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Symphony Center 2011-2012 Jazz Line-Up 10-Concert Jazz Series Brings Jazz’s Biggest Names to Chicago
Symphony Center 2011-2012 Jazz Line-Up 10-Concert Jazz Series Brings Jazz’s Biggest Names to Chicago
Date Posted: September 12 2011
Written By: Chicago Jazz
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The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association’s Symphony Center Presents Jazz series boasts one of the most comprehensive, innovative, and widely heralded jazz series in the country. The complete lineup for the 2011-2012 Symphony Center Presents Jazz season includes living legends and today’s top talent presented on 10 Friday nights at 8 p.m. from October through June.
The Jazz series also heavily focuses on piano throughout the season, in anticipation of the Keys to the City Piano Festival in May and June 2012. This season-ending celebration of the keyboard spotlights the piano in a variety of repertoire from classical to jazz and features concerts, symposia, and more.
Though not a part of the Symphony Center Presents Jazz Series, Grammy Award-winner Esperanza Spalding returns to Symphony Center on October 7, with her Chamber Music Society project. This dynamic venture weaves Spalding’s vocal and instrumental virtuosity through elements of jazz and classical music in strikingly unique arrangements. The New York Times calls Spalding “a smart, surefooted bassist and frolicsome, irrepressible singer.”
The actual jazz series kicks off on Friday, October 21 with the trio of Keith Jarrett on piano, Gary Peacock on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums. Collaborators for over 25 years, this trio makes their first Symphony Center appearance together since 2008. This concert features collaborative jazz at its finest and begins the countdown to the 2012 Keys to the City Piano Festival.
On Friday, November 11, jazz guitar innovator and composer John Scofield performs his signature fusion of jazz, funk, and R&B joined by pianist Mulgrew Miller, bassist Ben Street, and drummer Greg Hutcherson. Scofield, who gained prominence as a guitarist and composer during his time with Miles Davis from 1982–1985, is an acclaimed leader and collaborator with some of today’s top artists, including Charlie Haden, Mavis Staples, and Jack DeJohnette. Saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, son of the legendary John Coltrane, makes his debut as a leader of his own quartet at Symphony Center. Coltrane is a versatile artist whose musical interests include everything from straight-up jazz to experimental hip-hop and electronic music. His most recent album as a leader was 2009’s Blending Times.
Percussion legend Roy Haynes, who recently turned 86, brings his Fountain of Youth Band—Jaleel Shaw (tenor saxophone), Martin Bejerano (piano), and David Wong (bass)—to Symphony Center with special guest Roy Hargrove on trumpet on Friday, December 9. One of the most recorded drummers of all time, Haynes is known for his exuberant drumming style, which has earned him the nickname “Snap Crackle.” He has collaborated with some of the world’s greatest jazz musicians, including Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane. An eclectic and versatile trumpeter, Hargrove has won two Grammy Awards in two different genres and is known for his innovative explorations in jazz, funk, soul, R&B, and hip-hop. Opening the program is pianist Reginald Robinson, a Chicago native who was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow (popularly known as the “genius grant”) in 2004. Robinson brings his contemporary spin on the classic ragtime genre for his debut appearance on the Symphony Center Presents Jazz series.
There are 10 concerts scheduled as part of the Symphony Center Presents jazz line-up. The remaining seven concerts are listed in the Jazz Calendar, and will be presented in detail next issue.
Subscription and Ticket information:
Subscriptions for the 2011-2012 Symphony Center Presents Jazz series are currently available, offering savings of up to 32 percent off regular single ticket prices and other benefits. Subscriptions may be purchased or renewed by any of five methods: online, by phone, by fax, by mail, or in person at the box office.
For single tickets for Jazz series concerts contact CSO ticketing services at 312-294-3000 or 800-223-7114, Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday from 11 am to 3 pm; or visit the CSO’s website at cso.org. Symphony Center is located at 220 S. Michigan Ave. in Chicago.
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