Author: Jared Michael Nickerson

  • Burnt Sugar SmokeHouse 2025 at Lincoln Center

    Burnt Sugar SmokeHouse 2025 at Lincoln Center

    Burnt Sugar Smokehouse 2025 at Lincoln Center

    Join us for two-nights in The Burnt Sugar SmokeHouse as we kick off our 26th year of “never playing a song the same way once”. Featuring two tasty lineups of Burnt Sugar Folk, each with their own caramelized flavor.

    Friday, January 24 & Saturday, January 25, 2025 at 7:30 pm
    David Rubinstein Atrium at Lincoln Center
    61 West 62nd St. NYC 10023
    Free for The People.

    There are 2 ways to access this event:
    1. General Admission, first-come first-served. Just show up!
    2. Fast Track, opening Tues Jan 21 at noon.

    Burnt Sugar SmokeHouse (2025 Lincoln Center Edition)

    – Both nights –

    LaRonda Davis – MC
    Ms. Olithea Voice/Electronica & Jared Michael Nickerson on Electric Bubble Bass keep the vibe flowing in between sets

    Friday, January 24th

    Michael Veal’s Aqua lfe
    Michael Veal – Electric Bass/Compositions
    Camerahn Alforque – Trumpet
    Joey Lamb – Trumpet
    Kelvin Walters – Alto Saxophone
    Anthony Ware – Tenor Saxophone
    Courtney Wright – Bari Saxophone
    Jack Broza – Electric Guitar
    Ben Tyree – Electric Guitar
    Justin Rothberg – Electric Guitar
    Holman Alvarez – Electric Piano
    Donald Eaton – Congas
    Larry Washington – Shekere
    Chris Eddleton – Drums

    Honeychild & Biz (The 1865)
    Honeychild Coleman – Vocal/Guitar/Electronica/Compositions
    Jason “Biz” Lucas – Drums/Backing Vocals

    B MACK 
    Bruce Mack – Vocals/Compositions
    Sharif Kales – Trumpet
    Michael R. Cox – Electric Bass
    Ben Tyree – Guitar
    Leon Gruenbaum – Keyboards
    Chris Eddleton – Drums

    Julia Kent
    Cello/Electronica/Compositions

    Rivers On Mars 
    Avram Fefer – Tenor & Alto Saxes/Compositions
    Anders Nilsson Musician – Electric Guitar
    Hill Greene – Acoustic Bass
    Reggie Nicholson – Drums

    Biscuit’s Buddy Miles Band
    James “Biscuit” Rouse – Drums/Lead Vocals
    Mark Bowers – Electric Guitar
    Al “Boogie” Carty – Electric Bass

    Saturday, January 25th

    The Black Sound Salon Collective 
    LaFrae Sci – Electronic Drums
    Ms. Olithea – Vocals/Electronics
    Shelley Nicole – Vocals/Electronics
    Jasmine Wilson – Vocals/Electronics
    Keyanna Hutchinson   – Electric Guitar

    Unruly Neighbors 
    Sameer Gupta – Tablas
    Ben Tyree – Electric Guitar

    My Brother’s Dream 
    Jason Murden – Ld Vocals/Electric Guitar
    Rodman Delcastillo – Electric Guitar/Bck. Vocals
    Aalics Bronson – Electric Bass/Bck. Vocals
    Damon Mendes – Drums/Bck. Vocals

    LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs 
    Vocals/Electronics/Compositions

    Electric Powered Soul
    V. Jeffrey Smith – Vocals/Electronics/Electric Guitar
    Howard Alper – Electronics/Wave Drum
    Jerome Jordan – Electronics

    The Tao of Abbey Lincoln feat. Shelley Nicole 

    As always, Burnt Sugar gives tribute to Maestro Lawrence ‘Butch’ Morris (1947-2013) for showing them the way and to Gregory Stephen ‘Ionman’ Tate (1957-2021) for creating the BSAC sonic spaceship, with gratitude to Jared Michael Nickerson who continues to steer BSAC through a many-splendored realm of cosmic noise and riddim.

    Burnt Sugar Index and Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber would also like to acknowledge the ongoing “love”showered on us by Lincoln Center’s Ehrenkranz Chief Artistic Officer Shanta Thake and Vice President of Artistic Programming Jordana Leigh along with their “stellar funk” staff of Mengtong Guam, Monifa Brown, Godfrey Palaia, Konrad Custer, Courtney Banks, Skye Pagon and Paloma Estevez!

    We greatly appreciate You !!!

  • Burnt Sugar SmokeHouse (BKM 200th Anniversary Edition)

    Burnt Sugar SmokeHouse (BKM 200th Anniversary Edition)

    Burnt Sugar SmokeHouse at Brooklyn Museum

    Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber (BSAC) returns to the Brooklyn Museum with The Burnt Sugar SmokeHouse.

    A smorgasbord of avant groidd rock, soul, jazz, electronica, funk and hip hop featuring Brooklyn, New Jersey, New York, French and Swedish BSAC-member-led acts. This specially curated “savory & smokey” line-up reflects and honors the vibrant cultural mix the Brooklyn Museum has cultivated over it’s two-hundredth-year history. Folks … tell everyone … this is going to be special!

    BURNT SUGAR SMOKEHOUSE BKM TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY EDITION LINEUP

    “SmokeHouse” MC ~ Black Rock Coalition’s LaRonda Davis

    “SmokeHouse” Stage Manager ~ Aalics Bronson

    Top of the Show & BtwSets ~ Ms. Olithea & Jared Michael Nickerson on Vocals/Electronica & Bubble Electric Bass

    6:30pm – 6:45pm ~ SMOOTA (BK) : Smoota – Ld Vocals/Keyboards/Trombone/Compositions ~ Yvonne Ambree & Kendra Morris : Backing Vocals ~ Daniel Collas – Keyboards ~ Jerome Jordan – Electric Guitar ~ Tony Jarvis – Electric Bass ~ Chris Eddleton – Drums

    6:55pm – 7:10 pm ~ FRAE FRAE : DAUGHTER OF DREXCIYA (NY) : Electronica

    7:20pm – 7:35pm ~ JUBA LEE 4TET (BK) : Avram Fefer – Alto & Tenor Saxes/Compositions ~ Jonathan Goldberger – Electric Guitar ~ Hill Greene – Acoustic Bass ~ Reggie Nicholson – Drums

    7:45pm – 8pm ~ GILMORE BROTHERZ (UK/SWE) : David Gilmore – aGizmotronics ~ Marque Gilmore tha ‘Inna Most’ – Acousti-Lectric Drumz

    8:10pm – 8:25pm ~ MOISTURIZER (BK) : “Moist’ Paula Henderson – Bari Sax ~ “Moist” Gina Marie Rodriguez – Electric Bass ~ Chris Eddleton – Drums

    8:35pm – 8:50pm ~ NAPOLEON MADDOX (FR) – Hip Hop

    9pm – 9:15pm ~ ELECTRIC POWERED SOUL (NJ) : V. Jeffrey Smith with Howard Alper & Jerome Jordan – Electronica

    9:25pm – 9:40pm ~ ACTIVATOR TRIO (BK) : Ben Tyree – Electric Guitar/Compositions ~ Leon Gruenbaum – Keyboards/Samchillian/Keyboard Bass

    9:50pm – 10:10pm ~ The 1865 (BK) : Honeychild Coleman – Ld. Vocals/Electric Baritone Guitar ~ Sacha Jenkins – Lead Electric Guitar ~ Anthony Solis – Lead Electric Guitar ~ Flora Lucini – Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals ~ Jason ‘Biz” Lucas – Drums/Backing Vocals

    The Brooklyn Museum Birthday Bash on Saturday, October 5th will go from 10am to 10pm. This is a full family event featuring karaoke, dance and poetry, art-making (materials provided on a first-come, first-serve basis), music, gallery tours, pinatas and so so much more.

    The program is free; registration is required and includes museum general admission.
    Read up on all of the exciting Birthday Bash programming and register right here

    Tickets will be released on a rolling basis starting September 20th for BKM members and on September 23rd to the general public.

    For visitors with disabilities or accessibility needs, including ASL interpretation … email the BKM at access@brooklynmuseum.org.

  • 8th Annual Sugar Hill Music Festival Lineup & Details

    Headlining the 8th Annual Sugar Hill Music Festival is Harlem’s own Allan Harris, a renowned jazz vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. Described by The New York Times as having a “formidable baritone with husky edges and deep resonant low notes,” Harris has received numerous accolades, including the Down Beat “Rising Star Jazz Vocalist” award, the prestigious 2022 Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition, and three New York Nightlife Awards for “Outstanding Jazz Vocalist.”

    The festival will also honor the memory of Greg Tate, the esteemed African American writer, musician, and producer who passed away in December 2021. A long-time resident of the Harlem community, Tate was a critic for The Village Voice, focusing on Black music and culture. He was also a guitarist and founded and co-led with Jared Michael Nickerson the improvisational band Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber in 1999. Tate was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize for “Excellence in Journalism and the Arts” earlier this year.

    One of the Festival’s highlights will be a tribute to Tate’s “FlyBoy in the Buttermilk.” Burnt Sugar will accompany excerpted readings by Nelson George, an author, columnist, music culture critic, journalist, and filmmaker; Harlem native, LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs, a renowned poet and sound artist; and Carl Hancock Rux, a historian, social activist, writer, and multidisciplinary artist.

    The festival lineup also includes:

    The Steven Oquendo Latin Jazz Orchestra, performing danceable Afro-Cuban, salsa, and mambo classics. This big band has shared the stage with Latin luminaries such as Rubén Blades, Eddie Palmieri, and the late great Celia Cruz, la Reina de la Salsa.

    Marcus Persiani and the Uptown Hi-Tones, led by the world-renowned musician Marcus Persiani, who has shared the stage with greats such as Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, and Tito Puente.

    Jennifer Jade Ledesna, a jazz vocalist who has graced New York’s top-tier venues like Carnegie Hall, Minton’s Playhouse, and Jazz@Lincoln Center, as well as stages across Europe, including Switzerland’s Chorus Jazz Club and Norway’s “Silda Jazz Fest.”

    The 8th Annual Sugar Hill Festival will be presented at the Sugar hill Luminaries Lawn, Edgecombe Aveune and 155th Street. Bring your chairs and blankets. This event is free and open to the public. While We Are Still Here welcomes donations to help support their public programming. Suggested donations are $25.00.

    For more information, visit www.harlemnyc.org.

  • Celebrating Ronny Drayton aka “Draytone the WirePuller”

    Celebrating Ronny Drayton aka “Draytone the WirePuller”

    Ronny Drayton aka Draytone aka WirePuller was an acclaimed guitarist known for his versatile playing style that spanned genres such as rock, funk, jazz and R&B. Born in 1953 Drayton’s career took off in the 1970’s where he became a sought-after session musician that collaborated with numerous artists. Drayton was celebrated for his innovative approach to the guitar and ability to seamlessly blend different musical influences, and his legacy continues to inspire musicians and fans alike. Drayton surprisingly passed away in 2020 much too soon, losing his battle to cancer but leaving behind an immensely rich musical heritage.

    Ronny’s unique playing style was an electrifying blend of technical proficiency and emotive expression which enabled him to bless the musical careers artists such as James Blood Ulmer, Edwin Birdsong, Wilson Pickett, The Chambers Brothers, Roy Ayers, Taylor Dane, Nona Hendryx, Defunkt, 24/7 Spyz, Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber and many more.

    Those of us who are part of this vibrant and important music scene, who were lucky enough to call him a friend and brother will gather the evening of August 27th to pay him a much-deserved musical tribute. The concert featuring Living Colour, 24/7 Spyz, Bernard Fowler (of The Rolling Stones), the Burnt Sugar Arkestra and more, will also be a benefit with 100% proceeds of ticket sales going to Ronny’s family.

  • Artsplosure The Raleigh Art Festival 2024

    Artsplosure The Raleigh Art Festival 2024

    Burnt Sugar Arkestra at Artsplosure

    Artsplosure’s mission is to produce quality events that make the works of the most imaginative and celebrated artists accessible to the public – all in an effort to enrich our community and inspire greater love for the visual and performing arts.

    Artsplosure, conceived in 1978 by subcommittees of the newly formed City of Raleigh Arts Commission, is dedicated to a citywide arts festival that would combine an “explosion” of art activity with people’s “exposure” to all types of art. The following year, Artsplosure was incorporated to produce high quality and accessible arts festivals and to identify, nurture, and showcase artists seeking to reach wider audiences. Since its first festival in April 1980, Artsplosure has presented thousands of established and emerging artists whose works span across many disciplines and art forms in both traditional and non-traditional indoor venues and outdoor settings.

    Kidsplosure is a free, kid-centric section of Artsplosure (all of the festival is totally family friendly, but Kidsplosure is ALL about kids). There will be musical performances, a magic show, and tons of crafts including paper marbling, foam soap prints, community weaving and so much more!

    The two-days of performances will be accompanied with an Art Market featuring over 170 vendors from around the country. The market will be open from eleven am to seven pm on Saturday and ten am to six pm on Sunday. Note the Sunday Art Market will be open specifically for folks with accessibility needs from ten am to eleven am.

    The performance schedule is as follows :

    SATURDAY

    Club Cardio: 11:00am-12:00pm
    The River Otters: 12:30pm-1:30pm
    Squonk Opera: 1:30pm and 4:30pm
    Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience: 2:00pm-3:00pm
    Sabrosura: 3:30pm-4:30pm
    Charly Lowry: 5:00pm-6:00pm
    Sun Ra Arkestra: 6:30pm-7:30pm

    SUNDAY

    Vinyasa Core Focused Flow with Doug Watson: 11:00am-11:45am
    Paradise Motel Lounge: 12:15pm-1:00pm
    Squonk Opera: 1:00pm and 3:30pm
    Zach Person: 1:30pm-2:10pm
    Yasmin Williams: 2:35pm-3:40pm
    Cha Wa: 4:00pm-4:45pm
    Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber: 5:00pm-6:00pm

  • The Burnt Sugar Bowery Electric SmokeHouse

    The Burnt Sugar Bowery Electric SmokeHouse

    SlamJunk, Dead Flowers Productions, and Avant Groidd Musica presents The Burnt Sugar SmokeHouse, where you’ll experience a pu pu platter of Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber-member led bands with a Vernon Reid / Burnt Sugar Conduction for dessert.

    If you’re looking for caramelized cosmic riddim, esoteric rambunction and eclectic blue cheer you’ll experience that and s’mores at The Burnt Sugar SmokeHouse!

    Thursday, May 9, 2024
    The Bowery Electric
    327 Bowery NY NY
    10003

    Grab tickets here

    7pm Doors – First Fifty through the door receive a Free Burnt Sugar Tee CD 

    Black Rock Coalition President LaRonda Davis – MC

    Ms. Olithea w Jared Michael Nickerson’s Bubble Bass at the Top & Inbetwixt Sets 

    7:30pm – 7:50pm – B-MACK 
    Bruce Mack Lead Vocals/Keyboards
    Sharif Kales – Trumpet
    Mark Peterson – Electric Bass
    Ben Tyree – Electric Guitar 
    Leon Gruenbaum – Samchillian
    Chris Eddleton – Drums

    8pm – 8:10pm – Honeychild Coleman – Vocals, Electronic Noise and Beats

    8:20pm – 8:40pm – Smoota & The Beast 
    Dave “Smoota” Smith – Trombone
    Yusuke Yamamoto – Synthesizer
    Ricky Quiñones – Electric Guitar
    Tony Jarvis – Electric Bass 
    Chris Eddleton – Drums

    8:50pm – 9:10pm – Ben Tyree’s Activator Trio 
    Ben Tyree – Electric Guitar & Compositions 
    Leon Gruenbaum – Samchillian/Bass Keyboard
    Chris Eddleton – Drums 

    9:20pm – 9:30pm – Ms. Olithea
    Miss Olithea – Vocals & Electronic Soundscapes/Compositions
    Nate Vivacqua – Electric Guitar

    9:40pm – 10pm – The Juba Lee 4tet
    Avram Fefer – Saxes/Bass Clarinet/Compositions
    Anders Nilsson – Electric Guitar
    Adam Lane – Acoustic Bass
    Chris Eddleton – Drums

    10:10pm – 10:30pm – Shrine For The Black Madonna 
    Brian Tate – Electric Vocals
    Jared Hassan-Foles – Electric Guitar
    Jarius B. Odom – Electric Bass
    Gintas Janusonis – Drums

    10:45pm – 11:45pm  – “Electric Slide Conduction #1”
    Vernon Reid conducts Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber