The 18th edition of the Vision Festival, New York’s annual celebration built around the lineage of free improvisation and jazz’s non-mainstream languages, will take place from June 12 to 16, according to Arts for Art, the festival’s producers. As it did last year, the festival will be staged at Roulette, in downtown Brooklyn.
The drummer Milford Graves is the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient this year; he will perform in three different bands on the first night, one including the Cuban musicians David Virelles, Román Diáz and Román Filiú; one with the pianist D.D. Jackson and the tenor saxophonist Kidd Jordan; and one an ensemble bringing together the tenor saxophonist Charles Gayle, the trombonist Roswell Rudd, the bassist William Parker and the poet Amiri Baraka.  The festival’s other highlights include: the saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell leading a trio on the 13th; two bands featuring French improvisers collaborating with American and Asian musicians on the 14th, including the pianist Francois Tusques, the cellist Didier Petit and the clarinetists Louis Sclavis and Sylvain Kassap; and the bassist Christian McBride playing on the 16th in a band including his father, Lee Smith, and uncle, Howard Cooper â€" both of them bassists as well â€" alongside the Sun Ra Arkestra saxophonist Marshall Allen.
There will also be a screening of Vipal Monga’s new documentary on the late composer and conductor Butch Morris, “Black Februaryâ€; panel discussions on issues of access and cultural exchange; and three youth bands playing three individual concerts and then all together, as a group of 80, playing with the drummer Hamid Drake, under the direction of Mr. Parker.  Tickets are $30 per day, or $20 for students and seniors; a full-festival pass costs $140.  Information at artsforart.org.
