As we arrive at the conclusion of another school year, Art for Progress arts ed programs are developing and evolving in new ways. The music program at Humanities Prep has been flourishing, and we recently held a student and faculty talent show, showcasing the wealth of talent that has been incubating within the school. Performances spanned a wide range of instrumentation and repertoire, and even included some original pieces and songs written by the performers. AFP’s Young Adult Enrichment Program has now spawned three bands, which are now gigging around NYC. Statik Vosion, the core project of the program, also recently played alongside my own band, Bad Faces at the AFP live music series “We Deliver” at The Bowery Electric on Manhattan’s storied Lower East Side. Other projects are in the works for the summer, including a recording project to produce an EP release for Statik Vision and a music enrichment program in partnership with the Upper West Side JCC which will provide music instruction for under-served elementary school students. I taught the classes last year and if was a blast!

At Humanities Prep, in Chelsea, I have been teaching music to high school students for the past three years. Some of the talent that has been emerging from the program is truly unbelievable. I have seen a number of students who had never played an instrument before become capable, and even inspired players, while others have come to me with some experience and still have now far superseded my, and their own expectations of progress. The vocal talent at Prep is nothing less than staggering. Some of the performances in the talent show would have held their own on any stage, anywhere. Some highlights from the show include: April Tiburcio, accompanied by myself on piano, delivering a heartbreaking rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird”, Michael Ohakam singing a gorgeous version of the xx’s “Angels” joined again by myself on acoustic guitar as well as Alligator Records Blues legend and faculty member Michael Hill on electric guitar. Genesis Castillo offered an exuberant original piano composition, while English teacher Dorian Grey Heron sang and played a heartfelt original song “I Can’t Breathe”, calling attention to the recent racial violence currently plaguing our country. April and I also sang The Civil Wars’ “Poison and Wine”, and Idniel Paula accompanied me on guitar for the Beatles’ “Norweigian Wood”. The finale was Gloria Gaynor’s disco classic “I Will Survive”, with a student and faculty band including bass prodigy Modibo Kearny, science teacher Rajni Tibrewala on violin, Genesis Castillo on the piano, and Michael Hill, Dorian Heron and myself on guitars. Earlier in the day, we performed the same song at the school’s end of the year ceremony with Rosie Estevez tearing up the vocals, so we really got to dig into that one and make it the theme of the day.

Each year former Humanities Prep teacher Laura Castro hosts a weekly Coffee House event at the school. Students and faculty are invited to share poetry, music and artwork, creating an open, receptive space for self expression in the school community. At the end of each year, an event is held at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, one of the points of origin of slam poetry. Students from AFP’s music program have participated every year, and we had a great time at this years show, which was held in May! We performed “I Will Survive” there, as well, with Evan Goldstein singing. We also did a faculty rendition of “Me and Julio” by Simon and Gardunkel, which made an appearance at the school talent show, too.

AFP hosted a special visitor at Humanities Prep this May, who performed for an all school assembly in the auditorium. Jeremy Dannenman, aka Parade Of One, a talented saxophonist and musical activist brought Sophie, a musician from Rwanda to perform for Prep students and Faculty. Sophie is the only professional player in the world of her instrument, the Inanga, a ten stringed hybrid of a harp and a guitar which originates from her country. The performance was especially eye opening in that Sophie only speaks her native Rwandan tongue, and very little English. She and Jeremy were communicating across that language barrier with their instruments, illustrating how music is a language that transcends all others. Thankfully, Sophie spoke enough English to answer a few simple questions from the audience. I’ve included a short video where you can see Sophie showing her instrument to the audience as she plays.

Another highlight of this year’s arts ed programs has been the work I’ve been doing with the kids in the young adult enrichment program. Statik Vision is sounding better and better each week, and have brought some talented friends by who have started their own band with a completely different sound. Both bands played a gig together recently, and in addition to playing the AFP “We Deliver” series, Statik Vision have played alongside my band in Harlem, at The Shrine World Music Venue. The players in Statik Vision have each developed individually while the band dynamilc continues to evolve. Raymond Moreta has gone from a novice to an exceptional drummer with his own special rhythmic flavors. Jason Macfarlane has emerged not only as a solid and thoughtful bass player, but also a talented singer and songwriter. Alex Romero brings the blues and classic guitar chops to the band, and songs that he delivers in a brooding baritone reminiscent of Jim Morrison of the Doors. Gabriel Ogbennaya’s guitar provides the chimey icing on the cake with sweet arpeggios and lines that float over the churning rhythm section. The addition of singer Celeste Pasian has added another dimension to the band entirely, with her huge voice delivering soaring melodies and a whimsical showmanship, not to mention a female element to the band. The band is currently preparing for recording dates we are setting up in July and August to record and mix an EP album of all original Bronx rock. I can’t wait to get into the studio!