Jazz Articles about Fred Anderson

Fred Anderson/Hamid Drake/William Parker: Blue Winter

by Michael Davis
November 29, 2005

This record is a joy. A surprise it isn't. These three men have overlapping histories of development and collaboration of such depth that when they convene nowadays, the results are always inspired. One of Hamid Drake's early mentors was AACM mainstay Fred Anderson, who decided to stay home in Chicago, tend bar, and keep his connections to the muse wide open. Later, Drake connected up with William Parker, and they've played on dozens of excellent records over the past few ...

Fred Anderson: Blue Winter

by Kurt Gottschalk
September 16, 2005

If it wasn't one already, Fred Anderson's trio with Hamid Drake and William Parker can rightly be considered a supergroup. Anderson was named the first Vision Festival Lifetime Recognition honoree last month, and if such awards were given, Drake and Parker would surely have shared the MVP trophy. While the three have worked together before--notably in quartet with Kidd Jordan--this is their first trio recording.Blue Winter also may be Anderson's definitive release, at least thus far. He's made ...

Fred Anderson: Blue Winter

by Michael McCaw
August 23, 2005

Listening to Fred Anderson can sometimes be akin to listening to a sage or prophet. Wordless history and wisdom simply pour from the bell of his horn, allowing him to communicate with listeners on a different level than most other musicians. Recorded on December 12, 2004, this two-CD, nearly 150-minute complete performance with William Parker and Hamid Drake speaks on many levels.Since Anderson's decision to return to music full time in the nineties (and still run ...

Fred Anderson: On the Run

by Jeff Stockton
June 18, 2005

Tenor saxophonist Fred Anderson has seen it all in his 75-plus years. One of the founders of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in the '60s, Anderson has been tireless in his mission to nurture young jazz talent in his hometown of Chicago, Ill.. With his first club in the '70s, The Birdhouse and since 1982 at the legendary Velvet Lounge, his directive has been simply to give the next generation, and the generation after that, a ...

Fred Anderson's Legendary Velvet Lounge

by Jeff Stockton
December 7, 2004

It was broad daylight the first time I drove down to Chicago's South Loop, just to see where Fred Anderson's legendary Velvet Lounge was. I went right passed it. In the middle of the afternoon, there isn't much going on in the area that surrounds the city's mammoth convention center, McCormick Place. Squeezed in between an intimidating private parking lot and a weathered storefront rib joint, 2128 ' South Indiana is easy to miss.At night, however, it's a ...

Fred Anderson and Hamid Drake: Back Together Again

by Rex Butters
June 2, 2004

Hamid Drake has been a member of Fred Anderson’s extended family for years. Drake took drum lessons from Fred’s son and replaced him in Fred’s quartet. Now a leading light in his own right, Drake returns to play with family on Together Again. The intimate sessions show the tangible bond between the two, and their ease in artfully filling vast amounts of sonic space with rich powerful music.

Drake brings a variety of rhythm instruments to the session, and he ...

Fred Anderson/Hamid Drake: Back Together Again

by Mark Corroto
March 18, 2004

The image America projects around the world is one of largeness. Big movies, big SUVs, big footballers, and loud rock music. Even the impression of our jazz is loud and large, sometimes Ellingtonian, but large. From Wynton's Blood On The Fields to Ornette's Skies Of America, the largeness is apparent and flowing.

The reactions to our times and conditions are to either curse the country or go underground.

Saxophonist Fred Anderson chose to light one small ...