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Jason Moran and the Harlem Hellfighters
Nov 22, 2024 — 8:00 PM
Overview
James Reese Europe: From the Dancehall to the Battlefield
Jason Moran, “a startlingly gifted pianist with a relentless thirst for experimentation” (Los Angeles Times), shares his multimedia tribute to James Reese Europe. A bandleader, composer, organizer for Black musicians and World War I hero, Europe helped lay the groundwork for jazz in the early 20th century. Moran uses his distinct interpretational and compositional voice to connect Europe’s signature syncopated sound to the jazz legends who followed and the music of today.
Performers
Tarus Mateen
Bass
Darryl Harper
Flute and Clarinet
Logan Richardson
Alto Saxophone
Brian Settles
Tenor Saxophone
David Adewumi
Trumpet
Chris Bates
Trombone
Reginald Cyntje
Trombone
Jose Davila
Tuba
Kenwood Academy High School Marching Band
Gerald Powell
Conductor
Extras
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Sponsors & Partners
Media Partners
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council.
Funding for educational programs during the 2024/25 Season of SCP Jazz has been generously provided by Dan J. Epstein, Judith Guitelman and the Dan J. Epstein Family Foundation.
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Jazz pianist Jason Moran believes that his multimedia salute to the pioneering James Reese Europe evokes a level of emotionality that purely musical performances often don’t.
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Veterans Day this year coincides with the 105th anniversary of the death of James Reese Europe, the composer-bandleader who served in World War I with the U.S. Army's 369th Infantry Regiment. Known primarily for his jazz and ragtime works, Europe was once dubbed “the Martin Luther King Jr. of music.”
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Kenwood Academy music department chair and director of bands Gerald D. Powell talks about Kenwood’s decade of work with jazz great Jason Moran and what it has meant to him and his students.
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