Levinson/Mahlmeister: Comprised of Jamie Levinson & Donny Mahlmeister, the Chicago duo uses synthesizers in combination with tactile instruments (Levinson is a drummer/percussionist & Mahlmeister a guitarist) to create cinematic snapshots of sonance. You can count on the three men to be thoughtful, forceful, and wide open to possibility.” (Thanks to Bill Meyer, Chicago Reader)
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And Keefe Jackson is a redoubtable presence on Chicago’s jazz scene, contributing tenor saxophone and bass and contrabass clarinets to his own bands, Greg Ward’s Mingus-themed 10 Tongues band, and Jason Stein’s muscular, swinging quartet as well as plunging into fractious free improvisation in the Urge Trio with Tomeka Reid and Christoph Erb. Steven Hess hits the drums hard and precise with art-metal combos Locrian and RLYR and combines stark beats with electronic textures in Cleared, but he also explores the resonance of Kentucky caves with the experimental ensemble Haptic on their new CD Ten Years Under the Earth (Unfathomless).
In addition to playing low-key rock music with Zelienople and abstracted folk themes with Scott Tuma, percussionist Mike Weis performs ambient soundscapes with Mirror of Nature and solo material influenced by forms of Korean rituals.
Slow Bell Trio of Steven Hess, Mike Weis, and Keefe Jackson is a new combination of improvisors which stands out because of the unusual affiliations the members bring to the proverbial musical table. Her first solo album, monologue (Asian Improv Records) was released in March 2021. Sugimoto has performed three times at the Chicago Jazz Festival: in 2015 with Hanami, in 2019 as a leader, and in 2018 with renowned bassist Tatsu Aoki, with whom she frequently plays, including appearances in his Fred Anderson Legacy Band. Sugimoto is also a core member of the quartet Hanami, whose two albums similarly mix Japanese culture into creative music. “A compelling performer” with “dry-champagne tone and lyrical lines” (Chicago Tribune), Sugimoto draws inspiration from her upbringing in Japan and her roots in jazz to compose and perform from her unique multicultural experience.īorn/Raised, her debut album (Asian Improv Records, 2018), explores this cultural and musical binary, juxtaposing, among others, a jazz rendition of a Japanese children’s song alongside compositions inspired by the American jazz idiom. Mai Sugimoto is a saxophonist, composer, and active member of Chicago’s jazz and improvisational music scene.