Nicole Mitchell

I heard this music once before, in its Chicago debut at the Chicago Cultural Center. I left the performance in a musically altered state, having been transfixed and transported by Nicole Mitchell’s tribute to Octavia Butler, entitled Xenogenesis Suite. The music was expansive, evocative, and perhaps most of all to my ears, a departure from her earlier work stylistically. While it retained her signature flute playing, the compositions were radically different from anything else I had heard from Nicole Mitchell.

So it was with eager anticipation that I awaited the arrival of this album, as I was curious how the power of the live performance of the music would translate to the recorded medium. Having listened to it a dozen plus times since it arrived, I can say with confidence that it makes the transition beautifully, retaining its connotative power.

One of the highest compliments I can pay to this recording is that I always listen to it from beginning to end, and that I don’t really distinguish between separate tracks. It really is a suite in the sense of a continuous flow of feeling and atmosphere that pervades the album. It’s a testament both to Nicole Mitchell’s vision, as well as to her able band’s execution. This is a real, working band, and it shows.

So what does the music sound like? My best description would be otherworldly – there are rhythmically propulsive trance inducing ostinati, glossolalic vocal slurs and murmurs, a strong sense of ensemble and a lack of solos, space imparted by contrasting uses of musical density and silence, and intense dynamic changes. It’s cinematically evocative, and as such extremely effective in creating a musical version of the science fiction fantasy inspired by the work of Octavia Butler.

I think the next step for me is to read Octavia Butler so I can put the music in perspective with its inspired text. I'm looking forward to coming back to the album after I've done so.

George Lewis, Nicole Mitchell, and Douglas Ewart convened to discuss the AACM and its history, and to play a brief concert. While the backdrop of George Lewis' imminent book release loomed large (and in fact loomed in the lobby, as the University of Chicago Press arrived to hock them post show), it wasn't the explicit topic or focus of the discussion.

The panel was lightly moderated by a student from the Art Institute of Chicago, who worked to put the event together under the auspices of their Masters of Arts in Arts Administration and Policy program. As a result, the ostensible topic was the organizational aspects of the AACM, although the conversation didn't follow very specific topics. Having recently finished George Lewis' book, there wasn't anything particularly revelatory in the panel, although there were several good laughs and moments of clarity from each panel member.

The panel lasted about an hour, and it was followed by a trio performance of about a half an hour. Nicole Mitchell brought the two extreme ends of her flute arsenal, her piccolo and her bass flute, Douglas Ewart played bass clarinet, didgeridoo, and piccolo, and George Lewis played trombone and laptop.

It struck me while listening to George Lewis process both his own instrument and the outputs of the other two musicians on stage that what he is not content with just creating the musical input, he also wants to create the room and acoustic space the music happens in. That is to say that when we play acoustic instruments, the walls and room provide basic acoustic treatments of reverb and space. George Lewis has the ability to augment those basic properties, but also take the acoustic space any other number of places.

It was basically one long improvisation, and to show that the AACM has still got it, there were a number of people who got up and left during the proceedings. Going on 45 years later, they still make many people visibly uncomfortable with their musical explorations.

A very nice event put on at the Cultural Center here in Chicago. I encourage any New Yorkers to check out the New York event happening May 9th that also features a great panel and a fantastic trio.

I will be there and will report back:

Chicago Cultural Center Presents George Lewis

Tuesday, April 15, 4:15 - 5:45pm
Chicago Cultural Center, Cassidy Theater
78 E. Washington Street., Chicago
Free

George Lewis: Composer, Musician and Author of "A Power Stronger Than Itself: A History of the AACM" talks about the rich history of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, an organization founded in Chicago in 1965. He will be joined by Nicole Mitchell and Douglas Ewart, the current leaders of the AACM for the discussion. The three musicians will also perform together. An event co-produced by the Masters of Arts Administration and Policy Department at the School of the Art Institute and the Chicago Cultural Center.

George Lewis, Edwin H. Case Professor of Music at Columbia University. He has taught at UC San Diego, Mills College, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Simon Fraser University's Contemporary Arts Summer Institute. He has served as music curator for the Kitchen in New York, and has collaborated in the "Interarts Inquiry" and "Integrative Studies Roundtable" at the Center for Black Music Research (Chicago). A member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) since 1971, Lewis studied composition with Muhal Richard Abrams at the AACM School of Music, and trombone with Dean Hey. An active composer, improvisor, performer and computer/installation artist, Lewis has explored electronic and computer music, computer-based multimedia installations, text-sound works, and notated forms.

His artistic work is documented in over 120 recordings and has been awarded by a 2002 MacArthur Fellowship, 1999 Cal Arts/Alpert Award in the Arts, and numerous fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. His oral history is archived in Yale University's collection of "Major Figures in American Music," and his published articles on music, experimental video, visual art, and cultural studies have appeared in numerous scholarly journals and edited volumes.

Nicole Mitchell convened an expanded version of her Black Earth Ensemble, for this occasion called the Black Earth Orchestra, last night at Millennium Park for a tribute to the late great Alice Coltrane. Featuring a stellar lineup of local musicians, she also brought in Myra Melford on piano and harmonium, Matana Roberts on alto sax, and Maia on harp. The instrumentation of the local musicians included two violinists, two flutes in addition to Ms. Mitchell's, trumpet, tenor sax, bass and cello, a vocalist, a drummer and a percussionist.

Nicole named the concert Many Paths to the Sea, and all of the music was brand new compositions for this one time show. It wasn't a tribute where the artist's music is played repertory style; instead, Nicole drew from the inspiration of Alice Coltrane and also from some of the same areas that inspired Mrs. Coltrane, such as her spiritual practices.

In front of a large crowd at the park (I'd estimate somewhere in the realm of 5,000 in attendance), the band opened up with what I'd call a structured free improvisation. There was definitely free improvising going on, but I could see Nicole leading and there was a sense of arc, entrances and exits by various instruments, and it ended in a very clear manner.

A bunch of people got up and left during this portion. A mini-exodus. Amongst the things I heard uttered:

"Are they just warming up or is this supposed to be music?"

"You've got to be kidding me, this isn't serious music."

"They should be ashamed of themselves for playing like that in front of people."

It should be made clear that lots of tourists come to these Millennium Park shows completely unaware of what they're getting themselves into. I oftentimes wonder what they imagine when they hear about a "jazz concert": did they think Benny Goodman would be there to move them with swing? Were they expecting Bill Evans to caress them with his melodic lyricism? Maybe they were expecting Charlie Parker to rise from the dead and delight them with his bebop virtuosity?

It's a shame that some people have such a low tolerance for risk, and such small reserves of patience in their music listening habits. If they stuck around they would have heard a little bit of something for everyone.

In any case, people left, but many, many more remained.

From there Nicole unleashed a tour de force of music, combining complex composed arrangements with incredible playing from all the members of the band. Myra Melford did some time on harmonium, fitting in a tribute to Alice Coltrane. If I had to identify an element of the music that drew from the well of Mrs. Coltrane's sound it would be the groove and sense of trance and drone. There were some heavy grooves laid down by bassist Josh Abrams and cellist Tomeka Reid, with Marcus Evans on drums and Avreeayl Ra on percussion embellishing and aiding the groove.

There were pieces that featured the two violins and three flutes featured that displayed Nicole's classical influences, and I think it was great for her to have flutes to write for. She so often sounds like more than one flute on her own, so I think it allowed her to flesh out her ideas of the possibilities for the instrument.

Some personal highlights included a fantastic piano solo by Myra Melford about halfway into the show, and some intense sax solos from David Boykin and Matana Roberts, who complimented each other so well in style and presence.

All said and done it was an hour and a half straight of music from the Black Earth Orchestra. I don't know if Nicole has considered doing so, but if she hasn't I'll be the first to say that she should listen to the tapes and release this live recording if it holds up to repeated listens (which I think it will).

Next week in Millennium Park we have Muhal Richard Abrams playing a solo set, opposite ragtime wiz Reginald Robinson playing a set. Should be an interesting juxtaposition.

Until next time....

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing the Craig Taborn Trio at the Velvet Lounge. This was the second night of a two night run at the venue, and only the third performance by this particular lineup as far as I know, the first one occurring as part of the first annual Umbrella Music festival that happened last fall.

The lineup consisted of Craig Taborn on piano (a beautiful baby grand, a rare sight at the Velvet - I'm told Mike Reed was responsible for this - nice touch, Mike), Josh Abrams on bass, Mike Reed on drums, and for the second set only last night, a special and unexpected treat of Nicole Mitchell on flute.

As far as I could tell, insofar as there was no sheet music on stage or tunes called, the music was entirely improvised. If they were playing Mr. Taborn's music, I wouldn't have known anyway since I am unfortunately unfamiliar with his own work as a leader. I only know of his playing through his work with Roscoe Mitchell. Maybe someone could help me remedy that situation by recommending a recording of his.

When three patently patient musicians such as these three convene, the music can sometimes take a while to pick up, and I would say that was the case last night. The first set came to a nice simmer about halfway through, and I was consistently impressed by the sensitive use of dynamics by the group. They had no problem improvising at the level of a whisper or a roar, and their interplay displayed an ethic of close listening. Particularly, I found it compelling the extent to which each of the individual members felt comfortable leading, following, reacting, or acting entirely individually, which led to a wide array of improvisations.

Craig Taborn is a fantastic pianist who covers a lot of ground in the course of one concert. His technique is obviously superb and he references myriad genres and stylistic flourishes with a sense of nonchalance. He found two great partners in his musical endeavor in Josh Abrams, one of my favorite, dare I say up and coming,  bassists in Chicago. I don't know if he should be up and coming because in my mind he's already arrived, performing with the likes of Fred Anderson , Nicole Mitchell, Jeff Parker, and many others, in addition to his diverse musical practices with Prefuse 73 and Town & Country. Mike Reed is a member of the aforementioned Umbrella Music group, a tireless advocate and organizer in addition to his excellent drumming and musicianship.

The second set saw the band expand to a quartet with the addition of the definitely-arrived Nicole Mitchell. It was great to see Nicole thrown into the mix here. Her rapport with Craig Taborn was instant, and I would love to see them perform as a duo. Their ideas seemed to meld and compliment immediately, as they took turns leading, following, and generally participating in the music being made.

Nicole's integration of her voice into her flute playing is unparalleled in my listening experiences in this music. She will be singing at one moment and then bring her flute to her mouth and pick up right where the flute playing led off. Sometimes the singing comes almost to a yell (with an excellent sense of pitch, might I add) that brings a sense of catharsis to the proceedings. Who here hasn't wanted to scream out on occasion when listening to some stirring improvisations?

This quartet created some downright otherworldly sounds, and utilized a sense of juxtaposition and contrast throughout the set. At one point, Josh Abrams and Mike Reed held down a minimal groove while Ms. Mitchell and Mr. Taborn spiraled over the top. It was truly sublime music. If the first set simmered, the second set certainly boiled over.

The proceedings were being recorded, I assume for commercial release. I hope that does indeed happen so I can hear what else this group did the night before, and relive some of the thrilling music made last night.