Jazz Articles about Corey Wilkes

Kahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: Open Me: A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit

by Chris May
February 23, 2024

The first few bars of Open Me: A Higher Consciousness Of Sound And Spirit promise the listener is in for a treat. Corey Wilkes' muted trumpet plays Miles Davis' “All Blues" counterpointed by Alex Harding's rugged baritone saxophone and Kahil El'Zabar's ankle bells and kalimba. Here is Ethnic Heritage Ensemble in all its enchanting bare-bones singularity, barely a year since the release of the masterpiece Spirit Gatherer: A Tribute To Don Cherry (Spiritmuse). Eighty minutes later, the ...

Isaiah Collier: Parallel Universe

by Gareth Thompson
December 6, 2023

The direct-to-disc recording equipment in Haarlem's Artone studio resembles a vintage control room for time travel, or maybe the record deck in a cyberpunk loft. And yes, that's Haarlem, not Harlem, though one could be excused for mixing them up here. This is where Isaiah Collier came to record Parallel Universe, a valiant and affirmative album full of joyful noises. Musicians who trek to Artone cut their work onto acetate from single-take live performances. But anyone expecting a simplified version ...

Kahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: Spirit Gatherer

by Chris May
April 7, 2023

Anyone who was chair of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians for a decade knows a thing or two about keeping a group of independently minded artists focused on a common goal. Drummer and percussionist Kahil El'Zabar continues to demonstrate that with his Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, an acoustic, improvising trio with an African foundation that has been recording since 1981. Most of the musicians who have passed through the group have been longtime members. The 2023 lineup comprises ...

Corey Wilkes & Abstrakt Pulse: Cries From Tha Ghetto

by Troy Collins
May 24, 2009

Trumpet player Corey Wilkes was just 24 when saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell recruited him to join the Art Ensemble of Chicago in 2003, four years after Lester Bowie's passing. Since then he has demonstrated remarkable technical and creative ability, serving as a sideman in James Carter's Quintet, Kahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra and Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble. He also leads his own straight-ahead Quintet, the neo-soul outfit Black Slang and the forward thinking sextet Abstrakt ...

Corey Wilkes: Drop It

by AAJ Italy Staff
November 10, 2008

Il giovane trombettista Corey Wilkes ha preso il posto di Lester Bowie nell’Art Ensemble of Chicago e questo fatto da solo dovrebbe bastare per segnalarlo come voce emergente dalla scena di Chicago. Per aggiungere un altro elemento importante di riflessione, la storica etichetta Delmark pubblica questo bel lavoro che vede Wilkes alla testa di un manipolo di validi musicisti fra i quali spicca il tastierista Robert Irving III che era stato nei primi anni ottanta al fianco di Miles Davis, ...

Corey Wilkes: Drop It

by John Barron
September 23, 2008

Trumpeter Corey Wilkes has been garnering considerable attention on the Chicago jazz scene in the last few years as a sideman with the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Kahil El' Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble and Fred Anderson. Drop It, Wilkes' debut as a leader, finds the young lion exploring an array of contemporary, funk-laden compositions with a talented cast of like-minded cohorts.

The Langston Hughes poem “Trumpet Player," read by Miyanda Wilson, is a fitting invitation to ...

Corey Wilkes: Drop It

by Jerry D'Souza
September 14, 2008

It was in 2002 that Corey Wilkes (trumpet, flugelhorn, cornet) made his presence on the Chicago jazz scene. His strengths as a musician soon ushered him into the seat left behind by Lester Bowie with the Art Ensemble of Chicago. He has filled that spot remarkably well just as he has added more fire to Kahil El' Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble. There is a lot more to his cannon, including stints with Fred Anderson and Wynton Marsalis which show his ...