On February 28th Dave Douglas and Nmad will appear at the Chicago Cultural Center. Here's what Dave has to say about this new band: "This is a really new and wonderful group of players, and I'm having a blast writing for the unique combination of instruments and outlooks. I think people who enjoyed Charms of the Night Sky and Tiny Bell Trio will find something they love here, and will be really turned on to hear these new players. I'm especially excited by the way this band can play so lyrically, but turn on the drive at a moment's notice. I'm looking forward to these gigs."

Partially inspired by Douglas' love of world folk music, Nomad also carries the spirit of jazz that informs all of Dave's music. The recording is a profound and playful mix that veers between the solemnity of solitary contemplation and the drunken debauchery of ecstatic celebration.

For the past half decade Dave Douglas has repeatedly been named trumpeter, composer, and jazz artist of the year by such organizations as the New York Jazz Awards, Down Beat, Jazz Times, Jazziz, and the Italian Jazz Critics' Society.

Chicago Jazz Ensemble

in Residence at Columbia College Chicago since 1965

A Message from Artistic Director, Jon Faddis

Thank you for welcoming me as the new Artistic Director of the Chicago Jazz Ensemble and for making me feel at home in Chicago.  I am honored and delighted, and I look forward to meeting more of this city's wonderful people and forging bridges among communities and musical styles. 

I personally also wish to thank Bill Dobbins, Joe Lovano, and Lenny Niehaus for all of their hard work and leadership with the CJE during the 2003-2004 season.  It is my hope that we'll be able to have each of them return to guest with the CJE in future seasons; they are remarkable musicians and people, and I am glad they are colleagues and friends.

We kick off the Sixth American Heritage Series, Sunday, February 13 with a Blues inspired Jazz concert  featuring Legendary bluesman Lonnie Brooks.  The show  also highlights new arrangements by the much-loved Frank Foster.

Your support and suggestions are valued, especially as we honor nearly four decades of excellent Jazz at Columbia College Chicago and the legacy of William Russo, and as we make special plans to celebrate the CJE's 40th anniversary season in 2005-2006.

Again, my heartfelt welcome and thanks! 
Jon Faddis, Artistic Director of the Chicago Jazz Ensemble

The First with Artistic Director Jon Faddis

The Chicago Jazz Ensemble^TM (CJE) announced today that it will kick off its Sixth American Heritage Jazz Series Sunday, February 13, 2005, at the Field Museum with an innovative jazz inspired blues concert featuring legendary blues guitarist Lonnie Brooks. This year's celebration "The Roots of Chicago Jazz" features four programs representing the evolution of jazz in Chicago.

Born Lee Baker Jr. in Dubuisson, Louisiana, Lonnie learned to play the blues from his banjo-picking grandfather. By the time he was 22, Brooks owned a guitar and was seen strumming on his porch in Port Arthur, Texas by zydeco pioneer Clifton Chenier, who offered the youngster a job. By 1957 Brooks had become a regional R&B star in his own right recording singles for Goldband under the name Guitar Junior. Brooks met Sam Cooke in Atlanta in 1959, and the two became fast friends. Together they went to Chicago, where Brooks fell in love with Chicago blues. Soon, his own potent mixture of Louisiana swamp R&B, Chicago blues, proto-rock and soul had people taking notice. He changed his name to Lonnie Brooks (there was already a Guitar Junior in Chicago) and the rest is history.  From headlining the 13th Annual Chicago Blues Festival, a month-long European tour, a guest spot on the nationally syndicated NPR quiz show, Whad'ya Know?, and a nationwide tour, Brooks continues to create vibrant, emotionally charged music.

"Though Barber may never attain the mass adoration lavished upon lesser talents, she towers over them because she consistently chooses art over entertainment, music over marketing, substance over style." -Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune
Photos by Andrea Canter

No matter how sublime the music, no matter how crowded the room, it seems there is always that one annoying table of chatter competing with the performers at even the most dignified jazz club. (Well, of course with the exception of the Village Vanguard where you wouldn't dare....) But only spellbound silence surrounded Patricia Barber and her quartet on opening night at Minneapolis' Dakota last week. And it's not her physical presence or vocal dynamics that command such respectful attention, but the sheer genius of her lyrics, her compositions, her reconstructions of what was once familiar, as well as that darkly seductive voice and daring spontaneity at the keyboard.