Composer, bandleader and flutist Nicole Mitchell isn't quite a household name in jazz circles outside Chicago, but there's not a more talented flute player--or, for that matter, composer, or large-ensemble bandleader--working in improvised music today. It's not surprising she's a co-president of the Association for Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), the Chicago collective associated with Windy City improv greats like the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Muhal Richard Abrams and Henry Threadgill, because her own work is a direct continuation of the Afrocentric, roots-inspired but courageously experimental and warmly humanistic music of those artists.
AAJ Contributing Editor Paul Olson spoke with Mitchell recently, and this long overdue interview covers her various recorded ensembles as well as a number of projects that have yet to be documented.
Check out Nicole Mitchell: Flute, Healing and Wanting the Best at AAJ today!
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