Announcing The 25th Anniversary Englewood Jazz Festival
Free events to be held September 19-21, 2024 at the Hamilton Park and Cultural Center, Chicago

Featuring Nicole Mitchell, Jeremiah Collier, Corey Wilkes, Junius Paul, Greg Ward Quartet, Jahari Stampley, The Young Masters, And an encore performance of Paul Robeson: Man of the People. 

This event highlights the many young star musicians who have been nurtured by the Englewood Jazz Festival and Live the Spirit Residency over the past 25 years. Nearly all have been honored as top jazz artists in the 2024 Downbeat Critics Poll. 

Long an annual tradition, Live the Spirit Residency presents the free 25th Anniversary Englewood Jazz Festival on September 19, 20, and 21, 2024 at Hamilton Park and Cultural Center at 513 W 72nd St., Chicago. The festival is FREE and takes place indoors on Sep 19-20 and outdoors on September 21 rain or shine, moving indoors in case of inclement weather. Some seating is provided, but attendees are advised to bring their own chairs, blankets, picnics, and an appetite for the kind of music that uplifts and transforms the human spirit! Further information is available at englewoodjazzfestival.org.

Listen to WBEZ’s Rundown Podcast with Ernest Dawkins about the history of the Englewood Jazz Festival

Founder Ernest Dawkins says “I am delighted to bring together talent from across the globe back to Chicago for the 25th Anniversary Englewood Jazz Festival! This event celebrates our commitment to nurturing young musicians and honoring jazz legends. Join us September 19-21, 2024 at Hamilton Park, Chicago, where music transcends boundaries and joy fills the air.”

All the featured artists at the 25th-anniversary festival have longstanding relationships with Live the Spirit Residency. Corey Wilkes, Greg Ward, Nicole Mitchell, and Junius Paul have all previously performed in the Live the Spirit Big Band, while Jeremiah Collier performed with the Young Masters. The 25th Anniversary festival lineup is an opportunity to now showcase these musicians as leaders of their own ensembles. 

This year’s festival begins with a set by composer, bandleader, and acoustic and electric bassist Junius Paul, born and raised in Chicago. He is a graduate of St. Xavier University in Chicago, and is now an internationally established performer. 2023 Chicago Tribune’s Chicagoan of the Year in Jazz, and 2023 winner of the Herbie Hancock Institute international competition, pianist Jahari Stampley will also grace Thursday night’s lineup.

Friday night’s performers include Vic Firth Drum Set Artist Jeremiah Collier with his band JC and the REUP and American jazz flautist and composer Nicole Mitchell, former chairwoman of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).

Moving outside on Saturday, The Young Masters under the direction of Ernest Dawkins, showcases rising talent. The 25th Anniversary celebration continues with sets by saxophonist Greg Ward, trumpeter Corey Wilkes, and an encore performance of Paul Robeson: Man of the People, a new jazz poetry opera by Lasana D. Kazembe and Ernest Dawkins chronicling the life, artistic legacy, and activism of one of the most important and iconic figures of the twentieth century. This work was present in May and June of 2024 in Indianapolis and Chicago to great popular and critical success. 

Additionally, as part of this event, to honor those whose work has helped shape and strengthen the foundation of jazz in Chicago, the annual Spirit of Jazz Awards will be presented to recipients to be announced. 

Live The Spirit Residency is a not-for-profit organization that produces the Englewood Jazz Festival. Ernest Dawkins is the Executive Director of the organization and the Festival.

Our organization has the full support of the Englewood community including State Senator Mattie Hunter, State Representative Sonya Harper,  The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, and the City Arts program of the Department of Cultural Affairs. Our Englewood Jazz Festival is generally generously supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, SEIU, and Grow Greater Englewood.

Complete schedule: 25th Englewood Jazz Festival @ 513 W 72nd St

• Thursday, September 19, 2024 (indoors – Fieldhouse)
  6:00 pm: Junius Paul
  7:00 pm: Jahari Stampley

• Friday, September 20, 2024 (indoors – Fieldhouse)
  6:00 pm: JC and the REUP
  7:00 pm: Nicole Mitchell

• Saturday, September 21, 2024 (outdoors)
  12:00 to 1:00 pm: Panel Discussion: Black South Side Jazz Presenters
  1:00 to 2:00 pm: The Young Masters Under the direction of Ernest Dawkins
  2:15 to 3:15 pm: Corey Wilkes
  3:30 to 4:30 pm: Greg Ward
  4:30 pm: Spirit of Jazz Award
  4:45 to 6:00 pm: Encore of Paul Robeson: Man of the People

englewoodjazzfestival.org

PAUL ROBESON: MAN OF THE PEOPLE
A NEW JAZZ POETRY OPERA

Chicago Premiere: FRIDAY, JUNE 7th 2024
Free performance at Hamilton Park District Fieldhouse, Chicago, Illinois.

Paul Robeson: Man of the People is a new jazz poetry opera chronicling the life, artistic legacy, and activism of the most important and iconic figure of the twentieth century. This live, multimedia presentation explores the life, creative ethos, and inclusive social vision of concert artist, stage and film actor, athlete, and activist, Paul Robeson. Educator and civil rights leader Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune referred to Mr. Robeson as “the tallest tree in our forest.”

Co-created by librettist Lasana D. Kazembe and composer Ernest Dawkins, Paul Robeson: Man of the People will have its Chicago premiere on Friday, June 7, 2024, from 6-7:30 pm in the Fieldhouse at Hamilton Park District, 513 W 72nd St, Chicago, IL. Admission is free, with no reservation or ticket required. This will be the work’s second performance, after an earlier performance in Indianapolis on May 31, 2024. 

The production serves to introduce contemporary audiences to the art, creative legacy, and social justice activism of Mr. Robeson via creative interpretation and artistic engagement with his musicianship, stagecraft, intellectual spirit, writings, political speeches, and his tireless global activism. Mr. Robeson’s epic life story is rendered in a multimedia stage production that features original poetry, operatic storysong, a jazz/blues-infused original score, dramatic narration, video animation, and live visual art. 

PERFORMERS INCLUDE 

Lasana D. Kazembe,  spoken word/narration; librettist
Ernest Dawkins, saxophone; score; musical director
Corey Wilkes, trumpet
Isiah Keith, piano/vibes
Staci McCrackin, vocalist
Kevin King, flute/clarinet/oboe/saxophone
Gaylon Morriss, bass
Isiah Spencer, drums; percussion
Caitlin Edwards, violin
Edith Yokley, violin
Wilfred Farquharson, viola
Tahirah Whittington, cello

The opera develops across six movements. The music, songs, and dialogue develop sequentially to reflect Mr. Robeson’s development and maturation into a global icon for freedom. 

This extended original work is made possible through the Indiana University Presidential Arts & Humanities Fellowship program.

On May 28, 2024,  Elevation, non-profit Elevate Vocal Arts’ flagship ensemble of 39 vocal artists, releases their second album, Are You Looking For Me? at the Meyer Media label produced by GRAMMY award-winning Andreas Meyer. Available at all major online download and streaming sites. Preorder is now available on Apple Music and Amazon.

Are You Looking For Me? is an introspective work with nine world premiere tracks that explores the depths of faith. Through a meticulously curated repertoire that blends ethereal melodies with raw, emotive lyrics, the album invites listeners on a profound journey inward and outward. It questions the essence of belief in the divine, in the goodness within people, in the transformative power of art, and in the relentless march of time. And, it challenges us to reflect on our own convictions and human potential.

At its core, Are You Looking For Me? is a dynamic canvas for artists to explore the complex narratives of faith, resilience, and identity. Elevate Vocal Arts‘ unwavering commitment to nurturing talent and providing platforms for historically marginalized communities is evident in the range of vocal artistry showcased in this album. Through music, storytelling, and spoken word, the choir’s talent is on full display, a testament to the power of song and story. 

Album Teaser:

The works included on this album span centuries of choral stylings and landscapes. From “Laus Trinitati,” Faith Zimmer’s reworking of chants from the High Middle Ages, to “Were You There?” a Negro spiritual first published in 1899, sacred compositions are recontextualized for modern understanding. In keeping with the theme of modernity, contemporary works such as Dominick DiOrio’s newly commissioned piece “Are You Looking For Me?” and Reginal Wright’s “Tides” speak to modern meanings and expressions of faith in everyday life, while also commenting on timely social issues such as political division and police brutality.

Compositions on the album incorporate texts from diverse sources such as Indian mystic poet and saint Kabir, and writer and civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson. Further inspiration is drawn from musical sources ranging from 11th-century Benedictine abbess Hildegard of Bingen, Hip-Hop looping, and even Westminster Chimes, the ubiquitous set of pitches used by clocks around the world to toll the hours of the day.

The team that produced Are You Looking For Me? is led by Artistic Director & CEO, Arreon A. Harley-Emerson, along with Dr. Jillian Harrison-Jones, Associate Artistic Director, L. Jay Besch, Operations Manager and Assistant Conductor, and Erik Meyer, Collaborative Keyboardist.

WORKS (ALL WORLD PREMIERE RECORDINGS) INCLUDE:

I. Divine Commentary
1. Laus Trinitati, Faith Zimmer
2. Were You There, Christopher H. Harris
II. Searching For Faith
3. Are You Looking For Me, Dominick DiOrio
4. Tides, Reginal Wright
III. Odes to Joy
5. Joy Never Leaves, Christopher H. Harris
6. Elevate, Lori C. Hicks
IV. Infinite Song
7. The Gift To Sing, Erik Meyer
8. Hymn to Time, Lee R. Kesselman
V. The Majestic
9. You Are Worthy of All The Praise, Kevin B. James

Elevate Vocal Arts (EVA)
Arreon A. Harley-Emerson
Andreas K. Meyer

**As of May 10, 2024 this concert is postponed indefinitely. it will not take place on June 5, 2024.**

Pianist Haskell Small has toured key cities in US in the 2023-24 season with his program Celebration of Healing, performing Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations. His next stop will be at Weill Recital Hall located in the celebrated Carnegie Hall in New York City on June 5.

In 2021, Composer and Pianist Haskell Small suffered a debilitating stroke that rendered his left hand and foot paralyzed. At the time, Small feared his accomplished professional career would come to an end. Three years later, he is not only playing piano again (with both hands!) but has embarked on a nationwide Celebration of Healing tour that launched in his hometown of Washington, DC in September 2023 and is not hitting Carnegie Hall. He will be the subject of a documentary film entitled Small Steps directed by Christopher McGuinness to be released later this year. The trailer can be viewed here.

Wednesday, June 5, 2024, 8PM
Weill Recital Hall: Carnegie Hall
154 W 57th St, New York, NY

Tickets are $25 and are available at carnegiehall.org, the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th Street and Seventh Avenue, or by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800. Carnegie Hall is located at 881 Seventh Avenue in New York City.

More information available at www.haskellsmall.com

As captured in The Washington Post, Small used his painstaking journey of rehabilitation as a creative muse. Unwilling to stay away from music, he began arranging and performing classical masterworks for his right hand alone, as well as writing and performing a new composition, Diary of a Stroke: The Adventures of Herb and Pete (playful nicknames Small gave to his paralyzed hand and foot). Today, Small’s rehabilitation has further progressed and he has returned to playing with full use of both hands. Small’s Celebration of Healing Tour will not only mark his full recovery, but fulfill his life-long dream of performing Beethoven’s immensely difficult and sublime Diabelli Variations.

“To go from thinking my career might be over, to touring the country with one of the most demanding and sublime works in the repertoire has become a life-saving journey,” says Small. “I’m hoping that my story can resonate with others who have suffered setbacks and offer inspiration that you should never give up on your dreams. Sometimes what seems like a disaster can in fact be an opportunity to grow and challenge yourself in a whole new way.”

Adding to Haskell’s challenges and augmenting his “celebration of healing,” this spring (2024) he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, fortunately caught early and curable with a big surgery called a ‘Whipple procedure’ that he is presently recovering from.

Haskell Small

On Thursday, June 13, 2024, at 8 pm, composer Elliott Sharp presents the US Premiere in English of his opera Die Grösste Fuge (The Greatest Fugue) – a time travel opera – at Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn. This opera features the virtuosic bass/baritone Nicholas Isherwood as Ludwig van Beethoven with DGF String Quartet, prerecorded electroacoustic backing tracks, and projection design by Janene Higgins.

Tickets: $25 in advance ($20 Student/Senior w/ID) and $30 at the door.  Tickets available at roulette.org. A live stream will be available free of charge on YouTube at 8 pm on the day of the performance and archived for future viewing. 

Recently, Infrequent Seams released the double CD of Die Grösste Fuge, which is available for streaming. It received rave reviews from sources such as The Moderns: “The performances are every bit as grand and in-your-face as the work’s subject deserves” and Touching Extremes: “Isherwood masterfully portrays Beethoven’s torment.”

One may imagine Ludwig von Beethoven in the 1820s in ill health and nearly deaf, bitter and lonely with his economy in tatters, and clinging to his delusions of nobility. He must escape but it is impossible. Yet escape he does but not by his own agency. He becomes unmoored from the tethers of his daily life and mind to travel in time to an incomprehensible future, surprisingly both magnificent and horrendous. Once he has returned to his normal life he processes his experiences in “this greatest fugue” (die grösste Fuge) and begins to create a string quartet, Die Grösse Fuge. 

In writing the libretto for Die Grösste Fuge, Elliott Sharp drew inspiration from Beethoven’s letters and notes as well as from works by Schiller and Goethe. These excerpts were never used verbatim but translated, often multiple times from German to English and back again using AI translation software. In addition, some texts were run through “cut-up” software that would simulate strategies invented by Brion Gysin and often used by William Burroughs to reveal layers of meaning within a text by literally cutting up the printed words and phrases on a page and resequencing them. Some of these same strategies were employed in creating the music. Melodic materials would be extracted and turned into seeds that could then be expanded and layered to form vocal melodies and contrapuntal accompaniment. Rhythmic motifs would be looped and reversed, recombined and transformed. However, first and foremost, the settings of the songs are designed to flow from the words themselves so that the meaning, while layered, is always in bas-relief.

Elliott Sharp
Nicholas Isherwood
Janene Higgins