Four Days in December

Following the success of the October Revolution and the subsequent formation of the Jazz Composers Guild, the group sponsored a series of concerts featuring the Sun Ra Arkestra, the Roswell Rudd-John Tchicai Quartet (later renamed the New York Art Quartet), the Paul Bley Quintet, the Alan Silva Quartet, the Cecil Taylor Unit, the Bill Dixon Sextette, the Free Form Improvisation Ensemble, and the Archie Shepp Septette, at various locations.{{cite book |last=Wilmer |first=Val |title=As Serious as your Life: Black Music and the Free Jazz Revolution 1957–1977 |publisher=Serpent's Tail |year=2018 |pages=288 }}{{cite book |last=Young |first=Benjamin I. |title=Dixonia: A Bio-Discography of Bill Dixon |publisher=Greenwood |year=1998 |pages=350–353 }} One of these concerts, called the "Pre-Halloween Jazz Party," ran from 9:00 p.m. – 6:00 a.m. on October 30–31 and was put on "to raise funds to provide a permanent home for the Guild."{{cite book |last=Young |first=Benjamin I. |title=Dixonia: A Bio-Discography of Bill Dixon |publisher=Greenwood |year=1998 |pages=352 }}

According to Bill Dixon, the December concert series, which featured two groups each evening, was put together on a very tight budget. He reflected: "We didn't have any money... I got a bunch of newspapers and showed everyone how to make signs with magic marker, and from 91st Street down to 57th Street, we put them up in every damn subway station there was."{{cite book |last=Piekut |first=Benjamin |title=Experimentalism Otherwise: The New York Avant-Garde and Its Limits |publisher=University of California Press |year=2011 |pages=12 }} Dixon was also able to purchase small advertisements in The Village Voice, The New York Times, and DownBeat.{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/12/26/archives/jazz-composers-schedule-4days-in-december-fete.html |title=Jazz Composers Schedule '4Days in December' |website=The New York Times |access-date=April 24, 2023}} Advance tickets were sold at the Sam Goody and Jazz Record Center stores, as well as the apartment of trombonist Roswell Rudd, and could be purchased for two dollars.{{cite book |last=Beal |first=Amy C. |title=Carla Bley |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year=2011 |pages=28 }}

The following performers appeared at the event:{{cite book |last=Young |first=Benjamin I. |title=Dixonia: A Bio-Discography of Bill Dixon |publisher=Greenwood |year=1998 |pages=77 }}

• Cecil Taylor Unit with Jimmy Lyons, Michael Mantler, Buell Neidlinger, and Andrew Cyrille
• Bill Dixon Quintet with Robin Kenyatta, Bob Ralston, Reggie Johnson, and Rashied Ali

• Paul Bley Quintet with Marshall Allen, Manny Smith, Eddie Gómez, and Milford Graves
• Jazz Composers' Guild Orchestra with Michael Mantler, Willie Ruff, Roswell Rudd, Steve Lacy, Jimmy Lyons, John Tchicai, Archie Shepp, Fred Pirtle, Eddie Gómez, Paul Bley, and Milford Graves

• Free Form Improvisation Ensemble with John Winter, Gary William Friedman, Burton Greene, Alan Silva, and Clarence Walker
• Archie Shepp Sextet with Charles Tolliver, Benny Jacobs-El, Marion Brown, Reggie Johnson, and Roger Blank

• Sun Ra Arkestra with Chris Capers, Al Evans, Teddy Nance, Bernard Pettaway, Black Harold, Marshall Allen, Danny Davis, Pharoah Sanders, Pat Patrick, Ronnie Boykins, Alan Silva, Clifford Jarvis, Jimhmi Johnson, and Art Jenkins
• Roswell Rudd-John Tchicai Quartet with Don Moore and Milford Graves

Bill Dixon recalled that "On the opening night, you couldn't get in!"{{cite web |url=https://pointofdeparture.org/archives/PoD-30/PoD30BillDixon.html |title=Beyond Abstraction: Bill Dixon on Music and Art |first=Graham |last=Lock |website=Point of Departure |access-date=April 24, 2023}} Approximately 300 people attended the first concert, while the remaining concerts each drew about 150.{{cite book |last=Monson |first=Ingrid |title=Freedom Sounds: Civil Rights Call Out to Jazz and Africa |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2007 |pages=272 }} Press coverage was unusually extensive for such an event, and reviewers included John S. Wilson of The New York Times, Don Heckman of DownBeat, A. B. Spellman of The Nation, and Whitney Balliett of The New Yorker.{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Iain |title=This Is Our Music: Free Jazz, the Sixties, and American Culture |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2007 |pages=139–140 }} Following the success of the concert series, the Jazz Composers Guild continued to present live music at the Contemporary Center, a loft space above the Village Vanguard on Seventh Avenue.{{cite book |last=Wilmer |first=Val |title=As Serious as your Life: Black Music and the Free Jazz Revolution 1957–1977 |publisher=Serpent's Tail |year=2018 |pages=289 }}{{cite book |last=Young |first=Benjamin I. |title=Dixonia: A Bio-Discography of Bill Dixon |publisher=Greenwood |year=1998 |pages=356 }}

Dixon hired recording engineer Jerry Newman to tape the performances; however, only some of the recordings were released to the public. Carla Bley's first large-scale composition, titled "Roast," was premiered at the December 29 concert, and was included on the 1965 Jazz Composers Orchestra release Communication.{{cite book |last=Beal |first=Amy C. |title=Carla Bley |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year=2011 |pages=29 }} The New York Art Quartet album Call It Art, issued in 2013, features five tracks recorded at the December 31 event.{{cite web |url=https://www.pointofdeparture.org/archives/PoD-42/PoD42Artmosis.html |title=Artmosis: New York Art Quartet |last=Allen |first=Clifford |date=2013 |website=Point of Departure |access-date=April 24, 2023}} Sun Ra's portion of the December 31 concert was included on the 2012 Pharoah Sanders album In the Beginning 1963–1964.{{cite web |url=https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/pharoah-sanders-in-the-beginning-1963-1964 |title=Pharoah Sanders: In the Beginning (1963–1964) |last=Verrastro |first=Scott |date=April 25, 2019 |website=JazzTimes |access-date=April 24, 2023}}

{{Reflist}}

Category:1964 music festivals

Category:Jazz festivals in New York City