gram JAZZ PROMOTING AND NURTURING JAZZ IN CHICAGO APRIL 2020 WWW.JAZZINCHICAGO.ORG CHRIS GREENE QUINTET: THE POPULAR, LONGSTANDING CHICAGO BAND ON PREPARING A TRIBUTE TO EDDIE HARRIS JAZZCITY 2020 SOUL TO SOUL: A CELEBRATION OF EDDIE HARRIS COMPARED TO WHAT?! (EVENT CANCELED) WHEN THE JAZZ INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO DECIDED to make Eddie Harris the recipient of this year's ongoing JazzCity tribute, one artist and one band were an obvious choice to participate. Who better to capture the slippery, soulful, stylistically restless sound of the late, great tenor saxophonist Chris Greene and his quintet? As suggested by the title of the band's album, Boundary Issues, Greene has never had much use for staying in one place with Chris Greene Ensemble his music. "I don't know my place, I guess, which is why I'm always stepping outside of the so-called boundaries. With the music I like, I just can't help thinking, what would it be like if I did this, or this?" We would have expected to hear Greene and company – keyboardist Damian Espinosa, bassist Marc Piane, trumpeter John Moore and drummer Steve Corley – play popular Harris staples including "Compared to What," "Freedom Jazz Dance" and "Cold Duck Time" at Loyola Park on April 3rd. And if the spirit moved them, the band, which has been together since 2005, might have treated the crowd to one or all of those songs. But having taken a deep dive into Harris' compositions – which in many ways are as notable as his tenor saxophone inventions, something Greene hoped to convey to the audience – the saxophonist is more interested in exposing lesser-heard tunes. And so, we may have heard such Harris works as "Theme in Search of a Movie," "Boogie Woogie Bossa Nova" and "Mean Greens." Greene also planned on including in his sets "Do Like Eddie," a tribute to Harris by John Scofield featured on the guitarist's album Hand Jive, which featured Harris. An Evanston native who has spent time honing his craft with Von Freeman and Steve Coleman, Greene admits he didn't fully appreciate the genius of Harris until several years ago, when he became familiar with his full catalog. "He was a touchstone for me in doing so many different kinds of things," he said, "from playing with British rock musicians to playing electric saxophone to doing standup comedy." "In a way, Eddie was a victim of his own success as an experimentalist. People knew he could play, but a lot of them didn't take him as seriously as artists who stayed in the same lane. He had such unusual ideas, from his use of intervals to the way he showed off the influence of his hero John Coltrane. He took what Coltrane did in superimposing many different chords over existing chords and made it funky. With his rhythmic approach, he made it possible for the average Joe to get into the music."n JazzCity is a free concert series initiated in 1997 by the Jazz Institute of Chicago in collaboration with the Chicago Park District to bring people together from across the city to listen to Chicago’s top jazz musicians. JazzCity is sponsored by WDCB 90.9 FM and WHPK 88.5 FM Radio. JAZZ IN CHICAGO APRIL 2020 2 KEEP THE MUSIC PLAYING! A LETTER FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HEATHER IRELAND ROBINSON Greetings Jazz Institute Family, We wanted to take a moment to send you a message of love, hope, health and unity at these uncertain times. One thing that we do know – we are all using music to get us through, to unify us and to add meaning and uplifting fun to our days. Music has always been here for us. Jazz music specifically has been a mainstay of resistance, and of healing, of hope and of joy, both on the stage and in the audiences. A calm in times of great need, a spark in times of darkness, and our spirited heartbeat in times of great celebration. It is social and connects us across the distance. Jazz has been a mainstay from its roots in African rhythms and culture, to its birth in the south, and its coming of age in Chicago and the Midwest though today. Along with its cousins Blues and Soul and its sisters and brothers in the music of Resistance and Civil Rights, jazz has been a constant family member and the soundtrack of or lives. And we intend to keep that music alive and thriving for all of us. Musicians and educators are at the forefront of this unity, and community-building that knows no space or building. They are our great leaders and honorable drum (and trumpet, and piano...) majors, especially in the times. We will continue to honor them all and ensure that this beat goes on. For you and for them, and for generations to come. We are grateful to you – our members, our audiences, and supporters – as always. And we cannot wait to sit next to you and fellowship again soon. So keep listening, keep playing, keep singing, and keep grooving. Stay together, while apart. Let’s stay connected while distant and keep swinging! All the Best, Heather Ireland Robinson JIC EVENTS CANCELED DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC: – APRIL 3: JAZZCITY AT LOYOLA PARK – APRIL 8: JAZZ LINKS JAM SESSION AT THE JAZZ SHOWCASE – APRIL 19: NOTEWORTHY JAZZ ENSEMBLE AT THE PROMONTORY – MAY 8: JAZZCITY AT TULEY PARK – MAY 15: CHICAGO STAGE AT THE LOGAN FEAT. ISAIAH COLLIER (POSTPONED) – JAZZ LINKS STUDENT COUNCIL ACTIVITIES For more updates on event cancellations and online activities including performances and educational videos, please visit jazzinchicago.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. JAZZ IN CHICAGO APRIL 2020 3 WHAT IF THERE'S A JAZZ APPRECIATION MONTH AND NOBODY COMES? BY HOWARD MANDEL ©2020 [email protected] Can we celebrate April as Jazz Appreciation Month with jazz live onstage in concerts, clubs and all our public places shut down? Yes! We at the Jazz Institute of Chicago and, we believe, the entire Chicago jazz community as well, is committed to making every effort to “flatten the curve” of infections from the Covid-19 virus, thereby guarding against health care resources from being overwhelmed. At the same time we’re determined to find ways to hear our music and make sure our musicians, venues and ancillary operations are able to survive financial uncertainty if not outright hardship. We’re into jazz, so we know how to improvise! April is the 19th annual Jazz Appreciation Month, so designated by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, culminating in the ninth International Jazz Day, thanks to UNESCO and the Herbie Hancock (née Thelonious Monk) Institute of Jazz. We’re going to find ways to make it swing, hard and loud and soft and sweet. What the Jazz Institute is doing: Moving fast online, in light of April cancellations. w Chris Greene, tenor saxophonist scheduled to perform at the Eddie Harris-dedicated season of Jazz City concerts but cancelled, is creating a high-quality original video in lieu of the live show we’ll miss. Release April 3rd on the JIC's Facebook page. w The JIC’s Jam Session musicians -- Robert “Baabe” Irving III, Jarrard Harris and Marcus Evans -- are video’ing mini-master Carolyn Fitzhugh at the Chicago Jazz Festival 2019. Photo by James Foster classes. w For musicians, educators and anyone who’s a presenter, the JIC has set up a free promotional directory for virtual events or other online activity intended to be a source of revenue. This directory will be shared via the JIC website, eblasts, and social media outlets as a resource for online audiences to view, listen, enjoy and share. w This JazzGram is going to our entire contact list -- 10,000 strong, mostly in Chicagoland -- in efforts to rally our entire community together, share information and resources. We urge you to seek out jazz musicians’ initiatives and record sales sites (Bandcamp.com is best, musicians get the best return) and spend generously! There’s more going on behind the scenes and by JIC-friendly organizations, such as the Jazz Journalists Association, which has posted articles with embedded videos reporting from around the world about JazzOnLockdown. Jazz on the Tube, a list-serve reaching 30,000 subscribers daily, has posted valuable information on how to start live-streaming. Jazz at Lincoln Center is listing pre-scheduled live streaming events. Locally, Experimental Sound Studios is putting up house-broadcast Quarantine Concerts (perhaps more “new music” than “jazz”, but a good model for would-be series organizers). True, jazz is best live, when players and listeners commune, sharing an experience of time and one place. But those sounds made in the moment are able to convey feelings, even when captured in recordings, that reach us invisibly and are able to move us, even from long ago and far away. Jazz has survived the Spanish Flu epidemic, the Great Depression, a century of war as well as accelerated change. It’s practical, flexible and it endures, because we people love it. We’ll be together again -- the Jazz Institute is sure of that -- and until then we can and must make music, listen to it, learn, talk, read about it and dance to it, even if alone, confident we’re helping that moment more quickly arrive.n JAZZ IN CHICAGO APRIL 2020 4 FROM THE ARCHIVES: THE JAZZ INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO ON-LINE Given that many of our beloved clubs and venues have been unfortunately shuttered during this time, we are replacing our monthly listing with some treats from our archives.