Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians’s (AACM) New York City Chapter hosts a two-night celebration of their 61st anniversary, with Richarda Abrams as the Mistress of Ceremonies. Night one features:
JD PARRAN & SPIRIT STAGE 3
Christopher Dean Sullivan bass
Alexis Marcelo piano
Michael T A Thompson percussion
JD Parran saxophone, clarinet, flutes
ADEGOKE STEVE COLSON & IQUA COLSON
Adegoke Steve Colson piano
Iqua Colson vocals
Steven Bernstein trumpet
Luke Stewart bass
Chris Beck drums
This evening is presented by AACM New York City Chapter, Inc. in Partnership with Roulette.
The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), a non-profit tax-exempt arts organization co-founded in 1965 by Dr. Muhal Richard Abrams, Jodie Christian, Kelan Phil Cohran, and Steve McCall, is one of the oldest musicians associations in the United States. Since its founding in Chicago, Illinois in 1965, the organization’s members have developed a body of work that encompasses the spectrum of traditional and contemporary music.
The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians New York City Chapter, Inc., a non-profit tax-exempt entity, was established in 1983 by AACM members who moved to New York. The AACM is significantly unique in that it has nurtured and brought to fruition so many accomplished composers and performers. The organization’s artists have developed a body of work that has achieved lasting significance across borders of music genres and geography to play a critical role in the ever evolving process of music creation and its vital influence throughout the world. AACM members who have been featured in our programs include: Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith, Henry Threadgill, Thurman Barker, Adegoke Steve Colson, Iqua Colson, Chico Freeman, Amina Claudine Myers, George Lewis, Reggie Nicholson, Peggy Abrams, Richarda Abrams, Laroy Wallace McMillan and posthumously Dr. Muhal Richard Abrams, Leonard E. Jones, Frank Gordon, Joseph Jarman, Leroy Jenkins, Kalaparusha Ahra Difda, Lester Bowie, Steve McCall, Fred Anderson, John Stubblefield and Fred Hopkins. AACM New York City Chapter, Inc. continues to produce concerts annually in New York. Our members have received degrees from top Universities and have expertise in many areas ie. artists, painters, and novelists. Because of the AACM New York City Chapter, Inc. our members have gained international recognition as accomplished musicians and composers, many of whom have been invited by renowned orchestras throughout the USA and Europe to perform their music. Our members are master musician composers and have taught in major universities all over the world.
Richarda Abrams recorded Song for All (Black Saint Records) with her father Dr. Muhal Richard Abrams and performed in Dr. Muhal Richard Abrams’ Ensemble at Roulette Intermedium. She is a member of Amina Claudine Myers’ Generation IV, a gospel group, Myers’ Voice Choir, and has toured worldwide. She is a 4X AUDELCO award-winning actress/singer/playwright/producer of First By Faith: The Life of Mary McLeod Bethune, Bethune: Our Black Velvet Rose and Big Mama and Me. Theatre productions include: Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters First 100 Years (East Lynne Theater Co.), Telling Tales Out of School (New Federal Theater dir.Woodie King Jr.), American Rot and Last Days of Judas Iscariot (La Mama, dir. Estelle Parsons), Fear Itself (Crossroads),and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (Ivoryton Playhouse). Film/TV: The Subject, The Riverside Bench, Oreos With Attitude (Showtime), and Sesame Street.
JD Parran just returned from his hometown, St. Louis, where he was featured artist at The Missouri History Museum’s monumental Millcreek Exhibit. JD, a charter member of BAG (Black Artist Group of St. Louis) was greeted by a large audience of friends and extended family. Parran’s recently released duo recording, California Street Sessions with Mark Deutsch, has received critical acclaim. He has performed and/or recorded with James Jabbo Ware, Hamiet Bluiett, Melanie Dyer, Anthony Braxton, George E. Lewis, Douglas Ewart, Dr. Muhal Richard Abrams, Andrew Drury, Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake, Marty Ehrlich, Henry Threadgill, Adegoke Steve Colson, Amir Elsaffar, Stevie Wonder, Lena Horne, and Cecil Taylor among many others.
Adegoke Steve Colson & Iqua Colson are referred to as a “musical power couple” by The New York Times (2017) and Downbeat Magazine (2025), the music of composer-pianist Adegoke Steve Colson and composer-vocalist Iqua Colson focuses on many facets of the human experience. Early members of the influential AACM, their critically acclaimed performances and recordings often illuminate social issues. Their projects have featured innovators such as Reggie Workman, Henry Threadgill, Anthony Davis, David Murray, Leroy Jenkins, Tomeka Reid, Wallace Roney, Tyshawn Sorey, Maia, Joseph Jarman, Oliver Lake and Jabali Billy Hart as well as master artists of other disciplines including dancer/choreographer Savion Glover, writers/activists Amina & Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) and dancer/actress Carmen de Lavallade. They met early ‘70s while they were piano majors at Northwestern University School of Music. They were honored in 2024 when The Northwestern University Libraries developed The Adegoke Steve Colson and Iqua Colson Archives, including scores, compositions, and artifacts relative to the first 50 years of their varied and prolific careers.
Iqua Colson is an award winning lyricist who worked with tenor saxophone titan Fred Anderson in her early career in a band that included George Lewis, Hamid Drake and Douglas Ewart. Her compositions usually center around vocal performances. Ade is a decorated composer who has written for large and small ensembles and received several honors and commissions supporting his work in music composition. He has worked and recorded with such artists as Baikida Carroll, Andrew Cyrille, Butch Morris and David Murray. His works for small ensembles have been recorded by such noted artists as bassist Richard Davis, composer and trumpeter Hannibal, TrioThree, and most recently by Andrew Cyrille on his ECM Release, “The News.” Trailblazers at the start of their careers, they created their record label Silver Sphinx & their first release in 1980, “Triumph!”, later became part of the influential BBC Broadcaster Gilles Peterson’s 2011 compilation “Freedom, Rhythm & Sound – Revolutionary Jazz and The Civil Rights Movement”. They’ve been credited as part of the early roots of the “indie” movement alongside such early independent visionaries as Maurice White, John Coltrane, Sun Ra, & Mary Lou Williams. The Colsons latest release “Glow: Music for Trio…Add Voice” featuring Mark Helias and Andrew Cyrille was released late 2025. Adegoke Steve Colson is a Steinway Artist.
