Alvin Fielder -  AACM, Vision, drummer, friend, mentor
First Generation, coming out of Mississippi, Playing Free, the music he was born to play. He worked with Roscoe Mitchell and others from the AACM, till he returned south.  Alvin and Kidd Jordan kept playing and keeping FreeJazz alive in the south when most everyone else went north.
He stayed in touch. He was a friend to every drummer, and many musicians, both young and old. Every young musician coming through Jackson, he would mentor, He was a creative light, a steadfast friend to more people than I can know.  We loved Alvin and he returned the love.

Joseph Jarman - original AACM, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Vision Festival, Buddhist Priest, Friend, Human Being

It is important how things begin.  To always begin things from the most centered and spiritual place, then all that follows will be blessed.
And so the first and every Vision Festival began with an invocation by Joseph Jarman, a first generation creative free jazz artist, and a buddhist priest.
His understanding of the creative imperative, of the music, of performance,  and the importance of a spiritual grounding guided us for as long as he was able to do so.