New Jersey Performing Arts Center. NJPAC

Tickets:$39-$79. Ticketmaster

Featuring Cassandra Wilson, Ravi Coltrane, Sonia Sanchez, Saul Williams, Nasheet Waits & more. Video by Alyson Shotz.

Musical director Nasheet Waits (of Max’s percussion ensemble M’Boom) is joined by vocalist Cassandra Wilson, poets Sonia Sanchez and Saul Williams, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, pianist Nduduzo Makhathini and bassist Eric Revis. The Honorable Mayor Ras Baraka will help open the program, with a special appearance by The Last Poets. Experience the modern evolution of the Freedom Now Suite, a piece that continues to live, expand and inspire across generations.

“We American jazz musicians of African descent have proved beyond all doubt that we’re master musicians of our instruments. Now what we have to do is employ our skill to tell the dramatic story of our people and what we’ve been through.”

–Max Roach to DownBeat magazine

Westbeth Profiles in Art: Interview with Nasheet Waits