Vision Festival 30: A Weekend Inside the Continuum

By Jazz Paparazzo | Front Row Jazz | Jun 27-28,2026

For thirty years, Vision Festival has stood as one of the last true gathering places for creative improvised music — a space where the avant-garde isn't a niche, it's the whole point. This year's edition, presented by Arts for Art at Abrons Arts Center on New York's Lower East Side, closed out its six-night run with two of the most vital nights of the week. Front Row Jazz was on the ground for both, camera in hand, to document a lineup that stretched from elder statesmen to the next generation carrying the tradition forward.

Vision Festival 30 - Ahmed Abdullah - Photo © Eva Kapanadze - Front Row Jazz

Saturday, June 27

The night opened with poet Raymond Nat Turner, whose words set the tone before a single note was played — a reminder that Vision has always treated poetry as a first voice, not an opener.

William Hooker Quartet: Colours followed, with Hooker's drums driving a shifting, painterly set alongside Mara Rosenbloom on piano, Ahmed Abdullah on trumpet, Jair-Rohm Parker Wells on bass, and Dave Sewelson on saxophone. Video artist Miriam Parker layered projections over the stage, turning the set into something closer to a moving canvas than a straight jazz performance.

The Alan Braufman Quartet brought a different energy — Braufman alternating between alto and flute, with Eri Yamamoto on piano, Luke Stewart on bass, and Chad Taylor on drums building a set that felt both loose and locked in.

Bobby Zankel's Wonderful Sound 3 delivered For Sonny (Don't Stop the Carnival), a tribute set featuring Cooper-Moore on banjo and diddley bow alongside Zankel's alto and Chad Taylor back on drums, with Jo Wood Brown's video art giving the piece a visual heartbeat.

Vision Festival 30- Cooper-Moore - Photo © Eva Kapanadze - Front Row Jazz

The night closed with Parker's Rhythm & Soul, led by William Parker on bass joined by Hamid Drake on drums and vocals, Mixashawn Rozie on tenor and vocals, Taylor Ho Bynum on cornet, and Jason Kao Hwang on violin — a full-band closer with Art Jones's video work pushing the set into something ceremonial by its final minutes.

Sunday, June 28

Sunday began with a set from Keema Radway, easing the room into the evening before the improvisers took over.

Steve Swell's Poetics of Improvisation: Songs From the Poetry Box paired Swell's trombone and spoken word with Ellen Christi on voice and electronics, Rob Brown on alto and flute, Jeremy Carlstedt on drums, and William Parker on bass — with Miah Artola's video art threading the set together.

Vision Festival 30 - Steve Swell, Ellen Christi , Rob Brown, Jeremy Carlstedt, William Parker, Miah Artola, Photo © Eva Kapanadze - Front Row Jazz

Dickey/Shipp/Lopez brought the room down to a trio's worth of intensity: Whit Dickey on drums, Matthew Shipp on piano, and Brandon Lopez on bass, with Julia Dratel contributing video art to a set that leaned into space as much as sound.

Vision Festival 30 - William Parker & Hamid Drake Photo © Eva Kapanadze - Front Row Jazz

The festival closed with Daniel Carter Celebration: Black Octopus, an expansive

ensemble piece anchored by Carter's reeds and horns alongside Ayumi Ishito on saxophone, Stalios Mihas and Dylan DelGiudice on guitar, Federico Ughi and Hamid Drake on drums, William Parker on bass, Matthew Shipp on piano, and Matt Lavelle on trumpet — with film work from No Land and Miriam Parker sending Vision 30 out on a note of collective, sprawling improvisation.

Vision Festival 30 - Daniel Carter,Ayumi Ishito , Stalios Mihas , Dylan DelGiudice, Federico Ughi , Hamid Drake, William Parker, Matthew Shipp ,Matt Lavelle - Photo © Eva Kapanadze -Front Row Jazz

A Living Archive

Thirty years in, Vision Festival still functions the way it always has: as a living archive of the free jazz and improvised music continuum, built on collaboration across generations rather than nostalgia. Saturday and Sunday alone featured players who've been shaping this music since the loft scene of the '70s standing alongside artists still defining what comes next — proof that the festival's mission hasn't dulled with age.