“The NYC Winter Jazzfest is best described as a hectic but euphoric convergence of musicians and fans in a range of spaces around Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. Typically the sheer abundance of bands is the main story — an encouraging reminder of how much energy and curiosity reside in the current scene, whatever market indicators might say.
But this year’s edition of the festival, which runs from Thursday to next Tuesday (Jan. 5-10), promotes a larger theme of social justice, especially as it pertains to the core causes of the Black Lives Matter movement and the American Civil Liberties Union. Representatives from both organizations will take part in a discussion, “Social Justice and the Role of Music,” at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the New School, alongside panelists like the writer Greg Tate, who leads the band Burnt Sugar, and the drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, whose new band, Social Science, explores some related ideas.Jazz artists have already been on the forefront of social protest and commentary in recent years. So the NYC Winter Jazzfest will feature a number of other groups working in this vein, like Breathe, a brass ensemble led by the trombonist Craig Harris; Transcendence, a historically informed yet contemporary project of the drummer Jaimeo Brown; and Class Struggle, a quintet led by the tenor saxophonist David Murray (and named for a poem by Amiri Baraka).
Countless other statements will be made during the Winter Jazzfest Marathon, on Friday and Saturday nights. Here are seven new tracks by bands on the bill, each tackling a specific issue.”