Event
Nasar Abadey In conversation with Antoine Sanfuentes
Saturday, December 13th
@ 1:00 pm
Westminster Presents
In-Person and Live Streamed
Nasar Abadey in conversation with Antoine Sanfuentes, Emmy-Winning Journalist | Digital & Crisis Comms and Media Strategist | Former NBC & CNN Executive | Photojournalist & Drummer
Chronicling America’s Music, Musicians, Studios & Roadside Legends, regarding Abadey’s history as a Jazz performer, educator, and being a big part of the DC Jazz scene, and to celebrate the incredible musical legacy of Drummer, and Band Leader.
I first met Nasar Abadey in the early nineteen nineties when I was booking a club in Washington’s Adams Morgan neighborhood. Even then his presence on and off the bandstand made an indelible impression on me. His playing carried the drive and openness of Elvin Jones, the sophistication of Billy Jabali Hart, and the deep ancestral grounding of Babatunde Olatunji. It was clear that here was not only a brilliant drummer but a leader and thinker shaping a living tradition in the nation’s capital. Over the years I have admired him as a performer, composer, mentor, and builder of community.
Nasar Abadey is the founder and leader of SUPERNOVA, a band he describes as Multi D, meaning multi dimensional and multi directional. The group moves through traditional African rhythms, bebop, fusion, Afro Cuban and Afro Brazilian elements, modal improvisation, and free form. Based in Washington, DC since nineteen seventy seven, he has performed with artists from Dizzy Gillespie and Ella Fitzgerald to Sun Ra, Charlie Rouse, Stanley Turrentine, Gregory Porter, and many of the District’s own greats including Lawrence Wheatley, Buck Hill, and Butch Warren. His SUPERNOVA Chamber Orchestra adds strings and voice, and his Washington Renaissance Orchestra expands the canvas with a full big band. He also serves on the Jazz faculty at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, where he demystifies rudiments, champions wellness off the bandstand, and mentors the next generation, including his son, drummer Kush Abadey.
On a personal note, a lesson I took with Nasar truly changed my approach to both drumming and listening. He showed me that all drumming begins with the rudiments, that sound and intention matter as much as technique, and that music can heal when the artist plays with that intention. Those ideas have stayed with me ever since.
It is a privilege to sit down with Nasar Abadey for this conversation. We will explore his journey through Buffalo and Washington, his mentors and inspirations, his philosophy of teaching and wellness, his work with SUPERNOVA and the Washington Renaissance Orchestra, and his hopes for the future of the music. Please join me in welcoming Nasar Abadey, a visionary artist whose light continues to travel and whose rhythm continues to gather people into one listening community. In Nasar’s own story, a journey found its direction when John Coltrane truly opened his ears.
— Antoine Sanfuentes
