WHPK Jazz Salutes Association for Advancement of Creative Musicians in Black History Month Concert

CHICAGO - Feb. 12, 2015 - PRLog -- The Ari Brown Quintet performs at the Fifth Annual WHPK 88.5 FM Jazz Format Black History Month Celebration of Jazz - Our Gift to the World concert at 8 p.m. Sat., Feb. 21, in International House, 1414 East 59th St., Chicago, Ill. The event includes presentation of the 2015 WHPK REACH Award to Mwata Bowden, director of jazz ensembles at the University of Chicago and artistic director of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) Great Black Music Ensemble. Brown and Bowden, who perform in Chicago and worldwide, share ties to the AACM, established 50 years ago this year on the city's South Side as an enclave for daring musicians who enlarged the jazz framework.

Known chiefly as a saxophonist, Brown produces a full-bodied tone that reflects the influence of legendary Chicago saxophonists without sounding trite. A Chicago native, Brown began his career performing in rhythm-and-blues bands, accompanying B.B. King, Lou Rawls, the Four Tops and the Emotions. After earning a bachelor's degree in music education, he directed more energy to jazz, working with AACM co-founder Muhal Richard Abrams, Sonny Stitt and Billy Eckstine. Brown, who also plays piano, taught in Chicago public elementary and high schools while continuing to perform. Brown has worked with a swath of iconic jazz musicians, including Roscoe Mitchell and Anthony Braxton as well as McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones. Helming his own band since the early 1980s, Brown's quintet includes Kirk Brown, his brother, on piano; Yosef Ben Israel on bass; Avreeayl Ra, another AACM member, on drums; and Dr. Cuz on percussion.

Bowden, who plays clarinet and saxophones, moved to Chicago from Memphis, Tenn. and studied music with Capt. Walter Dyett, DuSable High School's famed music teacher who molded a long roster of future stars, including Clifford Jordan, Dorothy Donegan, Nat (King) Cole, Fred Hopkins and Von Freeman. Bowden studied classical music and clarinet as an undergraduate and composition at the graduate level. Like Brown, he taught in Chicago schools and toured with R&B bands. In 1974, he began contributing to the AACM's maverick brand, as exemplified by the AACM Experimental Ensemble of which Bowden was a member, and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Bowden founded the Jazz X-tet at the University of Chicago, seeding a generation of musicians respective of but unbound by jazz tradition. He also led his own bands, including the Black Classical Music Ensemble and Sound Spectrum. At the 2005 Chicago Jazz Festival, Bowden served as musical director for a performance marking the association's 40^th anniversary. In 2013, he received the Jazz Hero Award from the Jazz Journalists Association.

The WHPK Jazz Format introduced the REACH award in 2012 to recognize individuals whose work sustains and deepens appreciation for jazz. "Ari Brown and Mwata Bowden are examples of how the AACM fosters a wider expression of creative music, known as jazz," said Richton G. Thomas, WHPK Jazz host and format chief.  "Chicago and the world benefit from the association's gift of music."

Event co-sponsors include the International House at the University of Chicago and the Jazz Institute of Chicago (JIC).

Doors open at International House on the University of Chicago campus at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 for VIP seating at club-style tables; $10 for general admission; and $8 for JIC members and university students who present ID. Tickets may be purchased online at Brown Paper Tickets (http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1188646). For more information call (312) 237-7605.