Dissident Arts Festival benefits families of political prisoners, celebrates free expression
New York, NY/Brooklyn, NY (August 3,
2018) – The thirteenth annual Dissident Arts Festival, a showcase of
revolutionary creativity, will occur on stages in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and Manhattan’s
East Village on September 8 and 15,
respectively. The Festival will raise funds for three organizations relevant to
the movement for social justice and feature markedly outspoken statements against
repression in a reactionary time.
SEPTEMBER 8’s
edition at 17 Frost Theatre and Gallery, a premiere performance space in
Williamsburg, is dubbed Cabaret of
Dissent. It will benefit the
Rosenberg Fund for Children, a non-profit public
foundation that aids children of targeted, progressive activists. The event inspired
by Weimar Berlin, New York’s Café Society and downtown arts, includes speaker Jenn Meeropol, granddaughter of Julius
and Ethel Rosenberg and Director of the Rosenberg Fund, esteemed jazz singer Judi Silvano who adds voice to
experimentalists the Beyond Group,
pianist Chris Forbes presents “Harmolodic Weill”, liberation jazz and
spoken word by the Red Microphone,
celebrated bassist/poet Larry Roland debuts
his new all-star band They Come With
Gold, and noted poetry duo Raymond
Nat Turner and Zigi Lowenberg. The closing act is rising star singer/songwriter
Lindsey Wilson & the Human Hearts.
On SEPTEMBER 15
the action moves to the 5C Café and Cultural
Center, long-standing home of avant jazz and bold performance, where funds
will be raised for the Alliance of
Families for Justice and the NYC
Jericho Movement. Both organizations advocate for the unjustly incarcerated
and call for urgent prison reform. The evening opens with a solo performance by
renowned drummer William Hooker, and
includes 5C’s own pianist/composer Trudy
Silver, Ras Moshe’s Music Now!
and the Flames of Discontent duo of
Festival director John Pietaro and
Laurie Towers. The closing act is international songwriter Martina Fiserova.
Sept 8, 7pm-11pm, 17 Frost Theatre & Gallery, 17 Frost Street, Brooklyn NY - $15.
Sept 15, 7pm-11pm, 5C Cultural Center, E. 5 Street/ Ave C, New York NY - $15.
For more information and a complete Festival schedule see www.DissidentArts.com
Press Contact: New Masses Media John Pietaro (646)
599-0060 leftmus@earthlink.net
***
DISSIDENT ARTS FESTIVAL 2018 –
PERFORMERS/SPEAKERS
SEPT 8
RAYMOND
NAT TURNER & ZIGI LOWENBERG:
-Poetry,
spoken word
THE
BEYOND GROUP:
Cheryl
Pyle- C flute, alto flute
Michael
Eaton- soprano saxophone
Larry
Roland- bass
Judi
Silvano- guest vocalist
SPEAKER:
Jenn Meeropol, Director, Rosenberg Fund for Children
THEY
COME WITH GOLD:
Larry
Roland- bass, poetry, spoken word
Daniel
Carter – reeds, brass
Michael
Moss- reeds, winds
Steve
Cohn- keyboard
Marvin
Bugulu Smith- drums
THE
RED MICROPHONE:
John
Pietaro- percussion, spoken word
Ras
Moshe Burnett- saxophones, flute
Rocco
John Iacovone- saxophones
Laurie
Towers- electric bass
HARMOLODIC
WEILL:
Chris
Forbes- piano
LINDSEY
WILSON & THE HUMAN HEARTS:
Lindsey
Wilson- vocals, guitar, spoken word
Reggie
Sylvester- drums
Michael
Trotman- electric bass
SEPT 15
WILLIAM
HOOKER:
-solo
drums
MARTINA
FISEROVA:
-vocals,
guitar
SPEAKER:
Soffiyah Elijah, Executive Director, Alliance of Families for Justice
TRUDY
SILVER:
-piano,
voice
THE
FLAMES OF DISCONTENT:
John
Pietaro- spoken word, vocals, percussion, banjo,
Laurie
Towers- electric bass
with guest Rocco John Iacovone, alto saxophone
RAS
MOSHE’S MUSIC NOW!
Ras
Moshe- saxophones, flute
Jair-Rohm
Parker Wells- bass
Leonid
Galaganov- drums
John
Pietaro- hand drums, percussion
FESTIVAL HISTORY:
Since its
inception in 2006, the Dissident Arts Festival has been a powerful vehicle to
bridge radical arts to progressive socio-political activism.
Increasingly, the Festival has gained media attention over the course of its
decade-long history as evidenced by press in TimeOut NY, the Indypendent,
the Villager, the NYC Jazz Record, Downtown
Express, Peoples World, Chronogram and others as well as an
endorsement by noted jazz journalist Howard Mandel. Over the years the
Dissident Arts Festival has been sponsored by the Rosenberg Fund for Children, the
National Writers Union, the Len Ragozin Foundation, Local 802's Justice for
Jazz Artists campaign, Occupy Musicians, the Howland Cultural Center and DooBeeDooBeeDoo music blog.
Originally
based in the Hudson Valley and moving to New York City in 2010, the Festival’s
performers and speakers over the years included folk music legend Pete Seeger, actor/raconteur Malachy McCourt, revolutionary poet Amina Baraka, late great trumpet player
Roy Campbell, filmmaker Kevin Keating, spoken word artists Steve Dalachinsky and the late Louis Reyes Rivera, political
satirist/activist Randy Credico, the
late saxophonist/composer Will Connell,
multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter,
Chilean guitarist Luis ToTo Alvarez,
protest song maven Bev Grant, hip
hop ensemble ReadNex Poetry Squad,
labor leader Henry Foner, Anti-Folk founder
Lach and many more. Films screened
include ‘Giuliani Time’, ‘Cultures of Resistance’, ‘Salt of the Earth’, ‘Battleship Potemkin’ and ‘Metropolis’.
Other special features were tributes to Paul Robeson, Bertolt Brecht, Woody
Guthrie, and Phil Ochs. The Dissident Arts Festival has also offered a voice to
progressive political candidates, the Occupy movement and radical labor
organizations.
Festival Producer/Host:
John Pietaro
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