AIRMW CELEBRATES THE MULTI-CULTURAL, MULTI-ETHNIC REALITY OF CHICAGO WITH THE 30th ANNUAL CHICAGO ASIAN AMERICAN JAZZ FESTIVAL AT ELASTIC ARTS NOV. 7-10
Asian Improv aRts Midwest (AIRMW), directed by multi-instrumentalist and media artist Tatsu Aoki, presents the 30th Annual Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival at Elastic Arts, 3429 W. Diversey Ave., #208, at 8:30 p.m. Nov. 7-10.
“AIRMW is committed to advancing the understanding and profile of Asian American cultures through the traditional and contemporary cultural arts,” says Aoki. “We are proud of our history of producing high quality arts programs reflecting the multicultural, multi-ethnic reality of Chicago and the nation. For three decades, this annual festival, and especially this year’s program, are perfect examples of that mission in action.”
The 30th Annual Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival schedule is as follows. All events take place at Elastic Arts unless otherwise noted.
Friday, Nov. 7
8:30-9:30 p.m., Set 1 - Francis Wong and Chicago Time Code
9:30-10:30, Set 2 - Jeff Chan and Ratchet (Chad Clark, Michael Perkins, Ausbert Acevedo)
Saturday, Nov 8
1:00 p.m., Panel Discussion at AIRMW, 4875 N. Elston Ave.– Panelist roster - Tatsu Aoki, Kioto Aoki, Jeff Chan, Lauren Deutsch, Leon Fontane, Akira Saito, Mai Sugimoto
8:30-9:30 p.m., Set 1 - Ester Hana
9:30-10:30 p.m. Set 2 - Yoko Noge and Jazz Me Blues
Sunday, Nov 9
7:30-8:30 p.m., Set 1 - Takashi Shallow
8:30-9:30 p.m., Set 2 – Chien-an Yuan and All Things Shining (Marcus Elliot, Jon Monteverde, Chace Morris)
9:30-10:30 p.m. Set 3 – Kioto Aoki, Haruhi Kobayashi and Mai Sugimoto
Monday, Nov 10
8:30-9:30 and 9:30-10:30 - Tatsu Aoki and the MIYUMI Project (Mwata Bowden, Edward Wilkerson Jr., Jamie Kempkers, Coco Elysses, Kioto Aoki, and Tsukasa Taiko)
Tickets Available at the Door
AIRMW presents the 30th Annual Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival Friday, Nov. 7 through Monday, Nov. 10. All concerts take place at Elastic Arts, #208, 3429 W. Diversey Ave. Tickets at the door. A panel discussion is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 8 at AIRMW, 4875 N. Elston Ave. For more information, visit airmw.org
Set One:
Ratchet is a boundary-pushing ensemble out of Chicago, blending avant-garde jazz, experimental textures, and deep improvisational dialogue. The group features bassist Ausberto Acevedo, Jeff Chan on woodwinds, guitarist/electronics Chad Clark, and keyboardist/synthesist Michael Perkins. Together, they craft music that’s rooted in the spirit of free jazz and charged with the electricity of the unknown - melding acoustic and electronic elements into something raw, resonant, and deeply alive. Drawing from Chicago’s rich lineage of radical sound, Ratchet thrives on tension and transformation. Their sound pulls listeners through grinding grooves, sudden shifts, and moments of eerie calm, always leaving space for discovery. This is music built on trust, risk, and the thrill of spontaneous creation.
Set Two:
"Few musicians are as accomplished as Francis Wong, considered one of "the great saxophonists of his generation" by the late jazz critic Phil Elwood. A prolific recording artist, Wong is featured on more than forty titles as a leader and sideman. For over two decades he has performed his innovative brand of jazz and creative music for audiences in North America, Asia, and Europe with such with such luminaries as Jon Jang, Tatsu Aoki, Genny Lim,William Roper, Bobby Bradford, John Tchicai, James Newton, Joseph Jarman, Don Moye and the late Glenn Horiuchi.
But to simply call the Bay Area native a musician would be to ignore his pioneering leadership in communities throughout Northern California. Wong's imaginative career straddles roles as varied as performing artist, youth mentor, composer, artistic director, community activist, non-profit organization manager, consultant, music producer, and academic lecturer. Key vehicles for his work are Asian Improv aRts, the company he co-founded with Jon Jang and as a Senior Fellow at the Wildflowers Institute. In addition, Wong was a California Arts Council Artist in Residence from 1992 through 1998, and a Meet The Composer New Resident in 2000-2003. In 2000-2001 he was a Rockefeller Next Generation Leadership Fellow. He has also been a guest member of the faculty at San Francisco State University (1996-98) and at University of California at Santa Cruz (1996-2001).
“Time code” refers to the way events are marked in a film or video timeline. As such for our purposes the time code references the improvised events in the iconic recording Chicago Time Code (AIR 0015?) which features Tatsu and Sparrow and myself. the first time we ever stepped into studio and carried out a documented drama, which happened to be the opening moments of a 30+ year artistic and life collaboration. Imagine watching a historical event on tape with the time code running underneath onscreen."