{"id":2622,"date":"2019-09-10T15:23:03","date_gmt":"2019-09-10T19:23:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/?p=2622"},"modified":"2019-09-11T10:36:33","modified_gmt":"2019-09-11T14:36:33","slug":"chicago-jazz-fest-echoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2019\/09\/chicago-jazz-fest-echoes.html","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Jazz fest images, echoes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Roscoe Mitchell onscreen, presiding over The Art Ensemble of Chicago,
Pritzker Pavillion Millennium Park Chicago, 8\/30\/19
photo (c) Marc PoKempner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The 41st annual Chicago Jazz Festival has come and gone, as I reported for DownBeat.com<\/a> in quick turnaround. I stand by my lead that the music was epic — cf. Marc PoKempner<\/a>‘s beautiful image of the Art Ensemble of Chicago at Pritzker Pavillion, facing east towards Mecca just before their African percussion-driven orchestral set. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And epochal, yes: the Art Ensemble is 50 years old, as discussed in my radio piece for NPR’s Here and Now<\/a>). Such longevity is remarkable for any jazz or improvisational unit but the more so as the AEC in its current incarnation is resolutely looking ahead, with younger players (Nicole Mitchell, Tomeka Reid and Christina Wheeler among them) taking the responsibilities of fallen members (co-founders Lester Bowie, Malachi Favors and Joseph Jarman now all deceased). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was grumbling re the AEC set as having abandoned favorite themes and leaning towards surviving founder Roscoe Mitchell’s involvement with Western classical compositional and vocal traditions. I say hooey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of old repertoire “Dreaming of the Masters” ended the performance, and “Chi-Congo” was a charged percussion episode, organized by longtime AEC drummer Famadou Don Moy\u00c3\u00a9. There was little-instrument play, as introduced into jazz by the Art Ensemble, and so a broad dynamic range. Roscoe Mitchell focused on bells as well as his sopranino saxophone, blowing uninterrupted streams of notes. Two excellent trumpeters, Hugh Ragin and Fred Berry, supplanted by trombonist Dick Griffin, stood in for Lester Bowie; three bassists (Junius Paul, Jaribu Shahid and Sylvia Bolognese) were required to fill the pulsating role Malachi Favors originated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
AEC in action: from left, Roscoe Mitchell, Dick Griffin, Dudu Koate, Jaribu Shahid, Baba Attiba, Dee Alexander, Famadou Don Moy\u00c3\u00a9. Photo (c) Lauren Deutsch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I admit, however, that my DownBeat report underplays the immense contribution of local musicians to the popular and aesthetic value of the Chicago Jazz Fest. It’s understandable the jazz-mag-of-record concentrates on nationally touring acts comprising well-known artists, but in fact this festival has its greatest impact immediately and down-the-road by presenting players from the extraordinarily energized current scene. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several — including singer Dee Alexander, saxophonists Geoff Bradfield, Ari Brown, Rajiv Halim, Greg Ward and John Wojciechowski, trumpeters Russ Johnson, Rob Mazurek and Pharez Whitted, guitarist Mike Allemana, pianist Miguel de la Cerna, bassists Clark Sommers and Anton Hatwich, drummers Dana Hall, Avreeayl Ra, Mike Reed and Charles Rumback — showed up in more than one group, demonstrating flexibilities and abilities to attend to specific materials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reed’s obscurely named Jazz Institute of Chicago 50th Anniversary band actually brought together composers represented in his newly published Chicago “real book,” The City Was Yellow<\/a><\/em>. (I wrote some artists’ bios for this volume, whose profits go to Jazz Institute of Chicago music education activities, but the greater value is the lead sheets of some 50 tunes written between 1980 and 2010). But that was only one of several deliberate celebrations of Chicago’s jazz past folded into its present. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Robert DeNiro as Al Capone, under the Chicago Cultural Center’s Tiffany dome <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

To walk into the Chicago Cultural Center (setting for key scenes<\/a> in Brian dePalma’s The Untouchables<\/em>), for instance, on a Thursday morning to the sound of trumpets is to be swept back 100 years, to the arrival of first generation New Orleans jazzmen eager to expand their audience. To hear the Fat Babies play classic jazz, as they do every Tuesday night at Al Capone’s long ago speakeasy the Green Mill, is to catch an old style imbued with new life. When Ernest Dawkins leads current members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians in a tribute to the Art Ensemble’s late Jarman, drummer Alvin Fielder<\/a> and Saalik Ziyad, who died unexpectedly, very young, the conjunction of time is crystalized. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When guitarist George Freeman, 92, jokes with harmonica master Billy Branch, 67, with an enthusiastic contingent of Southport Records principals behind them, the continuity of distinctly Chicago music is manifest. When players in their 20s such as vibist Joel Ross, the Collier brothers (saxophonist Isaiah, bassist Micah and drummer Jeremiah) and drummer Isaiah Spencer, or a bit older like pianist Richard Johnson, saxophonists Sharel Cassity and Juli Woods, multi-instrumentalist Ben Lamar Gay, trumpeter Jaimie Branch, etc. take over the stage, tomorrow’s arrived. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fact that a jazz festival happened 10 days ago doesn’t mean it’s over. People are still living with the reverberations. Those fading sounds have something to say about what comes next. In fact, thanks to WDCB-FM<\/a> and WFMT’s connection to a global radio network, recordings live from the 41st Chicago Jazz Festival of Freddy Cole, bassist Christian McBride’s New Jawn, and the Art Ensemble of Chicago will be heard, in coming months, throughout the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 41st annual Chicago Jazz Festival has come and gone, as I reported for DownBeat.com in quick turnaround. I stand by my lead that the music was epic — cf. Marc PoKempner‘s beautiful image of the Art Ensemble of Chicago at Pritzker Pavillion, facing east towards Mecca just before their African percussion-driven orchestral set. And […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2624,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[730,48,1549,1355,20,1497,732],"class_list":{"0":"post-2622","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-main","8":"tag-art-ensemble-of-chicago","9":"tag-chicago-jazz-festival","10":"tag-dee-alexander","11":"tag-howard-mandel","12":"tag-jazz","13":"tag-jazz-beyond-jazz","14":"tag-roscoe-mitchell","15":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/\u00c2\u00a9MPK4847R.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1i3CL-Gi","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2924,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2021\/08\/city-of-chicago-music-promoter.html","url_meta":{"origin":2622,"position":0},"title":"City of Chicago, music promoter","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"August 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Lollapalooza 2021 had some 385,000 attendees (without significant Covid-19 outbreak, fortunately) but featured little of host Chicago's indigenous talent or styles. And that's just wrong, declared Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events commissioner Mark Kelly, launching the month-long Chicago in Tune Mark Kelly, photos \u00c2\u00a9 Lauren Deutsch \"festival\" at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/MPOK0299-e.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/MPOK0299-e.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/MPOK0299-e.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/MPOK0299-e.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3051,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2023\/01\/supermusician-roscoe-mitchells-paintings.html","url_meta":{"origin":2622,"position":1},"title":"“Supermusician” Roscoe Mitchell’s paintings revealed!","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"January 25, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Roscoe Mitchell -- internationally renown composer, improviser, ensemble leader, winds and reeds virtuoso who has pioneered the use of \"little instruments\" and dramatic shifts of sonic scale in the course of becoming a \"supermusician . . .someone who moves freely in music, but, of course, with a well established background\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/DSF4323.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/DSF4323.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/DSF4323.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/DSF4323.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/DSF4323.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":355,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2010\/11\/announcing_eyejazztv_happy_45t.html","url_meta":{"origin":2622,"position":2},"title":"Announcing eyeJAZZ.tv & Happy 45th b’day AACM","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"November 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"eyeJAZZ.tv, a wave of guerrilla video music-news clips being initiated by the Jazz Journalists Association, has posted its first example -- my brief production\u00a0from last week's 45th birthday concert of the AACM featuring composer-saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell, flutist and AACM chair Nicole Mitchell (no relation) and saxophonist Ari Brown, at Chicago's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"eJAZZBLU logo.png","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/assets_c\/2010\/11\/eJAZZBLU%20logo-thumb-125x125-18098.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":302,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2010\/03\/anti-jazz_the_still-new_thing.html","url_meta":{"origin":2622,"position":3},"title":"Anti-jazz, the still-new thing","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"March 4, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"International House Philadelphia hosts a series way beyond old jazz conventions, with roots in the wild stuff fav' son John Coltrane blew in 1961. I delve into the 50-year controversy for PMP \u00a0online magazine of the Philadelphia Music Project\u00a0here, before the Art Ensemble of Chicago plays what it's come to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2288,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2017\/08\/jazzimprov-chicago-wide-ranging-talents-free-fests-pokempner-pix.html","url_meta":{"origin":2622,"position":4},"title":"Jazz\/Improv Chicago: Wide-ranging talents, free fests, PoKempner pix","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"August 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Chicago's jazz\/improvised music scene contains multitudes, last week ranging from the wild yet earnest Liberation Music Collective to veteran piano sophisticate Michael Weiss in trio, as two of Marc PoKempner's photos document (and more of his vision, focused on links between local music and politics -- Obama included -- is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Andy's\"","block_context":{"text":"Andy's","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/tag\/andys"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/MPK5562m-e-300x180.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2089,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2016\/08\/a-great-migration-suite-from-trumpeter-orbert-davis.html","url_meta":{"origin":2622,"position":5},"title":"A Great Migration suite from trumpeter Orbert Davis: Audio interview","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"August 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Orbert Davis -- trumpeter, composer and leader of the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, has been commissioned by the Jazz Institute of Chicago to write and perform a suite about the Great Migration for the 38th annual free Chicago Jazz Festival.\u00c2\u00a0\"Soul Migration,\" for octet, will be heard Sept 1 at 8 pm\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"imgres","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/imgres.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}