Chicago Jazz Philharmonic: Collective Creativity

The album features flautist Nicole Mitchell and tenor saxophonists Ari Brown and Ed Wilkerson, as well as baritonist Mwata Bowden—all members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), which is dedicated to expressing the diverse styles of Afro-American music and serves as a vehicle for free music education to the inner-city youth of Chicago. Against this backdrop, Davis crafts a suite and movement which, as the one sheet states "recall(s) the tragedy of human bondage; reflect(s) the significance of community and collaboration...and emphasizes legacy and bondage."

Beginning with his opening salvo "Fanfare for Cloud Gate," Davis uses the might of his horn section to make a loud and boisterous statement, exclaiming that the experience to come will be unusual and unforgettable. The brief, three-minute opener seems to blend right into the second piece of the suite, "West End Blues/ Weatherbird," both featuring trumpeter Davis. "Diaspora" is the first piece to truly blend strong elements of jazz with overtones of classical, employing the finessed texture of a twenty-five piece string section and resulting in one dynamite sound, where both Wilkerson and Brown are featured.

On "One Thousand Questions, One Answer" the sounds shift sharply from a classical motif to jazzy free-style rhythms flowing from Brown's sax, Mitchell's piccolo and Davis' piccolo trumpet. One of the finest tunes performed here is the sprawling "Seraphim," with pianist Ryan Cohan providing elegant play, supported once again by the entire orchestra including the strings—a beautiful piece of music.

The African roots and rhythms comes shining through on the percussive-filled extended "Vice Versa," adding strong melodic expression and aggressive musical energy to a lively musical arrangement. With the only vocal piece on the album, singer Terisa Griffin appears as special guest on the final bonus track, Count Basie and James Rushing's "Goin' to Chicago." With, perhaps, the only pure jazz number in the repertoire, Griffin provides a splashy finish, belting out the lyrics with her Aretha Franklin-like vocals, to close the session in a departure from the main theme of the music.

This music begs the question: "Is it classical or is it jazz?" Whatever the decision, one thing is clear: Collective Creativity is a tastefully crafted blend of serious sounds served in an orchestral setting of energetic, innovative and sophisticated music, steeped in a foundation of jazz rhythms and classical colors.

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