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Trumpeter Corey Wilkes has been making waves locally and nationally for a few years, coleading a twin-trumpet combo with Maurice Brown early on, joining the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and recording with Exploding Star Orchestra, Roscoe Mitchell, and Evan Parker. He’s finally getting around to releasing an album as a leader–two albums, in fact, both this year. Just out is Drop It (Delmark), a record cut with an extended local group. Though Wilkes’s credentials might lead you to expect otherwise, he doesn’t exactly come across like an envelope pusher on this disc–the music rides on tight, plush grooves that insinuate themselves somewhere between smooth jazz and neosoul.
Wilkes celebrates the release of Drop It with two performances tonight. At 8:30 PM he plays as part of the Close Up 2 Smooth Jazz Festival in Pritzker Park (State and Van Buren), and then at 11 PM he and his group play a set inside the club (416 S. Clark).
