John Blanton Archive: Edward Wilkerson and Kahil El Zabar at UndergroundFest 1982 UndergroundFest was founded in 1980 ``to showcase those artists that weren`t really getting enough visibility in other ways in Chicago-and in the world,`` says Kahil El`Zabar, the festival`s director. ``This music has a reputation with this city. People in other places would like to come to Chicago to hear this music like they can come to hear the blues in Chicago.`` Indeed. Chicago`s unique kind of avant-garde jazz has long been a major influence on the art form, even if opportunities to hear it here have usually been sporadic. To capitalize on the music`s international reputation, the first UndergroundFest appeared the week of the second Chicago Jazz Festival, as a ``festival after the festival.`` That first location was a huge loft at 14th Street and Michigan Avenue; capacity crowds showed up each night. Since then, UndergroundFest has moved from lofts near the Fulton Market area to huge Near South Side nightclubs. The music has sometimes been outstanding. A performance by composer-alto saxophonist Joseph Jarman`s octet, debuting new works at the 1981 festival, was a major jazz event of the decade. Other rewarding performers have included Lester Bowie`s Brass Fantasy, the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble and Eight Bold Souls. From the beginning, top figures in avant-garde jazz such as Jarman, Bowie, David Murray, Billy Bang and Charles Tyler have appeared at the UndergroundFest. - John Litwiler _______ FOLLOW LIPSapp Smooth Radio _______ FB: r-js/1wsLIZx / TW: r-js/1wsLDoS / Listen to LIPSapp Smooth Radio r-js/1dOIQ18 #jazz #blues #randb #mariahcarey #tonibraxton #tedeschitrucks #davekoz #boneyjames
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 12:47:35 +0000