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Harrison Bankhead
Nicole Mitchell and Michel Edelin: The Ethiopian Princess Meets the Tantric Priest
by Howard Mandel
Nicole Mitchell and Michel Edelin are two of the most creative flutists in music of any sort today, brilliant improvisers with highly developed sensitivities to sound who share a passion for collaborating in real time. Yet their personal approaches to playing one of the oldest instruments in the world represent two far ends of an esthetic spectrum. We have exactly the same musical interests and influences," Mitchell has said, but we come to the music from such different directions!"
read moreGeorge Freeman: Everybody Say Yeah!
by Mark Corroto
It took a long time (much too long) for listeners to recognize the brilliance that was Chicago saxophonist Fred Anderson. The New York-centric jazz cognoscenti have often overlooked talent that comes from Chicago, and artists were often drawn to The Big Apple to seek the recognition they deserved. Beginning in the '90s, though, the focal point of creative music shifted to Chicago and veteran musicians such as Von Freeman, Fred Anderson, and Harrison Bankhead, plus (then) younger talents, Ken Vandermark, ...
read moreHarrison Bankhead Quartet: Velvet Blue
by Mark Corroto
Harrison Bankhead's time has come. The Advancement of Creative Music (AACM) is on a roll with the release of Velvet Blue. For decades, the bassist has been the bedrock upon which great Chicago jazz has been built. He was the foundation for legendary players like Fred Anderson, Von Freeman, Roscoe Mitchell, Muhal Richard Abrams, and Malachi Thompson and a collaborator with Nicole Mitchell in the Indigo Trio and Hamid Drake and Ernest Dawkins with the Chicago Trio. In ...
read moreHarrison Bankhead Sextet - Morning Sun Harvest Moon (Engine Records, 2011)
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Music and More by Tim Niland
Long a mainstay on the Chicago jazz scene as a sought after sideman, bassist Harrison Bankhead assumes the leadership role on this album which includes Ed Wilkerson on tenor saxophone and clarinets, Mars Williams on saxophones, James Sanders on violin and Avreeayl Ra and Ernie Adams on percussion. The music has a wide ranging experimental flow to it, recalling the likes of Chicago greats such as Fred Anderson and Roscoe Mitchell. The album begins in a slow and specious fashion ...
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