Charles Stepney: Out of the ShadowsRotary Connection 222, a large ensemble led by bassist Junius Paul, will perform music from the catalog of Charles Stepney under the creative direction of the Stepney family and Chicago record label International Anthem. Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble open. Thu 8/18, 6:30 PM, Pritzker Pavilion, 201 E. Randolph, […]
Tag: Junius Paul
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Makaya McCraven doubly decodes Blue Note classics with Deciphering the Message live shows
Drummer Makaya McCraven has always been a bit of a rabble-rouser. He mixes audio from his live gigs with studio overdubs in intricately layered tracks that feel like jazz approached with a DJ’s sensibility. Like McCraven’s 2020 Gil Scott-Heron tribute, We’re New Again (XL Recordings), last year’s Deciphering the Message remixes snippets from a source […]
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Makaya McCraven remixes jazz history
It’s been more than a decade since Blue Note Records released an album by a Chicago artist. The last time anyone based here appeared on the roster of this definitive jazz label, it was vocalists Patricia Barber and Kurt Elling, whose most recent Blue Note records as bandleaders arrived in the 2000s. But on November […]
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Burr Oak debuts with a long-gestating album of dreamy folk-pop
Burr Oak debuts with a long-gestating album of dreamy folk-pop, Experimental Sound Studio hosts an all-star fundraiser in its backyard, and more.
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Elastic Arts ramps up its bookings and launches a transatlantic collaboration
Elastic Arts ramps up its programming, CIVL opens grant applications for its SAVE Emergency Relief Fund, and more.
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A eulogy for Danny’s Tavern
For decades, Danny’s nurtured a devoted and welcoming community of music lovers—but it couldn’t survive the pandemic.
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The Hyde Park Jazz Festival takes it to the streets
With short sets from small groups in unexpected spots, the Hyde Park Jazz Festival creates a communal experience that’s pandemic safe.
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Veteran Chicago bassist Junius Paul celebrates the release of his first album
The band is already midflight as the sound fades up at the beginning of “You Are Free to Choose,” the opening track of the Junius Paul double LP Ism (International Anthem). Perhaps unintentionally, this parallels his career, which has also been in motion for some time. The Chicago-born-and-raised bassist first performed in 2002 at Fred […]
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Keeping the beat
Chicago’s beat scene has to do without the attention the city’s rappers get, but it’s a vital incubator for adventurous, ambitious instrumental hip-hop.
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The Art Ensemble of Chicago celebrate 50 years of pushing great Black music into the future
Art Ensemble cofounders Roscoe Mitchell and Famoudou Don Moye expand the group into an 18-piece big band with the likes of Nicole Mitchell, Tomeka Reid, Jaribu Shahid, and Fred Berry.
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Improvisers Keir Neuringer and Makaya McCraven find different ways to use the studio as a creative partner
Philadelphia reedist Keir Neuringer and Chicago drummer Makaya McCraven each shape improvised raw material into thrilling compositional tapestries, albeit with very different sounds.
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Avant-garde elder Roscoe Mitchell celebrates 50 years of Nessa Records
AACM elder and Art Ensemble of Chicago founder Roscoe Mitchell honors a record label that helped his innovations reach the world.
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Pop-Up Magazine, Pug Party, and more things to do in Chicago this weekend
A dog film festival, a comedic roast of Wonder Woman, and more events June 2-4
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International Anthem brings punk idealism to progressive jazz
Chicago label International Anthem puts in the sweat to bring progressive jazz the audience it deserves.
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Track premiere: Local drummer Makaya McCraven’s ‘Three Fifths a Man’
A sneak preview of the drummer’s forthcoming album on the new International Anthem imprint