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Emma Dayhuff: Jaribu

By Ludovico Granvassu
September 20, 2025
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Innovations & Lineage: The Chicago Project marks the much-anticipated leader debut of a bassist whose profile keeps rising, Emma Dayhuff. Now increasingly active in Los Angeles—where the scene is ever more intertwined with Chicago's—Dayhuff chose to return to the city that shaped her for this album.

As the title suggests, the record is about both innovation and lineage: the currents that seeped into her musical DNA and perhaps became even clearer after she left Chicago. One pivotal moment came in New York, during an impromptu performance at Smalls with fellow Chicagoan Isaiah Collier. Today, Dayhuff plays in Collier's band, but here the roles are reversed: Collier joins her group alongside two pillars of the Chicago scene, percussionist Kahil El'Zabar and vocalist Dee Alexander. Together, they bring depth and fire to "Jaribu"—dedicated to bassist Jaribu Shahid.

Contact Ludovico Granvassu on All About Jazz.
I'm the Editor-in-Chief of All About Jazz Italia, host of Mondo Jazz on Radio Free Brooklyn and was once visited by Frank Zappa's ghost.... he was funny too.

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