Recommended Event - The Vision Festival(Be There):

William Parker at the Vision Festival, 2000
William Parker

Matthew Shipp at the Vision Festival
Matthew Shipp

regie Workman at the Vision Festival
Reggie Workman


Cooper Moore


Glenn Spearman

Davis S. Ware at the 1997 Vision Festival
David S. Ware


Kidd Jordan


Jaki Byard


Alan Silva


Joseph Jarman


Joe Morris


Joe McPhee


Peter Kowald

Mat Maneri at the Vision Festival
Mat Maneri

John Zorn at the Vision Festival
John Zorn

My photographs will be exhibited at his year's Vision Festival, which will occur June 9th to 15, 2009

with June 9 - 14 at the:
Abrons Arts Center
466 Grand St, NYC

June 15 at the:
Angel Orensanz Foundation
172 Norfolk Street, NYC

The festival will honor a lifetime of achievement by Marshall Allen, who is the subject of my exhibit. Photos of Marshall and Sun Ra go back to 1974 and others are from more recent sessions with Kidd Jordan, Alan Silva, William Parker, Henry Grimes, and others.

Marshall Allen & Sun Ra, Nov. 1978 Marshall Allen, Oct. 2003 Marshall Allen, Oct. 1986

Please see the Vision Festival web page at www.visionfestival.org for information on continuing events.




The Arts For Art produced VISION FESTIVAL XIII was June 10th to 15th, 2008 at NYC's Solo Velez Center.

The 2008 festival honored Edward "Kidd" Jordan with a full night of performances on Wednesday, June 11th dedicated to the lifetime achievements of this New Orleans jazz legend.

The evening included a digital projection of 82 of my photos of Kidd.

Kidd Jordan to be Honored at the Vision Festival Kidd Jordan & Cecil Taylor Kidd Jordan honored



Vision Festival XII took place June 19 through June 24, 2007. It featured a Lifetime Recognition of Bill Dixon and a Tribute to Leroy Jenkins.

An exhibit of my photographs, A Photo Tribute to the Creative Improvised Music Masters, was included among the festival's visual art presentations. The Vision Festival has been the most significant American supporter of "avant-jazz" and a number of the photos were taken at previous festivals.

Exhibit Montage, 2007 Vision Festival XII.



The 2006 festival honored Sam Rivers.

Sam Rivers at Studio Rivbea, 1973
Sam Rivers
Studio Rivbea, 1973
Sam Rivers, 1990, Washington, DC
Sam Rivers
Washington, DC, 1990



In 2005, I exhibited a photo retrospective of the festival at that year's anniversary event. I have photographed all but the first festival in 1996.



The 2004 9th Vision Festival included an exhibit of my photos dedicated to jazz bassists. The festival tribute was dedicated to Peter Kowald and Wilber Morris, two bassists who had passed on in 2003.

Michael at 2004 photo exhibit
Michael at 2004 photo exhibit
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The 2003 8th Vision Festival also took place at the Center. It featured approximately 150 artists in 30 different performing groups over the six days of the Festival. The annual Memorial Day tribute concert was dedicated to the music of Jeanne Lee.



The 2002 Vision Festival was longer and ran from May 23 to June 8. The Memorial Day concert was a celebration of the music of Don Cherry Tribute, including Dewey Redman, Pyramid Trio (Roy Campbell, William Parker, and Hamid Drake), Jayne Cortez, and Frank Lowe.

Other artists on the very impressive 2002 schedule included Joseph Jarman, Milford Graves, Kidd Jordan, Fred Anderson, Billy Bang, Joe Morris, Jemeel Moondoc, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, Ellen Christi, Matthew Shipp, Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra, Other Dimensions in Music, Oliver Lake, David S. Ware, Patricia Nichoson, Wadada Leo Smith, Karen Borca, Rob Brown, Christine Coppola, Doglas Ewart, Joelle Leandre, Peter Kowald, Daniel Carter, Marty Ehrlich, Sunny Murray, Sonny Simmons, Sabir Mateen, and many many more. Plus dancers, poets, and visual atists; all united in a "A Vision Against Violence".

The festival is presented by Arts for Art, an artist initiated, artist run organization dedicated to building awareness and understanding of avant-garde jazz and related expressive movements, the aesthetic of which is based on a disciplined disregard for traditional boundaries. Principal activities are the presentation of cutting edge music and multi-discipline performances, the exhibition of visual arts installations, and the organization of outreach programs. All presentations bring the arts together, not only for the health and creativity of the artforms themselves, but for the audiences as well.



The 2000 festival included a photo exhibit on "Avantjazz"- including my work. It was great participating! The Vision Festival has clearly been established as a premier presentation of creative music and art.




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