Camae Ayewa, aka Moor Mother, has always been one to cite her sources. In addition to performing as a member of Philly-based free-jazz collective Irreversible Entanglements, the contralto wordsmith has frequently paid homage to the jazz, blues, and gospel canons in her solo work, beginning with her 2016 debut, Fetish Bones, and continuing through last […]
Tag: Jason Moran
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Archie Shepp and Jason Moran turn tradition into new challenges on Let My People Go
After saxophonist Archie Shepp became known in the 1960s as a fierce musical and political voice in what was then called the avant-garde, he charted a different path. In 1977, Shepp recorded a collection of traditional spirituals (and one jazz standard) in a duet session with pianist Horace Parlan titled Goin’ Home, which is as […]
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Pianist Jason Moran drops a recording of Looks of a Lot, his collaboration with a slew of Chicago artists
The new version, available via Bandcamp, tightens up the one he premiered at Symphony Center in 2014 with Theaster Gates, Ken Vandermark, Katie Ernst, and the Kenwood Academy Jazz Band
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Seven portraits of the Chicago Jazz Festival
The compelling characters at this year’s Jazz Festival include avant-garde elder Roscoe Mitchell, indefatigable experimenter Mary Halvorson, and defiantly joyful South African survivor Louis Moholo-Moholo.
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Mary Halvorson’s band keeps getting bigger—and better
New York guitarist Mary Halvorson brings her daring but sophisticated octet to Chicago for the first time.
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Agile freebop trio BassDrumBone celebrates 40 years together
Trombonist Ray Anderson, bassist Mark Helias, and drummer Gerry Hemingway bring their agile fusion of postbop, blues, and free jazz to the Chicago Jazz Festival next weekend.
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Jason Moran reimagines the music of Charles Mingus; guitarist Bern Nix dead at 69
The ingenious pianist and composer collaborates with the idiosyncratic singer Georgia Anne Muldrow tonight at Symphony Center; meanwhile, the innovative guitarist who made his mark in Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time band has passed.
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The ten best jazz records of 2016
This year’s best jazz records include a large-ensemble concept album about conspiracy theories, a tug-of-war between loops and live-band grooves, and an amazing hybrid of jazz and hip-hop.
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Jazz bassist and vocalist Katie Ernst rises like the tide
Jazz bassist and vocalist Katie Ernst hasn’t helped only herself with her talent, wit, and confidence—she’s also lifting up her peers and students.
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A new seven-piece ensemble conducted by Henry Threadgill drops its debut
In his new Ensemble Double Up, reedist Henry Threadgill puts down his horns and conducts.
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An interview with MacArthur ‘genius,’ jazz pianist, and composer Vijay Iyer
Vijay Iyer’s mutant style should make him one of the most interesting draws at this year’s Chicago Humanities Festival.
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Jason Moran’s ongoing Fats Waller update
After constantly reshaping his homage to the great pianist, singer, and composer, Moran finally takes his project into the studio.
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Jason Moran builds a bigger bandwagon
Theaster Gates and Ken Vandermark join pianist Jason Moran in an oral history of their evolving Chicago collaboration Looks of a Lot.
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The contemplative beauty of Charles Lloyd, boxed
ECM Records collects the five contemplative albums reedist Charles Lloyd, who headlines the Chicago Jazz Festival tonight, cut with Swedish pianist Bobo Stenson beginning in 1989.
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Saturday: 2013 Chicago Jazz Festival according to Reader writers
Jason Moran and Gregory Porter highlight a jam-packed third day of Jazz Fest.