December's "Third Thursdays" feat. art/dance/music curated by harmolodic jazz scholar & practitioner Matt Lavelle

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - EntSun -- December's special edition of the "Third Thursdays" monthly harmolodic jazz series promises to be a synesthetic evening of art, dance, and music curated by harmolodic scholar and practitioner Matt Lavelle, who is also an instrumentalist (trumpet, alto clarinet) and visual artist in his own right.

For this performance, Lavelle has created a visual interpretation of his musical concept, which will be further developed by the collaboration with dancer/performance artist K.J. Holmes. Lavelle and Holmes most recently performed in collaboration with drummer Jeremy Carlstedt at the 2023 Arts For Art/Vision Festival held in NYC this past June.

This "Third Thursdays" performance, ushering in the winter solstice, will also feature Dave Bryant ("Third Thursdays" host/improvising keyboardist), Frederick Williams (bass), and James Kamal Jones (drums), all former colleagues of Ornette Coleman.

Matt Lavelle notes that December's performance "will attempt to cross the boundaries between painting, music, and dance to build bridges among all three genres. Together, the group will create music and movement from the artwork, seeking unity and possibly an entirely new joint artistic space."

Listings information for December:
"Third Thursdays" with Dave Bryant and Friends: a monthly harmolodic jazz series. Continues on Thursday, December 21, 8:00 pm. With Matt Lavelle (multi-instrumentalist/visual artist), K.J. Holmes (dancer/performance artist), Dave Bryant ("Third Thursdays" host/keyboards), Frederick Williams (bass), and James Kamal Jones (drums). For further updates, visit dbryantmusic.com/third-thursdays/. Admission $10/person, available at the door (cash/check/charge). Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church, 1555 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138. Contact information: bryantequilibria@gmail.com, 617-447-3030.

About "Third Thursdays" December guest artists:
Matt Lavelle (multi-instrumentalist/visual artist):
Lavelle is a trumpet, flugelhorn, bass, alto clarinet player, and composer based in New York City. He began his music career with Hildred Humphries, a swing-era veteran who played with Count Basie and Billie Holiday. Lavelle has played in ensembles led by Sabir Mateen since 2002 and in 2005, Lavelle began studying with Ornette Coleman. Lavelle was a member of The Bern Nix Quartet from 2010-2017. Lavelle recorded with Giuseppi Logan in 2010. In 2011, Lavelle created the 12 Houses Orchestra. Lavelle records for Unseen Rain and recently released a record on the legendary ESP record label, a duo with Reggie Sylvester called Retrograde. 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. An interview with Lavelle can be found at: youtube.com/watch?v=c2_qHD-jdwE. facebook.com/matt.lavelle.3, mattlavellemusic.bandcamp.com



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K.J. Holmes (dancer/performance artist):
Holmes is an independent dance artist, singer, poet, and actor based in Brooklyn, New York. Her training began as a child with ballet and musical theater as well as judo and fencing. This blend of approaches is a basis for her consistent expression and art making. Her dance studies at the New School for Social Research and with Andre Bernard (1979-81) led her to improvisation and new dance techniques that were being explored at that time. K.J. has helped to define, first as a student and now as a teacher and performer, many contemporary improvisational and somatic practices, collaborating with forerunners Simone Forti, Lisa Nelson and Image Lab, and Steve Paxton. She continues to push into new frontiers of dance and theater with her love of research and experience. Her dance/theater pieces have been presented in NYC at the Chocolate Factory Theater, Danspace Project, The Kitchen, P.S. 122, Movement Research at the Judson Church, D.T.W., Dixon Place, University Settlement, Warren Street Performance Loft, The Present Company, The Thalia Theater at Symphony Space, the Joyce Soho and the Vision Jazz Festival, as well as nationally and internationally. kjholmes.info

Fred Williams (bass) was born in a musical household—his father Ohaldo Williams led the Latin Jazz Calypso Orchestra in New York during the 50s and 60s. As a bassist Williams has toured throughout Europe with artists such as Ornette Coleman, James Blood Ulmer, Frank Lowe, and Lester Bowie. He has also performed with David Murray, Oliver Lake, Arthur Blythe, Don Pullen, Leon Thomas & Pharoah Sanders, Dewey Redman, Frank Foster, Don Pullen, Jimmy Hamilton, Danny Mixon, Oliver Lake, and many more. He is bassist and musical director of the Virgin Islands Art Ensemble. allaboutjazz.com/member-fred-williams-bassist

James Kamal Jones (drums), who played in Ornette Coleman's group for five years, has toured with Roberta Flack, The Delphonics, Cab Calloway, Yusef Lateef, Shirley Caesar, Leroy Jenkins, Wadada Leo Smith, Oliver Lake, Jack McDuff, Lonnie Smith, Afrika Bambaataa, and Al King, among others. His Puerto Rican heritage, the culture of his inner-city upbringing, resounds in his music. He is the recipient of an NEA grant for jazz performance. A Boston-area sound engineer as well, Jones maintains a home-based studio that records a variety of projects. He also conducts educational workshops that support and motivate people in realizing their creative potential and their real need to experience alternative and constructive avenues of self-expression. facebook.com/james.k.jones.735

Further background information on "Third Thursdays" curator and host:
Dave Bryant ("Third Thursdays" host, keyboards) has been based in Cambridge, MA for many years. Early in his musical career, Bryant was a protégé of harmolodic jazz genius Ornette Coleman, having studied with him, then invited by Coleman to be the first electric keyboardist to perform in his Prime Time group. Bryant joined Prime Time in 1990, touring worldwide and performing on Prime Time's Tone Dialing album. Bryant's own first album, Shock Exchange, with liner notes by Coleman, was recorded in 1986 with his trio at that time, bassist John Turner and percussionist Chris Bowman. In 1999, Bryant released The Eternal Hang with Turner, Bowman, George Garzone, Bob Gullotti, and recording engineer Roger Nichols. That same year he performed on the John Tchicai/Charlie Kolhase Quintet disc, Life Overflowing, which was named "Jazz Album of the Year" by Boston Music Awards. In 2015, Bryant released The Garden of Equilibria, which features performances by Bryant, performing in a variety of settings, both acoustic and electric, with Tom Hall, Neil Leonard, Curt Newton, Eric Rosenthal, Jeff Song, and Jacob William. Bryant's most recent recording Night Visitors is a 2020 collaboration with bassist Charnett Moffett and percussionist Gregg Bendian, which "finds Bryant adapting the Coleman aesthetic to an intensely personal ripple and rumble piano style" (Mike Hobart, jazz critic for the Financial Times). Jazz journalist Howard Mandel considered Night Visitors one of the best jazz albums of 2020. Other credits include performances with Leroy Jenkins, Bern Nix, Eric Person, Badal Roy, Wadada Leo Smith, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Calvin Weston, and more. Bryant has also performed and lectured in Chicago, San Francisco, Paris, and Istanbul. Bryant teaches at Longy School of Music of Bard College. dbryantmusic.com

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Further details on the "Third Thursdays" monthly series:
The "Third Thursdays with Dave Bryant and Friends" harmolodic jazz series began in April 2022, with the overall goal of showcasing a diverse range of Boston-area musical artists, as well as Dave's fellow Ornette Coleman sidemen. A few months ago, it was announced that the funding for "Third Thursdays" monthly series would be extended for another year, starting in April 2023. Dave Bryant is honored that the series has received additional support from the Appalachian Springs Foundation (ASF) in order to continue this 12-month cycle extension.

The intent of "Third Thursdays" is to provide a venue for free jazz improvising artists, both local and national, to perform their work in an acoustically sympathetic performance space with professional video and sound recording to document the event. Dave Bryant was a long-time student and sideman of free jazz legend Ornette Coleman as a member of Coleman's Prime Time group. Consequently, another key purpose of the series is to document the experiences, reminiscences, and musical contributions of members of Coleman's bands for presentation in a podcast. The series is providing well-deserved exposure locally and internationally for local free jazz artists and for Coleman collaborators as well as first-hand insights and information from those collaborators about Coleman's musical processes and philosophy.

All "Third Thursdays" sessions are held monthly at the Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church, located a short walking distance from Harvard Square. Audience seating capacity will abide by whatever health and safety protocols are in place on any given month. The "Third Thursdays" harmolodic jazz series is funded in part by the Appalachian Springs Foundation (ASF), a private foundation located in Charleston, WV. As a nonprofit arts and educational organization, ASF has supported dance, film, music, and educational projects. All of the "Third Thursdays" concert and interview videos that have been recorded since April 2022 can be found at dbryantmusic.com/third-thursdays.