*Artist Bios Below*
BRIC JazzFest culminates in a three-night marathon with ensembles performing staggered sets in multiple spaces throughout BRIC House. You can move freely among performances and catch as many artists as you like each night—all happening in the state-of-the-art Ballroom, the relaxed Stoop overlooking the current exhibition in the Gallery at BRIC House, and our intimate jazz club in the BRIC Artist Studio.
BRIC JazzFest Marathon Night 1 will feature Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Stefon Harris & Blackout feat. Casey Benjamin, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Lakecia Benjamin & SoulSquad, Madison McFerrin, JD Allen, Melanie Charles & Make Jazz Trill Again, and the Yotam Ben-Or Quartet. More information about each performer and set times are listed below.
Tickets on sale now! Click to see the performers for Night 2 and Night 3!
All tickets are General Admission: STANDING*
Yotam Ben-Or Quartet
7:30-8:30PM
After performing at such venues as Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola (Jazz at Lincoln Center), Cornelia Street Cafe, and Rockwood Music Hall, the group, led by NYC-based Israeli-Belgian harmonica player and composer Yotam Ben-Or, released their debut album, Sitting on a Cloud, in 2018, featuring Ben-Or's compositions. In addition to his activity as a bandleader, Ben-Or is also a member of the TM Street Band and participated in the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, directed by pianist Jason Moran (2015).
Melanie Charles & Make Jazz Trill Again
7:40-8:40PM
Buzzworthy Brooklyn born artist Melanie Charles is one to watch. Her creative fluidity spans jazz, soul, experimental, and her own Haitian roots. Like the greats, Charles grew up singing in church, and she also trained as an opera singer, having attended the prestigious LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts. Last year marked the birth of D’Flower, Charles’ alter ego, making space for her to explore more of an experimental sound with her self-produced mixtape in 2017, The Girl with the Green Shoes.
Lakecia Benjamin & SoulSquad
8PM-9PM
A streetwise New York City native, Lakecia Benjamin has become one of the most highly sought-after players in soul and funk music as a saxophonist and bandleader. With an electric stage presence and fiery sax work, she has shared stages with Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, The Roots, Macy Gray, and many others. Her own music, with her band Lakecia Benjamin & SoulSquad, is immersed in the vintage sounds of James Brown, Maceo Parker, Sly and the Family Stone, and the Meters, as well as classic jazz, and her soaring, dance floor-friendly grooves take the classic vibe to a whole new level.
JD Allen
9-10:05PM
Hailed by The New York Times as “a tenor saxophonist with an enigmatic, elegant and hard-driving style,” JD Allen’s unique and compelling voice on the instrument has earned him years of critical attention and an ascension to the upper ranks of the contemporary jazz world. Originally from Detroit, Allen’s apprenticeship was anchored by his lengthy tenure with Betty Carter and occurred largely in New York, working with legends Lester Bowie, George Cables, Ron Carter, Louis Hayes, Frank Foster Big Band, Dave Douglas, Geri Allen and more. Allen’s multiple albums and releases over the years have earned him massive recognition and accolades in critics’ polls and notable publications such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, Downbeat Magazine, and JazzTimes Magazine.
Stefon Harris & Blackout feat. Casey Benjamin
9:20-10:25PM
Educator, vibraphonist, and composer, Stefon Harris has been heralded as “one of the most important young artists in jazz” by The Los Angeles Times. A four-time GRAMMY nominee, he tours worldwide with his bands Sonic Creed, Blackout, and Ninety Miles; teaches at New York University; and serves as Artistic Director of Jazz Education at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC).
Mark de Clive-Lowe
9:30-10:45PM
Musical polymath Mark de Clive-Lowe seems an impossibility at first sight. Juggling piano, synths, live sampling, and beat making all on-the-fly, he brings music to life with a casual ease that’s mind-boggling. Equal parts pianist, composer and live production wizard, sets by this Japanese-New Zealander are a treat for the listeners, the dancers, the progressives and the purists alike—as he casually erases the lines between genres and eras. Having contributed to over 300 releases, MdCL has toured globally and has been featured at festivals including Montreal Jazz, North Sea Jazz, Uberjazz, Tokyo Crossover Jazz Festival, and Montreux Jazz Atlanta.
Madison McFerrin
10:25-11:40PM
Madison McFerrin is a singer-songwriter based in Brooklyn, NY. In December 2016, her solo debut EP, Finding Foundations: Vol. I, introduced her soulful take on a cappella to the world and critics and crowds quickly took note. Leading up to her sold out show at Joe’s Pub, The New York Times remarked how her sound “shows wonderful vocal dexterity, deftly swerving from sharp, clearly enunciated staccato bursts to fluttery, free-form melismata.”
Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah
10:45PM-12AM
Praised by JazzTimes Magazine as “jazz’s young style God” and “the architect of a new commercially viable fusion,” GRAMMY-nominated Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah—trumpeter, composer, producer, and designer of innovative instruments and interactive media—is the progenitor of Stretch Music, a genre-blind musical form that stretches the rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic conventions of jazz to encompass many musical forms, languages, thought processes, and cultures. In 2017, Adjuah released three albums to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the very first jazz recordings of 1917. Collectively titled The Centennial Trilogy, the series is at its core a sobering re-evaluation of the social and political realities of the world through sound.
Now in its fourth year, BRIC JazzFest includes film, dance, panel discussions, workshops, and a three-stage, three-night live music marathon that celebrates some of the most exciting global legends in jazz, and groundbreaking new jazz artists from Brooklyn and beyond.
*We can always accommodate wheelchair/mobility device accessible seating, please purchase your ticket(s) online, and call 718-683-5608 to give us notice.
Venue Information:
BRIC House is Brooklyn’s cultural living room: a 40,000 square foot multi-disciplinary arts and media complex in the former Strand Theatre, where emerging and established artists can create work that deepens their practice and engages the diverse communities of the borough.
Beginning Nov. 1, 2022, attendees of any BRIC House programming will no longer have to show proof of vaccination or a negative test to enter the building. Masks are encouraged but not required in all BRIC operated spaces. If you have questions regarding this protocol, please email Safety@bricartsmedia.org
BRIC is committed to welcoming people of all abilities. BRIC's main entrance, located on Rockwell Street, is fully accessible. In addition the main floor of BRIC House has an accessible, all-gender bathroom. The BRIC Media Center, located on the 2nd floor, is accessible via elevator. The Gallery level is accessible via a wheelchair lift. Portable FM assistive listening devices are available for programs on the Stoop and in the Ballroom upon request. To make a specific access request, or to let us know other ways we can provide you with a welcoming experience, please contact Benno Orlinsky at borlinsky@bricartsmedia.org or (718) 683-5637.