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25th Annual
Englewood Jazz Festival
This project is partly supported by a CityArts Grants from The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events
Thursday-Saturday, September 19-21, 2024
HAMILTON PARK, 513 W 72nd St, Chicago, IL
Featuring
Nicole Mitchell, Jeremiah Collier, Corey Wilkes,
Junius Paul, Greg Ward, The Young Masters &
ENCORE PERFORMANCE OF PAUL ROBESON: MAN OF THE PEOPLE
Young Masters
Saturday, September 21
The Young Masters,
and an encore performance of
Paul Robeson: Man of The People.
Greg Ward
Saturday, September 21
Corey Wilkes
Saturday, September 21
Jeremiah Collier
Saturday, September 21
Nicole Mitchell
Friday, September 20
Junius Paul
Thursday, September 19
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Jahari Stampley
Thursday, September 19
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Nicole M. Mitchell is an award-winning creative flutist, composer, bandleader and educator. She is perhaps best known for her work as a flutist, having developed a unique improvisational language and having been repeatedly awarded “Top Flutist of the Year” by Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll and the Jazz Journalists Association (2010-2022). Mitchell initially emerged from Chicago’s innovative music scene in the late 90s. She started with Maia and Shanta Nurullah in Samana (the AACM’s first all-woman ensemble) and as a member of the David Boykin EXPANSE. Her music celebrates contemporary African American culture. She is the founder of Black Earth Ensemble, Black Earth Strings, Sonic Projections and Ice Crystal, and she composes for contemporary ensembles of varied instrumentation and size, while incorporating improvisation and a wide aesthetic expression. The former first woman president of Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, Mitchell celebrates endless possibility by “creating visionary worlds through music that bridge the familiar with the unknown.”
 

Jeremiah Collier has been playing a full set of drums since the early age of two. He is a born drummer. Jeremiah Collier has been turning heads in Chicago since his parents encouraged him to learn to read and play  fluently. Jeremiah Collier attended Chi Arts high school, Ernest Dawkins and the Young Masters and the Jazz Institute of Chicago and has been playing around the Chicagoland and Internationally  for the past 11 years. Jeremiah Collier has played with a plethora of artists such as Ernest Dawkins, , Ari Brown, Robert Irving III, Bobby Watson, Denise Thimes, Antonio Hart, Don Braden, (the late great) Mr. Willie Pickens and many more. Jeremiah Collier has also   toured and worked with Kamasi Washington and is currently touring with NWEA Jazz Master Stanley Clarke and has been in the seat for 6 years with him. Jeremiah Collier, who is also a band leader of his own collective called JCANDTHEREUPBAND which is known throughout the globe and are now working on an Album to present to the world as well. Jeremiah has been a member of the “Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz All Star Peer-to-Peer Group” which was composed of the five of the best high school student musicians around the country. This group had toured from State to state teaching and playing. Jeremiah Collier, has performed at the Kennedy Center with the Thelonious Monk Institute peer to peer group which is now known as the Hancock Institute for their fifty anniversary. Jeremiah Collier, has performed in multiple Jazz Festivals throughout the Chicagoland area such as the Hyde Park Jazz Festivals, Chicago Jazz Festivals, Englewood Jazz Festivals and the 51st Jazz Festivals also including International Jazz Festivals.

Corey Wilkes is an award-winning, highly acclaimed musician, producer, actor, and composer who has captivated audiences around the world with his mesmerizing trumpet playing and unique musical vision. Beginning his musical journey at a young age, he was awarded a full scholarship to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. After graduating, he quickly became an in-demand touring and recording artist, collaborating with some of the biggest names in jazz and beyond, including, The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Roy Hargrove, James Carter, Kahil El Zabar, Makaya McCraven, Jennifer Hudson, Neneh Cherry, Dr. Lonnie Smith and David Sanborn. In addition to his music career, Wilkes has also made a name for himself as an actor. He appeared on-screen and contributed to the soundtrack of the hit TV show Empire for six seasons. Most recently, in 2024, he was featured with his band on Showtime’s original TV series The Chi. Wilkes’ talents as a composer were also recognized when he won an Emmy Award for his film score for the documentary Ida B. Wells. The documentary, which explores the life and legacy of the civil rights icon, won an award in 2021 for Outstanding Achievement for Documentary Program – Historical. Wilkes’ contributions to the project were praised for capturing the spirit and emotions of the film’s subject matter. Wilkes is also known as an electro-acoustic soul artist, blending jazz, electronic music, and soulful vocals in his solo projects. His collaborations extend beyond the world of music. He has worked with visual artists such as Theaster Gates, Nick Cave, Lucy Slivinski, and Rashid Johnson, creating multidisciplinary performances that blend music, art, and culture. He has also worked with renowned house music DJs such as Osunlade, Ron Trent, Jamie Principle, and Vick Lavender, fusing jazz with electronic and house music.

Junius Paul is an internationally recognized composer, bandleader, and acoustic and electric bassist born and raised in the Chicago area. He has shown himself to be a highly versatile bassist, with performance and/or recording credits that include The Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, Famoudou Don Moye Sun Percussion Summit, ensembles led by Roscoe Mitchell, Kahil El’Zabar, Makaya McCraven, The Fred Anderson Trio, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Vincent Davis & Percussion Plus, Dee Alexander, The Curtis Fuller Quintet, Oliver Lake, Willie Pickens, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Marquis Hill, KRS-One, and Donald Byrd, among others.
Greg Ward is a saxophonist and composer that was born in Peoria, IL. Currently based in Chicago, Ward has had the opportunity to perform and record with a varied group of artists like Prefuse 73, Lupe Fiasco, Tortoise, William Parker, Makaya McCraven, Linda Oh, and Mike Reed. As a bandleader, Ward has produced 6 recordings including Fitted Shards: South Side Story, Phonic Juggernaut, Touch My Beloved’s Thought, Rogue Parade: Stomping Off From Greenwood, Fitted Shards: High Alert, and Rogue Parade: Dion’s Quest. As a composer, he has also received commissions from the Jazz Gallery in NYC, the Chicago Jazz Institute, the City of Chicago’s Made In Chicago: World Class Jazz Series, Peoria Ballet Company, the Jazz Coalition, and the B’Town Jazz Festival. He has also been awarded the New Music USA Van Lier Fellowship in 2012 and DCASE IAP grants in 2017 and 2018. Ward maintains an active international touring schedule with various ensembles and has been a member of faculty of the Jacob School of Music at Indiana University as Assistant Professor of Jazz Saxophone since 2019.
 

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Jahari Stampley is a Chicago-born pianist who began playing the piano at the age of 14. Within two years of exploring the instrument, he began winning various competitions including Best High School Jazz Soloist Award and the National YoungArts Competition. By the age of 18 years old, he was recognized and followed by many world-renowned musicians including Yebba Smith, Jill Scott, Robert Glasper, Cory Henry, Jacob Collier, Stanley Clarke, and Derrick Hodge, among others. Jahari has toured with Stanley Clarke and is featured on Derrick Hodge’s “Color of Noise” album. 

Ernest Dawkins is a saxophonist and composer, whose life goal is for his music and compositions to reflect the evolving collective cultural memory of the African-American jazz aesthetic. His four decades of work as a professional artist, educator, and community-based organizer are widely recognized for shaping the contemporary cultural landscape of Chicago and beyond. He is the founder and executive director of Live the Spirit Residency and past Chairman of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Commissions by the Jazz Institute of Chicago (Tim Black Blacker Than Black) and South Arts (Refound Connections) were both premiered in 2022. Other commissions include the Old Town School of Folk Music, the Black Metropolis Research Consortium, Sant’Anna Arresi Jazz Festival, Sons d’Hiver Festival, Banliues Bleues Festival, Meet the Composers, and the King Arts Complex of Columbus Ohio. He is the leader and founder of several ensembles, most notably the New Horizons Ensemble, Aesop Quartet, Chicago Trio, Live the Spirit Big Band, and the Chicago 12. Dawkins has recorded numerous CDs and his publishing company, Dawk Music, has seventeen releases to date.

Lasana D. Kazembe, Ph.D. is an Emmy-nominated poet, educator, and critical Black scholar whose creative work examines the ‘lost-found’ sacred epistemologies of Africana peoples and situates them as sites of memory. Dr. Kazembe’s recent creative projects include The Voodoo of Hell’s Half-Acre: The Travelin’ Genius of Richard Wright: A Blues Poetry Opera and Firedance: Body, Word + Sound as Prism. Dr. Kazembe is a professor of Education and Africana Studies at IU Indiana and recently completed a two-year stint as the Inaugural Artist-in-Residence at The Cabaret.

Thursday, September 19, 2024
(indoors - Fieldhouse)
6:00 pm: Junius Paul
7:00 pm: Jahari Stampley

Friday, September 20, 2024
(indoors - Fieldhouse)
6:00 pm: Jeremiah Collier - JC and the REUP
7:00 pm: Nicole Mitchell

Saturday, September 21, 2024
(outdoors)
12:00 to 1:00 pm
Panel Discussion:
Black South Side Jazz Presenters

1:00 to 2:00 pm: The Young Masters
Under the direction of Ernest Dawkins

2:15 to 3:15 pm
Corey Wilkes

3:30 to to 4:30 pm
Greg Ward

4:30 pm: Spirit of Jazz Award

4:45 to 6:00 pm
Encore of Paul Robeson: Man of the People


Support Englewood Jazz Festival &nbsp&nbsp

Englewood Jazz Festival has the full support of the Englewood community including State Senator Mattie Hunter, State Representative Sonya Harper, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, and the City Arts program of the Department of Cultural Affairs. Our Englewood Jazz Festival is generally generously supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.

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