University of Chicago Jazz X-tet takes “Steps Toward a New Direction”
Program features Chicago jazz standouts Fred Anderson and Khari B.

The University of Chicago Jazz X-tet ventures into new territory with its winter concert on Thursday, March 4, 2004 at 8:00 p.m. in Fulton Recital Hall under the direction of Mwata Bowden.

The sixteen-member ensemble will feature compositions by some of Chicago’s cutting edge composers. Each of these composers is known for his innovative exploration and experimentation in composing and improvising jazz: Henry Threadgill, Roscoe Mitchell, Ernest Dawkins, and Wadada Leo Smith. Fred Anderson, one of Chicago’s greatest tenor saxophonists, along with Discopoet Khari B., will perform Dawkins’ Jazz 2 Hip Hop.

Fred Anderson is a founding member of the Association for Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), a non-profit organization established in 1965 for composers and musicians dedicated to fostering leadership and vision for new creative music. Owner of the Chicago area famed Velvet Lounge, he is known as the "father figure of experimental jazz" (New York Times) and was honored as one of "Chicago’s Fifteen People to Have Enriched the Arts" (Chicago Tribune, 1997).

Self-described as a fusion of education and entertainment, Khari B. actively performs around the Chicago area as well as aboard. He hosted Adler Planetarium’s African Skies Poetry Slam and the Soul Poetry Café at the HotHouse. Recently, Khari B. lit up the stage with his spoken word performance at The Subterranean club for ASCAP Rhythm and Soul’s first mid-west SWAPmeet. In January, he appeared with Chicago 12 at Sons d’hiver jazz festival in Val-de-Marne, France.

The concert is free and open to the public. No tickets are required.