SEPTEMBER 14 – 17
Famed jazz saxophonist, composer, producer and visionary, Ernest Dawkins, was twice named “Chicagoan of the Year” by the Chicago Tribune. He has been awarded the State of Illinois Governor’s Fellowship award twice, and in 2008, he received a Governor’s International Grant.
However, the grant that means the most to Chicago and especially Englewood residents is the “Meet the Composers Round VII New Residencies” Grant, which Dawkins received in 2000. With that grant, Dawkins, an Englewood resident, founded the Live the Spirit Residency, which produces an after-school jazz program for youth and, most importantly, the Englewood Jazz Festival
This year as in every year for the last 23 years, the Englewood Jazz Festival will be held in Chicago’s Hamilton Park. One Englewood resident describes the annual Fest as “a tranquil atmosphere for creative expression.” Another said, “being a jazz lover, I enjoyed it immensely, and I’m looking forward to this year’s.” However, as all agree, you don’t have to be a jazz lover to have a great time at the Englewood Jazz Fest.
This year, jazz and music lovers will have an even better time, with one additional day of festival activities – four days instead of three—and a fantastic line-up.
On Wednesday, the Fest begins with a round table discussion at 5 pm with Great Lakes Black Arts presenters.
This sure-to-be intriguing discussion will be followed by “Tim Black Blacker than Black,” commissioned by the Jazz Institute of Chicago to pay tribute to the late Timuel Black, Chicago activist and historian. The piece was composed by Ernest Dawkins and will be performed by Ernest Dawkins, with Dee Alexander. A surprisingly, refreshing twist is the hip-hop orientation of this piece, with a younger ensemble, including a rapper, mixer, and deejay.
In addition to Tim Black, Blacker than
Black, two other compositions were
commissioned within the same year.
Redefining Frederick Douglass was
commissioned by Chamber Music America, and Refound C o n n e c t i o n s made possible with the support of Jazz Road, a national initiative of South Arts, which is funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation with additional support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Makaya McCayven, prolific drummer, composer, and producer will highlight Thursday’s festivities. McCayven is co-founder of Cold Duck Complex, a jazz hip-hop band, and he was the winner in the “Rising Star” categories of best producer and best drummer of the year In DownBeat’s 2020 Critics Poll.
Endea Owens will grace the festival stage on Friday. This vibrant, up and coming bassist has toured and performed with Jennifer Holliday among others and is the House Bassist for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Saturday’s menu looks incredibly delightful, and Saturday’s entertainment will be held outdoors, come rain or shine. “ If it does happen to rain, everything goes indoors, and only 300 people can be inside,” Mr. Dawkins says, which is why he advises everyone to be on time.
On time means 11 am Saturday morning, when Ernest Dawkins and the Young Masters will kick things off. The four superbly talented young Dawkins’ proteges who comprise the Young Masters, together with Dawkins and under his direction, have recorded four CDs.
Theodis Rogers comes on at 12:15 pm. This dynamic jazz pianist/conductor has performed internationally as a jazz
pianist, and is also noted for theater productions such as Ain’t Misbehaving and Jesus Christ Superstar. He’s appeared in motion pictures as a performer and has composed and
arranged music for film.
Reggie Nicholson, about whom the L.A. Times has said, “Drummer Reggie Nicholson not only provided the glue
that held the various moods together but soloed with the same purpose and tonal consciousness as the front line,” will fill the 1:30 pm slot.
At 3 pm, you’re in for a special treat when Ernest Dawkins performs his acclaimed Refound Connections, featuring Al Strong and Dee Alexander.
Al Strong is a twice Grammy Nominated trumpet player, composer, recording artist, and educator. A cultural innovator, he is the co-founder of the “Art of Cool Project,” which spawned the original “Art of Cool Music Festival” in Durham, N.C., and the “stArt of Cool Youth Summer Camp.”
Dee Alexander’s talents span every music genre, from Gospel to R&B; from Blues to Neo-Soul. Yet, her true heart and soul are experienced in their purest form through her performance of jazz music. Not only does she mesmerize audiences with her soft, sultry vocalization of a traditional ballad, but she delivers a contemporary JazzFunk groove in her incomparable style. Dee was voted Best Singer by Chicago Magazine, “Jazz Entertainer of the
Year” at the Chicago Music Awards twice and received the Chicago Tribune “Chicagoan of the Year in Jazz” Award.
Dawkins explains that he composed “Refound Connections” because he was not able to connect with his
southern roots as a child. When he was a toddler, fourteenyear-old Emmett Till was murdered while visiting relatives in Mississippi. “After that,” Dawkins explains, “Parents wouldn’t let their children visit their relatives in the South.” He tells us that “Refound Connections,” is an expression of his reconnecting with his southern heritage.
Each year, Live the Spirit Residency presents the Spirit of Jazz Award to a worthy recipient. That presentation will take place at 4:15 pm. This year’s recipients are Kate Dumbleton, Executive and Artistic Director of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival, Yvette Moyo, CEO, the Quarry Event and Entertainment Center and Founder of Real Men Charities, Inc. and Margaret Murphy-Webb, Executive Director of the South Side Jazz Coalition.
The last but not least highlight of the Englewood Jazz Fest will be the performance of the great Kenny Garrett, whose illustrious career includes hallmark stints with Miles
Davis, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Donald Byrd, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, and the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Need we say more?
Twenty-two previous Englewood Jazz Festivals may seem like hard acts to follow, but they keep getting better
and better. And this, the twenty-third, will surely be a testament to the fact that the Englewood Jazz Festival is
not only the oldest music festival in Chicago, it is also by far the best.
Said to be one of the world’s premier saxophonists and composers, Ernest Dawkins led several ensembles,
including the New Horizons Ensemble, Aesop Quartet, Chicago Trio, Live the Spirit Big Band, and the Chicago 12.
He has recorded, collaborated on, and curated dozens of records. His publishing companies Dawk Music and Live the Spirit Publishing together have over fifteen releases to date. He has created commissioned works for the Black Metropolis Research Consortium, Sons d’Hiver Festival, Banlieues Blues Festival, the Jazz Institute of Chicago, and the King Arts Complex of Columbus Ohio.
An active member in the local arts community and former Chairman of the Association for the Advancement
of Creative Musicians (AACM), Dawkins created the Englewood Jazz Festival to highlight the rich cultural heritage of Englewood and to work with other organizations to increase Englewood’s own musical resources. The Jazz Fest has enriched a community often beset by gang violence, connecting with musicians across the world, from London to South Africa to Sardinia, and remains a free public event every fall in Hamilton Park.
The Live the Spirit Residency Big Band has nourished and mentored such outstanding talents as Nicole Mitchell,
Greg Ward, Corey Wilkes, Maurice Brown, Isaiah Spencer, Junius Paul, Isaiah and Jeremiah Collier, Alexis Lombre, and Devin Shaw. Dawson also teaches members in their 70’s, free of charge, who are interested in learning the nomenclature and mechanics of jazz and improvisation..
Dawkins’ vision and determination have kept the festival alive and growing for twenty-three years. The 23rd Annual Englewood Jazz Festival is an event you will not want to miss.
