Young Jazz Lions Stage
Jazz on Jackson
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2:20 PM Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Strings Increasingly prolific local flutist, composer, and bandleader Nicole Mitchell has just released Renegades (Delmark), the terrific debut of the Black Earth Strings, a spin-off of her Black Earth Ensemble. Its lively pieces—which make resourceful use of Tomeka Reid’s cello, Renee Baker’s violin and viola, and Josh Abrams’s bass and guimbri—alternate between swinging unison licks, fluttering counterpoint, and hovering clouds of dark, viscous colors, and each virtuosic solo arises at just the right moment. Shirazette Tinnin enhances the music’s groove with drum kit and hand percussion, but the strings could make it move all by themselves. Mitchell’s spry lines on various flutes provide the primary melodic motor, dancing out in front with the grace and precision typical of her playing, and she even takes a vocal turn on “By My Own Grace,” singing about empowerment with refreshing directness: “I will never again let my destiny / Be in the hands of my lover.” —PM
Jazz & Heritage Stage
5 PM 80th Birthday Jam with Fred Anderson Chicago tenor titan Fred Anderson turned 80 on March 22, but he’s living the title of his fine new trio album, Staying in the Game (Engine). He continues to run the Velvet Lounge, which has long been one of Chicago’s most crucial incubators for creative improvised music, and for decades he’s served as a father figure and mentor to some of the boldest and most influential players in town. As his new record makes plain, Anderson’s big, burnished tone is undiminished, and he remains one of the most thoughtful soloists in Chicago jazz; no matter how abstract any given phrase may be, his lines progress with clear, precise logic, rooted deeply in the blues. For this set he’s joined by two regular partners: drummer Hamid Drake, who’s perhaps his most famous disciple, and bassist Josh Abrams. This context should allow Anderson to find his comfort zone quickly—but of course for him “comfort zone” means a platform from which to push against or even through the melodic impulses he’s been honing for five decades. —PM
