Jazz on a High Floor in the Afternoon:
Onyx Collective

Floor 8

Curated by celebrated jazz pianist, composer, and visual artist Jason Moran and Whitney performance curator Adrienne Edwards, Jazz on a High Floor in the Afternoon is a series of live in-gallery performances presented over nine weekends. The series features cross-generational artists performing within Moran’s three mixed-media “set sculptures”—STAGED: Savoy Ballroom 1 (2015), STAGED: Three Deuces (2015), and STAGED: Slugs’ Saloon (2018). Each installation pays homage to an iconic New York jazz venue.

New York cult phenomenon Onyx Collective has been making homespun free jazz and eclectic funk since 2014. Onyx has ardently cut its own trail, challenging the established hierarchies of the music’s mainstream and even those of the avant-garde. The group has also delved into film, apparel, and visual art, accruing over the years a loose community of musicians, painters, skaters, filmmakers, and fashion designers, among others. In 2018, Onyx released the album Lower East Side Suite Part Three.

Friday, November 1 (with special guest Roy Nathanson)
5 & 7 pm*

Saturday, November 2
2 & 4 pm

Tickets are required ($25 adults; $18 members, students, seniors, and visitors with a disability) and include Museum admission. 

*Tickets for performances during Pay-What-You-Wish hours (Fridays, 7–10 pm) will be distributed day-of, on a first come, first served basis at the Museum starting at 7 pm.

See all performances from the Jazz on A High Floor in the Afternoon series.