Village of Hazel Crest Open Lands "Arts in the Woods" Soundscape- Reggie Nicholson Concepts

On August 9, 2025, the Village of Hazel Crest will host a Moonlight Social at the Open Lands Arboretum, featuring a community listening session. This event will showcase the musical talents of Reggie Nicholson on percussion, Ed House on saxophone, and Yosef Ben Israel on bass, who will create a unique soundscape inspired by the natural surroundings of the Arboretum. This is a great opportunity for community members to engage with music and nature in a collaborative and enriching environment.

The sessions will occur during the Moonlight Social in an outdoor classroom specifically designated for community engagement, located at the entrance of the preserve and the beginning of the trail. Please bring your lawn chairs to enjoy live music as the full moon rises from 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM. pm.

Reimagining Black Identity, Strength, and Vulnerability Music Performance

"Art is Business"  February 21, 2025   

This art exhibit explores the multifaceted healing nature of Black identity, shedding light on the complex intersections of strength, vulnerability, history, and future within the Black experience. We invite artists of all mediums—visual art, sculpture, photography, performance, and beyond—to submit works that address the evolving narrative of Blackness in contemporary society.

The exhibit will showcase pieces that reframe traditional representations, inviting viewers to engage with themes of resilience, introspection, liberation, and the ever-shifting contours of identity. Artists are encouraged to challenge stereotypes and preconceived notions of Blackness, emphasizing the beauty and power of embracing vulnerability and quiet strength in moments of resistance, defiance, and healing.

We are looking for works that speak to the full range of Black-lived experiences, capturing both the triumphs and the struggles, the joy and the pain, the collective memory and individual expression. The exhibit aims to create space for reflection, dialogue, and healing while embracing the depth and complexity that define Blackness.

This exhibit will offer a new, unapologetically authentic, challenging, and transformative vision by reimagining Black identity healing, strength, and vulnerability. Artists are encouraged to draw upon personal narratives, cultural history, and current social movements to inspire their work, creating an environment where art becomes a tool for collective healing, liberation, and empowerment.

DEAR JAZZ 2024- ART EXHIBITION and JAZZ CONCERT

"Art is Business." Get your tickets at JazzInChicago.org/dear-jazz

I am thrilled to have my artwork in the Dear Jazz 2024. This art exhibition with live music is on November 8 and 9 at Fulton Street Collective at 1821 W. Hubbard. The Jazz Institute of Chicago produced the show curated by Raymond A. Thomas. I'll be one of over 25 important Chicago artists presenting. 

STATEMENT BY RAYMOND A. THOMAS

Dear Jazz is a vibrant and immersive art exhibition and concert that pays tribute to the soulful legacy of jazz music. Through a dynamic collection of visual works by some of Chicago's top artists, this exhibition captures the rhythm, improvisation, and emotional depth that have defined jazz throughout history. These works act as a heartfelt "love letter" to the genre, interpreting the essence of jazz's sound, spirit, and cultural significance. Drawing inspiration from the greats like Miles  Davis, John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, and many more, these chosen artists explore jazz's themes of freedom and innovation,  reflecting its role as a musical and cultural force. 

Dear Jazz invites all on a multisensory journey through jazz's history, present, and future. It celebrates how jazz transcends sound to become a universal language of expression, spontaneity, and joy.

If I Could Change Back the Hand of Time, 24" X 26" x 2", Mixed Media, Acrylic Collage, 2024

"Turn Back The Hands Of Time" by Tyrone Davis was on my mind as I named this composition. Remembering the lyrics and what he is singing about in the ℗ 1970's. It's an R&B song recorded by various artists, like Eddie Fisher's Orchestra in 1951 and 1970s, and even R. Kelly, Cher, and David Ruffin have a version. But the lyrics resonate with me, "Turn Back the Hands of Time" is based on relationship problems Moore was having at the time. Daniels co-wrote Davis's 1968 hit "Can I Change My Mind," and the recording session for "Turn Back the Hands of Time" included some of the same musicians from that session.

DEAR JAZZ- I didn't abandon you in the 1970s disco age, didn't abandon you to R&B, didn't abandon you to Reggae, nor did I turn my back on you as I listened to techno. I loved you through it all. My first Jazz Concert was the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1975. Growing up on the West Coast, jazz profoundly influenced my playlist.

"West Coast jazz refers to styles of jazz that developed in Los Angeles and San Francisco during the 1950s. West Coast jazz is often seen as a subgenre of cool jazz, which consisted of a calmer style than bebop or hard bop. The music relied relatively more on composition and arrangement than on the individually improvised playing of other jazz styles. Although this style dominated, it was not the only form of jazz heard on the American West Coast."

Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, and African rhythmic rituals. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a significant expression in traditional and popular music. 

Dear Jazz, the genres highlighted in Bold Black are my favorites:

• Acid jazz combined elements of soul music, funk, and disco, including looping beats and modal harmony the 1980s–1990s
• Afro-Cuban jazz mixes Afro-Cuban clave-based rhythms with jazz harmonies and techniques of improvisation. 1940s.
• Avant-garde jazz is a music and improvisation style combining avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the 1950s and developed through the 1960s. 
• 1950s Bebop or bop is a jazz style characterized by a fast tempo, instrumental virtuosity, and improvisation based on a combination of harmonic structure and occasional references to the melody.
• 1940s—A big band is a type of musical ensemble, in essence, a jazz orchestra, that typically consists of at least ten musicians and four sections.
• 1910s -British dance band is a popular jazz and dance music genre that developed in British dance halls and hotel ballrooms during the 1920s and 1930s. 1920s 
• Cape Jazz (more often written as Cape Jazz) is a jazz genre performed in the southernmost part of Africa, the name being a reference to Cape Town, South Africa. 1990s 
• Chamber jazz Chamber jazz is a genre of jazz involving small, acoustic-based ensembles where group interplay is important. 1960s 
• Continental jazz Early jazz dance bands of Europe in the swing medium, to the exclusion of Great Britain.
• Cool jazz Contrasts with the hard, fast sound of bebop. A more relaxed, subdued style, with more formal arrangements and elements, such as swingswing and classical. 1940s–1960s
• Crossover jazz artists mix different styles of music into jazz. 1970s 
• Dixieland music or New Orleans jazz, sometimes referred to as hot jazz or early jazz, is a style of jazz music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. Stylistically, it is essentially a form of Ragtime typically transposed for brass band, banjo, or clarinet. 1900s 
• Electro Swing is a modern interpretatioSwingSwing that merges with EDM. Performances typically include both a live band and a DJ. 1990s 
• Ethio-jazz is a specific form of jazz that evolved in Ethiopia in the music of Mulatu Astatke, also referred to as the King of Ethio-jazz.1950s 
• Ethno jazz, a form of ethnic music, is sometimes equated to world music or is regarded as its successor, particularly before the 1990s. An independent meaning of "ethno-jazz" emerged around 1990. 1990s
•  European free jazz is a part of the global free jazz scene and has its own development and characteristics from the 1960s 
• Flamenco jazz is a style mixing flamenco and jazz, typified by artists such as Paco de Lucia and Camarón de la Isla. 1960s 
• Free funk: A combination of avant-garde jazz with funk music in the 1970s 
• Free jazz Free improvisation is improvised music without any specific rules. By itself, free improvisation can be any genre; it isn't necessarily jazz. Free jazz musicians use free improvisation to alter, extend, or break down jazz conventions, often by discarding fixed chord changes, tempos, melodies, or phrases. Ornette Coleman was an early and noted advocate of this style. 1950s 
• Gypsy jazz style of jazz music is often said to have been started by guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt in the 1930s. The style was originally called "hot club" or "hot jazz" and served an acoustic European interpretation. The term "gypsy jazz" didn't appear until after the 1970s, when Sinti people adapted their folk music to emulate that of Django. 1930s/1970s->
• Hard bop Incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in saxophone and piano playing. 1950s 
• Indo jazz Fusion of jazz with Indian music (see also Sitar in jazz and Jazz in India). 1950s ->
• Jazz blues Although not a distinct style, jazz blues is typically used to refer to songs that include idiomatic "jazz" embellishments to the standard form, such as extended harmony and chord substitutions. At a minimum, jazz blues usually include a ii–V progression in place of the simple V chord and an I–VI/vi–ii–V turnaround at the end of the form.
• Jazz-funk is a subgenre of jazz music characterized by a strong backbeat (groove), electrified sounds, and an early prevalence of analog synthesizers.1970s 
• Jazz fusion combines elements of jazz and rock. Characterized by electronic instruments, riffs, and extended solos. 1970s 
• Jazz poetry1920s 
• Jazz pop
• Jazz rap is a fusion subgenre of hip-hop and jazz, developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The lyrics are often based on political consciousness, Afrocentrism, and general positivism. 1980s 
• Jazz-rock The term "jazz-rock" (or "jazz/rock") is often used as a synonym for the term "jazz fusion." 1960s 
• Jump blues 1930s 
• Kansas City jazz is a style of jazz that developed in Kansas City, Missouri, and the surrounding Kansas City Metropolitan Area during the 1930s.
• Latin jazz draws heavily on salsa and merengue influences. Heavy use of percussion, including congas, timbales, bongos, guiros, and others. 1930s
• M-Base 1980s 
• Marabi 1920s–1930s
• Mainstream jazz is A genre of jazz music that was first used about the playing styles around the 1950s 1950s ->
• Modal jazz, as pioneered by Miles Davis, among others, is characterized by using modes, such as dorian modes, as the primary organizing element.
• Neo-bop jazz, notably associated with Wynton Marsalis, is a comparatively accessible, "retro" genre that emerged in the 1980s as a stylistic reaction against free jazz and jazz fusion. 1980s 
• Neo-swing: The name was given to the renewed interest in swing music from the 1930s and 40s. Many neo-swing bands practiced contemporary fusionSwingswing, jazz, and jump blues with rock, punk rock, ska, and ska-punk music or had roots in punk, ska, ska punk, and alternative rock music.1990s 
• Jazz noir is a form of slow or erratic contemporary jazz. Jazz noir (also known as "doom jazz" or "dark jazz") is noted for its often somber, mysterious, or even sinister tone. It takes inspiration from film noir soundtracks and dark ambient music. 1990s 
• Nu jazz music blends jazz elements with other musical styles, such as funk, soul, electronic dance music, and free improvisation.1990s 
• Orchestral jazz, Also known as "Symphonic Jazz" in the 1920s 
• Post-bop: A genre of small-combo jazz that assimilates hard bop, modal jazz, avant-garde, and free jazz without necessarily being immediately identifiable as any of those forms in the 1960s 
• Punk jazz is the amalgamation of elements of the jazz tradition (usually free jazz and jazz fusion of the 1960s and 1970s) with the instrumentation or conceptual heritage of punk rock 1970s and 
• Ragtime 1890s 
• Samba-jazz 1950s 
• Ska jazz music was derived by fusing the melodic content of jazz with the rhythmic and harmonic content of early Jamaican Music introduced by the "Fathers of Ska" in the late 1950s. It is sometimes considered a subgenre of Third-Wave Ska. 1960s 
• Skiffle 1950s ->
• Smooth jazz In general, a smooth jazz track is downtempo (the most widely played tracks are in the 90–105 BPM range), layering a lead, melody-playing instrument (saxophones – especially soprano and tenor – are the most popular, with guitars a close second) over a backdrop that typically consists of programmed rhythms and various synth pads or samples. 1960s 
• Soul jazz Draws heavy influences from hard bop, blues, gospel, and rhythm and blues. It is often characterized by organ trios. 1950s 
• Spiritual jazz 1960s 
• Straight-ahead jazz is A form of Jazz created in the 1960s with roots from the previous two decades. It omits elements from rock music and free jazz that began to appear in this period, instead emphasizing acoustic instruments and a more conventional sound. 1960s 
• Stride jazz A style of jazz piano which incorporates left hand techniques from ragtime music, except the left hand spans a greater distance on the keyboard. 1920s 
• Swing Big band arrangements, always swung. Pioneered by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Benny Goodman. 1930s–1950s
• Third stream: The fusion of the jazz stream and classical stream. 1950s
• Trad jazz, Short for "traditional jazz," refers to the Dixieland and ragtime jazz styles of the early 20th century.
• West Coast jazz is a style of jazz that emerged in Los Angeles and San Francisco during the 1950s. It is often considered a subgenre of cool jazz, characterized by a smoother and calmer sound compared to bebop or hard bop. This style emphasizes composition and arrangement more than individual improvisation, which is more prominent in other jazz genres. While West Coast jazz was a dominant style in the region, it wasn't the only type performed on the American West Coast.

Reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Coast_jazz

en.wikipedia.org › wiki › List_of_jazz_genresList of jazz genres - Wikipedia

Sweet Fruit Falling- Chicago Fringe Opera

126 views  Premiered Jun 12, 2021

Music & Lyrics: Renée Baker

Chicago Modern Orchestra Project

Director: Renée Baker

Vocalist: Dee Alexander

Percussion: Coco Elysses

Saxophone: Luc Mosley

A CITY OF WORKS

Site-Specific Micro Operas for Chicago

Phantom Gallery Chicago, Bronzeville

2021

Cinematography: George Cederquist

Music Director/Commissioning/Co-Concept: Catherine O’Shaughnessy

Co-Concept/Video Editing: Brad Caleb Lee

---

A single dream

As I wear the cloth that fits

you say it's fine

you say they're fine

I know I'm alone

Carrying my bowl to gather the fallen fruit

that falls from the lips of others

wondering when all will fit

when I will fit

holding the bowl tightly, waiting for the daily alms offering

hoping

to eat and swallow with dignity every morsel proffered

hoping for sweet fruit fallen from the branch

my hope

one morsel to make me well

one morsel to make me pretty

one morsel to make me acceptable

hope

the morsel that signals the end of the day

to look at the trees alone

to sup under the trees alone

to touch the bare earth

to seek others like me, seeking

sweet swee swe

sweet fruit

falling sweet fruit

sweet sweet swe

sweet fruit

falling sweet fruit

falling

fall asleep dreaming

fight sleep waiting

renounce sleep

so the falling morsel won't miss me

Renee Baker© 2021

The Jazz Cat--Logan Square Art Center, Jam!

I ran into LeRoy Downs from Los Angeles California during the AfterFest, he and his girl were traveling on the CTA Blue Line to transfer to the Red Line, we started talking and sharing. I saw them in the audience at Elastics AfterFest Concert so they weren't complete strangers, just art patrons hanging out in Chicago. Here is what LeRoy had to say about The Chicago Jazz scene.

Complete Article by LeRoy Downs
http://www.thejazzcat.net/2011/10/21/the-chicago-jazz-festival-2011/

Excerpt:
The after-hours hit was up North at the Logan Square/Avondale Art Center, right at the corner of Milwaukee and Division. Now, I don't know how Chitown is doing without the Velvet Lounge and Fred Anderson's contributions to the art and the city, but all the cats are here tonight! Intersections, Asian Improv Records, and the AACM are all responsible for booking the cats for this series of concerts sponsored by Asian Improv Records.

Susan Fox, producer of "Intersections" at Elastic Sound and Vision Gallery

Took the trip on the Blue Line Train back to where the 6 points converge at the source; the Elastic, Avant Guard, after-hours, late-night, Logan Square Art Center, Jam! If you seek the points, ye shall find where it all happens, where it all begins.

You must be present to experience music. Three didgeridoos, a wood block, and the strings of a bass tapped with chopsticks make for music that is out of this world! No book or the excitement of other people's forays into adventurous music, or any recording for that matter, could ever make you feel, heal, or understand. You must be present to prosper from the gift of sound. 12:49 AM, and the 2nd set has just gotten underway. I know it is late, and I know all 20 reasons why you are not here, but really, what are you gonna do for the rest of your life? Where is your excitement? What is your reason for inhabiting this planet? Why are you here? 

If your answers are to live, think, grow rich, seek, question, discover, and realize, then the vibration of music is a potent source of nutrients for your being! The mantras in the music will bring you back to your true self and help you rediscover the wonderful mysteries of love waiting for you to reclaim. This knowledge is for you, and music expressed freely with no constraints is one path to self-enlightenment!

LeRoy Downs
The Jazzcat.Tel
424-210-JAZZ

"Intersections" Kaleidoscope Cultures Connecting at Mauersegler Park

The International Art Group and Phantom Gallery Chicago, and the Lunkenheimer Gallery presented "Berlin Chicago Kaleidoscope Cultures Connecting" at Mauersegler Park, on Saturday, July 16, 2011, 8pm - 10pm, Sommergarten, Bernauer Strasse 63-64, 13355 Berlin, http://www.mauersegler-berlin.de/

Host- Sylvio Kruger, owner of the Mauersegler Park Kultur, sponsored the project with space and technical support. This park is located in the memorial space where the Berlin Wall once separated people. "Cultures Connecting" Chicago artist held discussions with Berlin artist about that era of their lives, and how, at that moment, they were able to walk through it, and help knock it down.

We have to give special thanks to Mauersegler for their generous contribution of the SommerGarten, an outdoor beer garden. They provided all the technical help we said we wouldn't need.

Susan Fox, of Elastic Sound and Vision Gallery, presented "Intersections" by Hanah Jon Taylor.

Hannah Jon Taylor performed in this alternative venue, the SommerGarten, which was not the traditional venue for a jazz artist from Chicago, but he approached it as an adventure, and was willing to truly improvise with Berlin artist Daniel Goritz, and Dan Casillas (Chicago); neither one of these "Cats" knew each other. They gathered for a pow-wow about 1/2 hour before their performance, which was new to all of them. But music is a universal language, and they vibed off each other.





Berlin musician Daniel Goritz and Dan Casillas (Chicago)

Alan Emerson Hicks, Performance Art

Alan Emerson Hicks presented his Plastic Bombs, Destruction of Video Tapes, "Run Lola Run", which was a huge hit, because of the soundtrack, and the energy he brought to the performance. This was climactic for Alan, as he was working it out with me to make the "Intersection" of "Kaleidoscope" happen.

Jayve John Montgomery

 Jayve John Montgomery flew into Berlin at 2:15 PM and was at the park before we made it there, set up and ready to go. He, on the spot, put his presentation together, "The United States of America", "Kaleidoscope," his filming of Berlin from the airport in the taxi to the "Wall Park", adding images from Chicago's landscape, dubbing to his computer ended the night.

Jayve John Montgomery

"I thinking working with these guys was a experience. I had to trouble-shoot, they had to trouble-shoot, as I'm not a producer/promoter so to speak. I had to find my own location to present "Berlin Chicago Kaleidoscope", musicians that were to play canceled, the gallery canceled the venue while we were on our way to Berlin. Cell-phones were off, Iphones didn't work, we had to resort to using pay phones, and ESP. Our computers ran out of power, artists blew circuits, ran out of adaptors, couldn't find a simple boom-box even. You name it, it happened. But, on Saturday the sun came out and gave us a wonderful day, a perfect day, we all got together and sent out "Positive Vibrations" until the police shut it down at 10pm."

Visual artists had our own area set up in front of the stage, painting the "vibrations sound narratives" of these performing artists, who were up for an international art adventure, and creating art to be presented for October's exhibitions during Chicago Artists Month.

Lewis Rice, International Art Group

Renata Bummer, Pankow Berlin

Friday Outing to the HIGH Museum of Modern Art in Atlanta

"Art is Business"   http://www.high.org/

HIGH Museum of Modern Art in Atlanta

I was invited out for FRIDAY JAZZ NIGHT- by Cynthia Williams, a member of the HIGH, who is a jazz enthusiast and art supporter. January's Friday Jazz performer is jazz organist, Ike Stubblefield. Friday Jazz is an evening of art and music held on the third Friday of each month, featuring live musical performances and extended hours with full gallery access.

Ike is currently touring worldwide while working on his new album with various musicians, including drummers Sonny Emory, Jeff Sipe, Marcus Williams, Little John Roberts, J.Fly, and Yonrico Scott; Jeff Coffin; saxophonist Freddy V.; trumpeter Joey Sommerville; guitarists Grant Green Jr., Mike Seal, and Derek Scott; and bassists Oteil Burbridge and Felix Pastorius. The album is slated for an early 2011 release.

Press Coverage from the Examiner.com for AMP-CHI Oct 30, 2010

Examiner.com/jazz-music-in-chicago

This week's Halloween Jazz Playlist offered one way to get into the spirit(s) of the season. Another is to simply spend your dark-hallowed weekend at the night spots, where several bookings offer a mild nod to the holiday, even as they present music that would sound just as good on the 4th of July.

At Elastic Sound & Vision Gallery (2830 N. Milwaukee), the evening will throw some paint at the walls, some food coloring onto the projection system, and some well-chosen words from student poets – before and during a set from the Artet, a trio led by saxist and flutist Hanah Jon Taylor. It's one in a welcome series of appearances that have begun to reintegrate Taylor into the Chicago jazz scene over the last two years.

Taylor, who lives and works primarily in Madison, WI, was born in Chicago and developed his music here in the 70s, often working with members of the AACM. He doesn't restrict himself to stereotypically avant-garde sounds, however. While he can certainly send his saxes into the stratosphere of squawks and squeals, he also indulges a kinder, gentler sensibility – primarily on flute and wind synthesizer – marked by soulful balladry, a hard-earned cool, and even intimations of new-age healing music.

The music begins at 8, but the doors open at 6 to accommodate some unexpected tricks and treats. Poets from Young Chicago Artists will present some of their work before the music starts; before that, audience members are invited to finish a "group painting" begun last week at Elastic. (The gallery will provide canvas, brushes, and paint.) Which means that the night before Halloween, you can dress up as an artist.

Throughout the evening, artist Alpha Bruton will use projected images and watercolor transparencies to produce pieces in her "Vibrational Sound Narrative" series, which she creates in response to music and poetry. Cover is $10, $5 for students – and that includes appetizers from Friendship Chinese Restaurant (one floor below the gallery space).

The entire evening is part of Chicago Artists Month, the loosely connected October-long series of events around the city, of which the recently concluded Loop Art Crawl competition has probably received the most publicity. (Other events include the anything-goes "Mischief Weekend" at the Hyde Park Art Center