Discovery-Illinois, USA
We continue our Discovery series this week by heading to the state of Illinois (U.S.). Chicago, by far the state’s largest city, is one of the world’s largest cities and has a long and rich history of jazz. I am not going to even attempt to list all of what this city has meant to the history and the continued development of jazz. Even outside of Chicago, Illinois is home to some great jazz musicians and some wonderful colleges and universities that produce these musicians. Some of the names listed below you may already know, but I hope to focus on some that you may not.
As with our past locations, the goal is to introduce you to 3 new musicians each week from different parts of the world. My hope is you will find some new discoveries, support them by buying their albums and by attending their concerts if you are in their area (or they in yours). Another benefit is for you to hear new musicians and how they approach their instrument and jazz. You never know where you might find your next favorite line!
Chicago is home to a number of great jazz venues, but in this week’s post I wanted to highlight one of those venues because of what they are doing to support not only live Jazz-but supporting young jazz musicians. The Drake hotel in downtown Chicago (along with a partnership with the Jazz Institute of Chicago) features the NextGenJazz series, which is a 6-concert series every Thursday night in their Palm Court. I think it is great that a venue supports the next generation of Jazz musicians they way they do.
Like mentioned in previous series; Illinois has been the home to a number of jazz musicians known and unknown. Hopefully the musicians below are people you will start checking out (if you have not already).
Marquis Hill– trumpet
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L0Epsw4OmA&w=560&h=315]
Rajiv Halim– sax
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5vReu-ciTg&w=560&h=315]
Xavier Breaker– drums
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwDq_0BuNPc&w=420&h=315]
These are just a few of literally hundreds (if not thousands) of great jazz musicians you can find in and/or from Illinois. If you have checked out these musicians above, be sure to check out their websites and albums to support them. I would also highly encourage you to look up other great musicians from Illinois and see what this great state has to offer in terms of Jazz.
