Edward Wilkerson Jr.

is one of the great

saxophone and clarinet players on the Chicago
scene, but from the '80s into the new millennium
may have become best known as a bandleader and
composer, particularly associated with medium- to
large-scale projects (somewhat daunting in an era
when creative music bandleaders are challenged to
keep even small ensembles together). He has also
been a major presence in Chicago's Association for
the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM),
teaching composition at the organization's music
school and serving for a time as AACM president.
The AACM collective, with its spirit of community as
well as unbridled creativity, has been a predominant
nurturing force for Wilkerson and has informed
much of his work.
He was an original member of the
Ethnic Heritage Ensemble (formed by percussionist
Kahil El'Zabar upon El'Zabar's 1976 graduation from
the AACM school) and remained with the group
until 1997 when replaced by Ernest "Khabeer"
Dawkins. However, while appearing on such Ethnic
Heritage Ensemble recordings as Three Gentlemen
From Chicago (Moers), Hang Tuf (Open Minds), and
Dance With the Ancestors (Chameleon), Wilkerson
was also becoming more involved in leading his
own projects, which characteristically saw the
reedman thinking big.
His most ambitious project,
Shadow Vignettes, was initiated in 1979; with 25
musicians and incorporating dance, poetry, and
visual arts, the ensemble's infuences include the
big band work of Muhal Richard Abrams, Duke
Ellington, Count Basie, and Sun Ra. Shadow
Vignettes released one CD, Birth of a Notion, on the
Sessoms Records label in 1985. One of Shadow
Vignettes' major pieces is entitled "Defender,"
commissioned by the Lila Wallace/Reader's Digest
Fund and featured in the tenth anniversary of New
Music America, presented by the Brooklyn Academy
of Music's Next Wave Festival. Wilkerson's best-documented
ensemble as a leader is 8 Bold Souls, an octet initiated
in January of 1985 with a series of Thursday night concerts
at the Chicago Filmmakers performance space.
The popularity of the concerts led Wilkerson to establish
8 Bold Souls as a working band, and since their formation,
four Souls CDs have been issued: 8 Bold Souls on
Sessoms Records, Sides how and Ant Farm on Arabesque,
and Last Option on Thrill Jockey.
Infuenced by the small groups of Duke Ellington and
Jimmy Lunceford, 8 Bold Souls also makes plenty of room
for adventurous experimentation in the AACM spirit,
drawing fully on the unusual sonic possibilities of the
group's instrumentation of two woodwinds, trumpet,
trombone, cello, tuba, bass, and trap drums. Overall,
Wilkerson's work may be heard on 14 recordings, including
two flm soundtracks. In addition to his work with
8 Bold Souls, Shadow Vignettes, and the Ethnic Heritage
Ensemble, Wilkerson has also played with the AACM
Big Band, Roscoe Mitchell, Douglas Ewart, the Temptations,
Chico Freeman, Geri Allen, the Lyric Opera of Chicago,
Muhal Richard Abrams, Aretha Franklin, and George Lewis.
Presents
Ed Wilkerson
Studio20/15
&
with
Kenneth Green - Piano
Ali (Allan Colding) - Drumz
Ed Coburn - Bass
Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014
Doors at 8pm
Show begins at 9pm
$15 suggested minimum donation
Studio 20/15 is a smoke-free environment
Located at
1610 Clay in the Russell Industrial Center 3rd foor
enter complex at 1600 Clay.
For additional information:
Call 313 247-5780 or 313 247-8972