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Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Strings: Renegades
by John Barron
Flutist Nicole Mitchell has been earning much deserved praise as of late for her various Chicago-based projects. Mitchell was voted Jazz Flutist of the Year in 2008 by the Jazz Journalist Association and in 2006 the Chicago Tribune named her Chicagoan of the Year. On Renegades, Mitchell's second release for Delmark Records, the Co-President of the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) takes the listener on a fun, unpredictable ride with her boisterous Black Earth Strings ...
Continue ReadingNicole Mitchell Indigo Trio: Anaya
by AAJ Italy Staff
La spiritualità nella musica è spesso fraintesa, talvolta abilmente celata dietro forme e confezioni consolidate, altre volte dichiarata prima ancora che praticata, chiaramente sofferente dello scollamento da un lessico funzionale condiviso: accade così - tanto per fare un esempio - che per alcuni Jan Garbarek con l'Hilliard Ensemble sia il massimo del misticismo, per altri una palla micidiale, così come ai tanti che vedono nelle pagine di Don Cherry un abbraccio di ecumenica energia spirituale si contrappongono quanti lo ritengono ...
Continue ReadingNicole Mitchell's Black Earth Strings: Renegades
by Troy Collins
Chicago-based flutist, composer and bandleader Nicole Mitchell has presented her impressive skills in a wide range of contexts, from the intimate Indigo Trio with bassist Harrison Bankhead and drummer Hamid Drake to her flagship band, the Black Earth Ensemble. The later has demonstrated a remarkable ability to move from the eclectic modern jazz of Black Unstoppable (Delmark, 2007), to the harrowing futurism of Xenogenesis Suite: A Tribute to Octavia Butler (Firehouse 12, 2008). She has also contributed her enviable talents ...
Continue ReadingNicole Mitchell/ Indigo Trio: Anaya
by John Sharpe
The Indigo Trio's sophomore outing on the classy French Rogue Art imprint delivers the record fans of Nicole Mitchell the flutist have been waiting for. Mitchell the composer and arranger has been to the fore of late on Black Unstoppable (Delmark, 2007) and most notably Xenogenesis Suite (Firehouse 12, 2008), but with instrumentation stripped to the bare essentials, her unique flute styling finally gets the shop window it deserves.
Not that this is a solo vehicle. Any set featuring the ...
Continue ReadingNicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble: Xenogenesis Suite: A Tribute to Octavia Butler
by Kurt Gottschalk
The words ‘flute’ and ‘vocals’ on the back of a jazz record can suggest something fairly specific, something that is, well, fine for those who like it. But the combination needn’t necessitate an easy listen and if anyone in recent memory was likely to break the mold, it was Chicago’s Nicole Mitchell.
Mitchell has made good records, but ‘great’ is a pretty tall order. On Xenogenesis Suite: A Tribute to Octavia Butler, she has achieved on ... Continue ReadingBlack Unstoppable
by John Sharpe
Nicole Mitchell Black Unstoppable Delmark 2008
The release of flutist Nicole Mitchell's Black Unstoppable as a DVD as well as a CD presents the listener with a difficult choice beyond the usual dichotomy of sound or (added) vision. Although the program is the same (though with two tracks fewer than on the studio CD), the 82-minute DVD features extended live performances, recorded in June 2007, at Fred Anderson's new Velvet Lounge.
Continue ReadingNicole Mitchell: Black Unstoppable
by Nic Jones
Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble Black Unstoppable Delmark 2007
This DVD is representative of lighter, airier aspects of flautist Nicole Mitchell's music, and the seven- piece Black Earth Ensemble puts a whole new spin on the notion through skillful deployment. The music is never forced and always the product of organic growth. Delmark's customary no-frills presentation of a live set ensures that the focus remains on the musicians throughout, and they breathe life into ...
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