Elevated Rail :: Ancient to the Future

Jazz may have been invented in New Orleans, but you could argue it didn’t take flight until settling in Chicago after the Great Migration. From there, it’s pretty easy to make a case that it didn’t fully achieve lift off until Sonny Blount’s arrival in the city in 1946 and subsequent name change(s). By the time Le Sony’r Ra was leading the Space Trio in ‘52, the entire dynamic of what could be considered Jazz was shifting. 

After he, then known as Sun Ra, moved the eternally-inspiring Arkestra to New York in ‘61, Jazz had gotten even more free – Ornette Coleman’s ‘The Shape of Jazz to Come’ was already 2 years old. Around this same time, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), was founded to push the form to well beyond any perceived limits by “nurturing, performing, and recording serious, original music.”

…and that’s where the “story” of this mix really begins – with the AACM and it’s expressed commitment to moving music, all music, forward in a way that honors the past. More succinctly, Ancient to the Future.  words / j berk

Elevated Rail :: Ancient to the Future

Artists / Provenance

Angel Bat Dawid – Enlightenment [Sun Ra] 4.13.19 @ Cafe Mustache, Chicago, IL
Angel Bat Dawid – vox / synthesizer

Jeff Parker & the New Breed – Executive Life 8.28.19 @ Constellation, Chicago, IL

Jeff Parker – guitar
Josh Johnson – alto saxophone / keyboards
Paul Bryan – bass
Makaya McCraven – drums

KVL – 8.22.2019 excerpt 8.22.19 @ Dorian’s, Chicago, IL

Quin Kirchner – percussion / samples
Daniel Van Duerm – keyboards
Matthew Lux – Fender VI

Ben Lamar Gay – Miss Nealie Burns 9.1.19 @ Von Freeman Pavilion, Chicago Jazz Festival

Ben Lamar Gay – cornet
Will Faber – guitar
Joshua Sirotiak – tuba
Tommaso Moretti – drums

Greg Ward’s Rogue Parade – The Contender 5.22.19 @ The Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL

Greg Ward – alto saxophone
Dave Miller – guitar
Matt Gold – guitar
Matt Ulery – bass
Quin Kirchner – drums

Rempis/Abrams/Ra + Baker – 5.16.2019 excerpt 5.16.19 @ Elastic Arts, Chicago, IL

Dave Rempis – sax
Joshua Abrams – double bass
Avreeayl Ra – percussion
Jim Baker – ARP synthesizer

Jaimie Branch’s Fly or Die – prayer for amerikkka pt. 1 & 2 5.6.19 @ Dorian’s, Chicago, IL [early show]

jaimie branch – trumpet / voice 
Lester St. Louis – cello
Jason Ajemian – double bass
Chad Taylor – percussion
Marvin Tate – vox

The Art Ensemble of Chicago – We Are On the Edge 3.24.19 @ Tennessee Theatre, Knoxville, TN

Roscoe Mitchell – woodwinds
Famodou Don Moye – drums / percussion
Moor Mother – voice
Rodolfo Cordova-Lebron – vox
Hugh Ragin – trumpet
Christina Wheeler – electronics
Jean Cook – violin 
Edward Yoon Kwon – viola 
Tomeka Reid – cello 
Silvia Bolognesi – bass 
Jaribu Shahid – bass
Junius Paul – bass 
Enoch Williamson – percussion
Roberta Michel – flute
William Lang – trombone

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