Thursday 29
Randolph Cafe, Chicago Cultural Center
CorylusNoon Singer and storyteller Mankwe Ndosi, who splits her time between Minneapolis and Chicago, leads this dynamic quartet with AACM reedist Edward Wilkerson Jr., bassist Darius Savage, and percussionist JoVia Armstrong; you may recognize her from her roles in groups with flutist Nicole Mitchell and cellist Tomeka Reid. —Peter Margasak
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Harrison Bankhead Sextet1:45 PM Harrison Bankhead has been such an in-demand double bassist for so long—for the likes of Roscoe Mitchell, Fred Anderson, and the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra—that he didn’t record an album of his own until he was 55 years old. On 2011’s Morning Sun Harvest Moon (Engine), the Chicago veteran leads a sextet that flows from turbulent free-for-alls to solemn, spiritual grooves to a lilting Latin excursion. Because Bankhead’s sidemen are in demand too, the group doesn’t play out often, which makes it doubly worthwhile to show up early enough to catch this set. —Bill Meyer
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Friday 30
Von Freeman Pavilion
Dedication ceremony featuring George Freeman2 PM The Von Freeman Pavilion will be consecrated by the late saxophonist’s brother and occasional stage partner, guitarist George Freeman, probably the last working musician in Chicago to have played with Charlie Parker. —John Corbett
Hamid Drake with Michael Zerang, Eigen Aoki, and Tsukasa Taiko drummers directed by Tatsu Aoki3:30 PM Drummer Hamid Drake doesn’t just make the most abstract music swing; he’s also a devoted student of rhythms from around the world. He and Michael Zerang draw on those traditions in their sunrise winter-solstice concerts, which have been easing Chicago’s passage from one year to the next since 1990, but for this performance they’ll narrow the focus to one: traditional Japanese drum music, performed with Eigen Aoki (son of jazz bassist Tatsu Aoki) and his Tsukasa Taiko youth unit. Taiko is all about the balance between massive force and serene emptiness, elements that Zerang and Drake understand quite well. —Bill Meyer
