Prolific musician Kahil El’Zabar has hardly gone unnoticed, but I wish every music fan knew about this living legend. The son of a drummer, El’Zabar was born Clifton Blackburn in Chicago in 1953, and raised on the city’s south side. He joined the Association of the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) at age 18, and […]
Tag: Ethnic Heritage Ensemble
Posted inMusic
Guitarist Dave Specter on the young stars building the future of the blues
Current musical obsessions of recording artists Dave Specter and Nicholas Tremulis and Reader associate editor Jamie Ludwig
Posted inMusic
Drummer Kahil El’Zabar elevates groove to a transcendent plane
The leader of the Ritual Trio and the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble is also a teacher, a connector, and an ambassador for Afrocentric jazz.
Posted inMusic
Jazz grows under Ernest Dawkins’s feet
By staying put in his hometown, this Chicago saxophonist has nurtured generations of musicians—and a south-side festival that’s now in its 16th year.
Posted inBlogs
Local saxophonist Ernest Dawkins plays it Afro Straight
On his new album, the AACM stalwart takes on jazz standards