worldwide independent talent. Michael created Travel Gang International, a travel brand that encourages people to travel outside their comfort zone. Travel Gang Intl has partnered with groups in Puerto Rico to assist with hurricane relief efforts.  

On Instagram: @mostsleptonradio 

ANGI VITA

Angi Vita creates art that shifts as you walk around it. She wants viewers to sense the subjective nature of her work in person. The figure paintings are never just one image and all perceptions are correct. The use of texture with various levels of sheen to form her visual art almost always consists of a serene disposition. She often portrays a juxtaposition of stillness and a strong emotional pull with the intention of portraying what most of us can’t put into words.

On Instagram: @playabodyart

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Ra’oof Atelierin association with Marginal UtilityAnd Philadelphia Beekeepers Guildpres.Cross PollinationA 21st century experiential 3 dimensional avant-garde art experience

Cross Pollination is the staged production, “ a physical catalogues in a capsule “ of the works by the conceptual artist Taji Ra’oof Nahl / TR7.

With invited guest artist, Nahl will feature seven vignettes exploring the depth & breath of his productions thru the years, via live music & videos. In addition Nahl will premiere a new work  extracted from his residency with Philadelphia Beekeepers Guild. Furthermore there’ll be streaming between Marginal Utility Gallery, his current solo exhibition up until June 16th.

The Rotunda

4014 Walnut St., Philadelphia

Sunday May 28th , 4-7pm

Marginal Utility

319 N 11th St. 2 fl., Philadelphia

May 5th-June 16th

William Hooker (drummer,composer and poet) has created works that range from jazz and "new" music to experimental genres. He has released over 70 CDs as a leader. Mr. Hooker has performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Edgefest Jazz Festival, The Vision Festival, The David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, The Wadsworth Atheneum, Queen Elizabeth Hall, The Walker Art Center, the first on MTV, The Kitchen, Roulette, Real Art Ways. He has also presented his work at the JVC Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Vancouver Jazz Festival, CMJ Music Festival,Vilnius Jazz Festival, Experimenta Argentina,The Knitting Factory and the Victoriaville Music Festival.

William Hooker has received commissions and support from the New York State Council on the Arts, Meet the Composer,Tokio Marine Insurance Company, Colleges and Universities such as Oberlin, Fordham, Columbia,New York University, Boston University, Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale and many more. Accompanying musicians have included Billy Bang, David Ware, William Parker, Thurston Moore, David Soldier, Roy Campbell, Zeena Parkins, Lee Ranaldo, Jason Hwang, Sabir Mateen, Elliot Sharpe ,David Murray, Ted Daniel, JD Parren and many more.

"William knows no genre bounds and ceaselessly searches for new forms of music, always with the intent to inspire." New York City Jazz Record.

Matt Lavelle is a trumpet, flugelhorn, bass and alto clarinet player and composer. He began his music career with Hildred Humphries, a swing era veteran who played with Count Basie and Billie Holiday. In 2002 he began performing in ensembles led by Sabir Mateen. In 2005, Lavelle began study with Ornette Coleman. Lavelle was a member of the Bern Nix quartet from 2010-2017. In 2011 Lavelle created the 12 Houses Orchestra. Lavelle has played and collaborated with Ornette Coleman, William Parker, Warren Smith, Henry Grimes, Eric Mingus, Sabir Mateen, Roy Campbell, Daniel Carter, Jemeel Moondoc, Mat Maneri, Ras Moshe, Hilliard Greene, Steve Swell, Matana Roberts, Bern Nix, Jack DeSalvo, Charles Downs, Tom Cabrera, Francois Grillot, Giuseppi Logan, William Hooker and many others. Lavelle published his first book, New York City Subway Drama and Beyond, in 2011. In 2013 he published a second book called The Jazz Musician’s Tarot Deck. Lavelle is also the author of the blog No Sound Left Behind.

The Instant Arts Two-oh:

Terry Lawson, Tenor - Saxophone, Kevin Diehl - Drums

The Instant Arts Two-oh creates music in the moment based on their 20 years of collaboration. Terry Lawson is a venerated Philly institution who has performed with likes of Odean Pope's Saxophone Choir, Jamaladeen Tacuma, Jymie Merritt's Forerunners and many more. Kevin Diehl leads Sonic Liberation Front in which Terry was a founding member. Kevin has collaborated with Oliver Lake, Sunny Murray, Chad Taylor and Joe Chambers among others. Look for their debut album in 2023.

Admission is FREE. Registration is encouraged: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/william-hooker-matt-lavelle-duo-the-instant-arts-two-oh-tickets-516102555637