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CHICAGO CREATIVE ARTS ONLINE NEWSLETTER
JANUARY 2009
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CCAO Newsletter #9
Welcome again to Chicago Creative Arts Online, Inc. (CCAO), the first artist owned and operated video streaming company, whose focus is online video and audio presentation of the creative improvising artist community via the Internet.
CCAO continues it's series of free views of the Archie Shepp Chuck D project with Fight The Power, recorded live February 16, 2008 in Paris, at the Sons d'hiver festival.
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT 2009 Sons d'Hiver Festival
In this, our ninth newsletter, CCAO salutes the Chicago artists who will perform at the 2009 Sons d'Hiver festival in Paris - one of the major European festivals featuring creative artists from all over the world. This year's festival includes Dee Alexander, Nicole Mitchell, Corey Wilkes and Kelan Phil Cohran. Here are excerpts form this year's program of which the complete version may be found at sonsdhiver.org...January 23
NICOLE MITCHELL:
INDIGO TRIO
NICOLE MITCHELL flute, HARRISON Bankhead bass, HAMID DRAKE drums
This trio may be the most rewarding ensemble flutist Nicole Mitchell has ever gathered. The young co-chairwoman of Chicago's AACM is here at her best to show all of her improvising skills. Not only does the trio allow her as much freedom and space as she needs, but she also teams with two of her favorite sidemen. It may be about the bassist Harrison Bankhead, whose rhythmic and harmonic imagination is stimulating and always timely, or drummer and percussionist Hamid Drake, with whom the flutist has a long-standing musical bond.
DEE ALEXANDER
Sirens of Song: Tribute to Nina Simone and Dinah Washington
DEE ALEXANDER vocals, MARQUIS HILL trumpet, ARI BROWN tenor saxophone, STEVE BERRY trombone JAMES SANDERS, SYLVIA de la CERNA violins, TOMEKA REID cello, KEITH LAWRENCE viola, Miguel de la Cerna piano, HARRISON Bankhead bass, LEON JOYCE, JR drums
Dee Alexander, a member of the AACM, has been appearing in such different contexts as Gospel, rhythm'n'blues or funk but let's not forget this young lady mainly is a great jazz singer who can play either a traditional repertoire or daring vocal experiments. For instance, she is often heard with saxophonists Ernest Dawkins and Oliver Lake or within Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble. Dee Alexander sure is the right singer for this celebration of two major female voices in jazz: Dinah Washington and Nina Simone. Two voices, two personalities and two very different fates that Dee Alexander brilliantly summons in this project built around pianist Miguel de la Cerna's arrangements.
January 31
COREY WILKES QUINTET
COREY WILKES trumpet, flugelhorn, CHELSEA Baratz tenor saxophone ROBERT "Baaba" IRVING III piano, PAUL JUNIUS low, JEREMY "BEAN" CLEMONS drums
Corey Wilkes is one of the new prodigies of the jazz trumpet. Less than 30 years old, he was discovered at Sons d'hiver Festival with the Chicago 12, and has already performed with Roscoe Mitchell, Greg Osby, Meshell Ndegeocello, Kurt Elling and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. With his first quintet featuring young new Chicago musicians, he offers a groovy voluptuous music made out of several Afro-American materials (blues, funk, hip-hop...). Icing on the cake: on the piano, Robert Irving III, ex-Miles Davis sideman, will make the link with the older generation.
Kelan PHIL COHRAN / Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
Kelan PHIL COHRAN, zithers, frankiphone, trumpet, French horn, cornet, harp, drums
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble:
GABRIEL HUBERT trumpet / AMAL Baji HUBERT trumpet / SEBA SERIOUS trumpet / TARIK SERIOUS trumpet / JAFAR Baji SERIOUS trumpet / trombone Saiph GRAVES / TYCHO COHRAN sousaphone / UTTUMA HUBERT baritone / battery CHRISTOPHER ANDERSON
A very respected and important character in Chicago, Kelan Phil Cohran was born in 1927 in Mississippi. His career actually started with Sun Ra's Arkestra in Chicago as early as the 1950's. He then joined Muhal Richard Abrams and Steve Mac Call to set up the AACM whose first meetings took place at his home. In the political turmoil of the 1960's, he founded the Afro-Arts Theatre of Chicago to mix plays, concerts and political meetings. As a musician, he achieves the perfect alchemy between jazz and African folklores. In the 1970's his orchestra was made out of musicians who were to become famous as Earth, Wind and Fire. He is the inventor of an Afro-futuristic instrument: the frankiphone. He now teaches music and performs regularly in the Ethiopian restaurants of Chicago.
For this never-before-heard-show, eight of his sons will be gathered on stage as the Hypnotic Brass Band - a very popular band in the USA. What a pleasure it will be to discover a resolutley modern music firmly rooted in African history - a music that was born along the banks of the Mississippi and grown up on the pavements and clubs of Chicago.
CCAO is proud to present the BLACKOUT FESTIVAL- A Tribute To Fred Anderson at the Velvet Lounge on Mar 21, 2009. Featured artists include Ernest Dawkins, Dee Alexander, Ari Brown, Corey Wilkes, Isaiah Spencer, Steve Berry, Nicole Mitchell and The AACM's Great Black music Ensemble. Visit our website chi-creates.tv or for more info call (773) 221-6385.
We at CCAO have some exciting events scheduled for broadcast. We need your support at every level. Please visit us at Chi-creates.tv. We view our audience as partners in the arts.
