Hyde Park Jazz Festival Announces 2017 Line Up
The 11th Annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival will present more than three-dozen free performances and programs on 11 stages across the neighborhood on September 23th-24th. The Festival continues its commissioning program with a world premiere commission to award winning flutist Nicole Mitchell who will bring three acclaimed musicians from Mali, Africa to Chicago for the World Premiere of the Bamako*Chicago Sound System project. In addition to the performance, the project convenes Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble with Malian artists Ballake Sissoko (kora), Fassery Diabate (balafon), Fatim Kouyate (vocals) for a series of programs in the Chicago Public Schools in partnership with the Ravinia Festival. The project represents a long time vision of Mitchell's to build a musical collaboration and exchange with Malian artists.
2017 Performance Line Up and Schedule
The 2017 Hyde Park Jazz Festival will feature performances from pioneering veterans and emerging talent. Major acts include Amina Claudine Myers in a rare solo performance (organ and piano) at the Hyde Park Union Church, as well as appearances by master drummer Andrew Cyrille in a duo setting with tenor saxophonist Bill McHenry at the International House. The brilliant trumpeter Jeremy Pelt will perform with his Quintet: Victor Gould (piano); Vicente Archer (bass); Jonathan Barber, (drums); Jacquelene Acevedo (percussion) on the Midway Plaisance, and a unique duo of Joe Locke and Warren Wolf will perform on vibraphone, marimba, and piano at the magnificent Rockefeller Chapel. Veteran Chicago tenor saxophonist Ari Brown will present his quartet with very special guest, tenor saxophonist/bass clarinetist David Murray. Chicago greats Willie Pickens
(piano) and Maggie Brown (vocalist) and will also present special programs, along with numerous emerging and veteran artists.
The Hyde Park Jazz Festival will celebrate the 100th birthday of Thelonious Monk with four special programs. In a year of several major centennials, the Festival will present three different musical responses to Monk's music. The Festival will also present a lecture by critically acclaimed scholar and Monk biographer Robin D.G. Kelley titled Monk at 100. Performances will include a solo concert by award winning Bay Area clarinetist Ben Goldberg; a quartet performance by celebrated Chicago vocalist Dee Alexander and her Monk and the Ladies ensemble featuring Tomeka Reid (cello), Marion Hayden (bass), and Gayellyn McKinney (drums); and a two piano Double Monk performance with pianists Jeremy Kahn and Steve Million with dancer Ariane Dolan.
2017 HYDE PARK JAZZ FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23
Wagner Stage, Midway
1:30-2:30 Makaya McCraven Group
3:45-4:45 Ari Brown Quartet featuring David Murray
6:15-7:15 Dee Alexander: Monk and the Ladies
8:30-9:30 Jeremy Pelt Quintet
West Stage, Midway
2:30-3:30 Ifficial Reggae Movement
5:00-6:00 Chicago AfroBeat Project
7:15-8:15 Majestic Gents and The NuBlu Band: Chicago Steppin'
9:30-10:30 DJ Sadie Woods
Logan Center for the Arts: Performance Hall
3:00-4:00 & 5:45-6:45 Nicole Mitchell and Ballake Sissoko: Bamako * Chicago Sound System
7:15-8:15 Geof Bradfield's Yes, and...Music for Nine Improvisers
9:30-10:30 Willie and Bethany Pickens plus Friends
Logan Center for the Arts: Penthouse
4:00-5:00 Grazyna Auguscik Group
6:30-7:30 Ben Goldberg: Learned From Thelonious Monk (solo)
Logan Center for the Arts: Screening Room
2:30-3:30 Robin D. G. Kelley: Monk at 100 (lecture)
4:00-5:00 Wall of Respect 50th Anniversary (panel discussion)
DuSable Museum
3:00-4:00 Dana Hall's Inner Dialogue: Sound and Semiosis (solo percussion and more)
4:30-5:30 Nick Mazzarella/Tomeka Reid Duo
Smart Museum
1:00-2:00 Jaimie Branch's Fly or Die
2:30-3:30 Katie Ernst: Twin Talk
International House
7:15-8:15 Double Monk: Jeremy Kahn & Steve Million with Ariane Dolan
9:30-10:30 Andrew Cyrille & Bill McHenry
Hyde Park Bank
4:00-5:00 Julius Tucker Trio
5:30-6:30 Dida Pelled Trio
Oriental Institute
2:30-3:30 Marlene Rosenberg/Scott Hesse: Duology
Little Black Pearl
3:00-4:00 Xavier Breaker and the Coalition
4:30-5:30 Alexis Lombre Quartet
Hyde Park Union Church
3:00-4:00 Isaiah Collier and the Chosen Few
5:00-6:00 Amina Claudine Myers (solo)
Rockefeller Chapel
11:00-midnight Joe Locke/Warren Wolf Duo
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
Wagner Stage, Midway
2:00-3:00 Maggie and Africa Brown: 2 Brown Sisters Swingin' Hyde Park
4:00-5:00 Henry Johnson Quintet
6:00-7:00 Yes We Can: the Songs of New Orleans
West Stage, Midway
3:00-4:00 Fat Babies
5:00-6:00 CALJE
Visit the official website hydeparkjazzfestival.org.
About the Hyde Park Jazz Festival
Co-produced with the Hyde Park Jazz Society, this popular two-day festival grows more ambitious each year, earning it recognition as a major jazz presenter and essential cultural event in Chicago. With the active support and commitment of local businesses, cultural and academic institutions, over 300 community volunteers, and over 20,000 enthusiastic audience members, the Hyde Park Jazz Festival provides a unique setting for diverse interests, new projects, and heralded favorites to come together.
The 11th annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival remains FREE to the public through the support of the University of Chicago, corporate sponsors, and individual donors. We invite a suggested $5 donation per person to help sustain the festival's future.