Professional musician, jazz bassist, music educator & Executive Director of Safari East Cultural Presentations, Incorporated.

Vishnu Wood combines his work as a performing musician with multicultural education programs in an effort to help adults and children understand the roots of America’s classical music, JAZZ.

Mr. Wood is a native of Detroit who came up in the bebop era at the feet of jazz greats such as Barry Harris and Yusef Lateef.

His career includes national and international concerts and performances as a jazz bassist, and national and international educational programs through Safari East Cultural Programs, the organization he founded in 1973.

Founded by Vishnu Wood in 1984, Safari East is a not-for-profit organization providing musical programs to schools, colleges, community-based organizations, and concert audiences regionally, nationally and internationally. Recent venues include:

 New York City Public Schools – New York, NY
London Public Schools – London, England
Chicago Public Schools – Chicago, IL
Amherst Public Schools – Amherst, MA
Greenburgh Public Schools – White Plains, NY
Art Bank – Shelburne Falls, MA
First Night – Northampton, MA
Brattleboro Museum – Brattleboro, VT
New York State Museum – Albany, NY
Brooklyn Children’s Museum – Brooklyn, NY
Children’s Museum of Manhattan – New York, NY
Maksud Plaza – Sao Paolo, Brazil
Pelham Art Center – Pelham, NY
Prospect Park Band Shell – Brooklyn, NY

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Vishnu Wood has performed and or recorded with jazz greats including:

DIZZIE GILLESPIE · KENNY BURRELL · ALICE COLTRANE · JACK DIJONNETTE · KENNY DURHAM · TINY GRIMES · FREDDY HUBBARD · SLIDE HAMPTON · BARRY HARRIS · JOE HENDERSON · ABDULLAH IBRAHAM · ELVIN JONES · CLIFFORD JORDAN · ART FARMER · SAM RIVERS · GLORIA LYNN · CARMEN MCRAE · THELONIUS MONK · CHARLES MINGUS · RASSAN ROLAND-KIRK · HILTON RUIZ · ARCHIE SHEPP · ROY HANES · CARRIE SMITH · DAKOTA STATON · TERRY THORTON · GROVER WASHINGTON · JIMMY OWENS · HAROLD MABURN · MELBA JOYCE

JAZZ BASSIST FEATURED ON

ALBERTA HUNTER · ‘Alberta Hunter’ · Columbia Records
RANDY WESTON/VISHNU WOOD DUO · ‘Perspectives’ · CD Denon DC 8554, 1989
RANDY WESTON · ‘Blue Moses’ · CTI Records
RANDY WESTON · ‘Berkshire Blues’ · CD Black Lion 760205, 1997
RANDY WESTON SEXTET · ‘Monterey ’66’ · Polydor/Polygram, 1993
ALICE COLTRANE · ‘Journey in Satchidananda’ · Impulse Records
ARCHIE SHEPP · ‘A Trumpet in My Soul’ · Impulse Records
SATHIMA BEA BENJAMIN · ‘Songs of Ellington’ · Ekapa Records
BARRY HARRIS, MAJEED GREENLEE, ROY BROOKS · ‘Cadillac & Mack’ · Toshiba Records

1966-Present

Harlem Blues & Jazz Band · Switzerland, Italy
Alberta Hunter · Paris Festival, Brazil, Berlin Jazz Festival
Mingus Dynasty · Morocco, Algeria
Max Roach · Spain & Germany
Randy Weston · Morocco, West Africa & the Middle East (U.S. State Department Tour)

1966-Present

August Savage Gallery, University of Massachusetts
Pelham Arts Center · Pelham, NY
Performing Arts Center · Purchase, New York
St. Peter’s Church · New York, NY
Hartford Jazz Festival · Hartford, CT
Monterrey Jazz Festival · Monterrey, CA
Montreal Jazz Festival · Montreal, Canada
Chicago Blues Festival · Chicago, IL
W.C. Handy Festival · Florence, AL
Springfield College · Springfield, MA
Hartford University · Hartford, CT
Alice Tully Hall · New York, NY
Town Hall · New York, NY
Jazz at Sunset – New England Science Center · Worcester, MA
Lincoln Center Outdoors · New York, NY
Wave Hill · Riverdale, NY
School for International Training · Brattleboro, VT
Jazz Mobile · New York, NY