For our 2022-2023 Season Opener, WMI revisits the Improvisations series, rooted at the intersection of NYC's jazz and improvised music scene and the music of our immigrant communities. A core member of the original series was composer and percussionist Adam Rudolph. On September 10th, together with Adam we reboot the ‘Improvisations’ series with an impressive lineup of musicians that honors the original participants from the series while looking forward to the next generation of improvisational artists.

The event will include old friends and veterans of the series, including NEA Jazz Master saxophonist Dave Liebman and Moroccan gnawa master Hassan Hakmoun, as well as a new crop of younger artists, including Brooklyn Raga Massive,  Joel Ross, Brandee Younger, Marcus Gilmore and Angel Bat Dawid.

The evening will also include Rudolph and Hassan Hakmoun performing in tribute to legendary jazz trumpeter and composer Don Cherry. Cherry performed in and illuminated many of the Improvisations shows; and recorded on Rudolph and Hakmoun's 1988 Gift of Gnawa project that WMI also hosted as part of the original Improvisations series.