June 14, 2021
Featuring:
 
(1st set)

* Art Turk Burton – percussions
* Micah Collier – bass
* Leon Q Allen – trumpet
* Maggie Brown – vocalist

(2nd set)

* Adam Zanolini – flute & saxophone
* Taalib-Din Ziyad – flute & vocals
* Fred Jackson Jr.- saxophones
* Darius Savage – bass
* Dushun Mosely – drums
* Lewis Achenbach – visual art

Z Festival is three days of celebration honoring the life of Saalik Ziyad.

Saalik Ziyad was not only a dynamic performer on keyboards, voice, and electronics. He was not only an adventurous and inventive composer. He was also a unifying and supportive force in Chicago’s music landscape. Exemplifying the spirit of a past generation when musicians crossed porous boundaries among different genres, traditions and idioms, Saalik made consistent, significant contributions to modern jazz, creative improvised music, and sacred music.

Like too many other talented and accomplished jazz artists before him, Saalik made his transition long before any of his contemporaries, friends, family and fans were ready to say goodbye. At the age of 40, Saalik had already established himself as a consummate professional musician, brilliant composer, band leader, and arts leader in Chicago. But it’s hard not to imagine all the accomplishments we might have enjoyed if his life had not ended so soon.

Saalik and his music touched a great number of musicians and audiences in Chicago. It’s taken some time since his transition to cope with this tremendous loss to our community. But now a number of musicians and artists have come together to celebrate his life, his work, and his enduring legacy by organizing a three-day festival in his honor. Z Festival will include some of his closest collaborators and friends, who will pay tribute through music and visual art. Six sets of music will take place over three days at Elastic Arts, Fulton Street Collective, and at Fred Anderson Park. Because of limited in-person capacity due to covid this year, the sets will also be broadcast via live and delayed video stream online. Initially envisioned by artist Lewis Achenbach, the festival is a collaboration between him, Saalik’s parents Taalib-Din and Daaiyah Ziyad, and partners Elastic Arts, Fulton Street Collective, and the Chicago Park District.

June 12th, 7-9pm - Streamed from Elastic Arts

*Marlene Rosenberg – leader & bass
*Phil Fornett – drums
*Daniel C. Tabion – piano
*Felena Bunn – vocalist 1st set
*Margaret Murphy-Webb – vocalist 2nd set

June 13th, 7pm – Streamed from Elastic Arts:

* Alex Wing – oud, piano, guitar
* Edward Wilkerson – saxophones
* Tomeka Reed – cello

June 14th, 7-9pm Streamed from Fred Anderson Park:

1st set

* Art Turk Burton – percussions
* Micah Collier – bass
* Leon Q Allen – trumpet
* Maggie Brown – vocals

****************

2nd set

* Adam Zanolini – flute & saxophone
* Taalib-Din Ziyad – flute & vocals
* Fred Jackson – saxophones
* Darius Savage – bass
* Dushun Mosely – drums

June 13, 2021
Featuring:

* Alex Wing – oud, piano, guitar
* Edward Wilkerson – saxophones
* Tomeka Reed – cello
* Lewis Achenbach – visual art

Z Festival is three days of celebration honoring the life of Saalik Ziyad.

Saalik Ziyad was not only a dynamic performer on keyboards, voice, and electronics. He was not only an adventurous and inventive composer. He was also a unifying and supportive force in Chicago’s music landscape. Exemplifying the spirit of a past generation when musicians crossed porous boundaries among different genres, traditions and idioms, Saalik made consistent, significant contributions to modern jazz, creative improvised music, and sacred music.

Like too many other talented and accomplished jazz artists before him, Saalik made his transition long before any of his contemporaries, friends, family and fans were ready to say goodbye. At the age of 40, Saalik had already established himself as a consummate professional musician, brilliant composer, band leader, and arts leader in Chicago. But it’s hard not to imagine all the accomplishments we might have enjoyed if his life had not ended so soon.

Saalik and his music touched a great number of musicians and audiences in Chicago. It’s taken some time since his transition to cope with this tremendous loss to our community. But now a number of musicians and artists have come together to celebrate his life, his work, and his enduring legacy by organizing a three-day festival in his honor. Z Festival will include some of his closest collaborators and friends, who will pay tribute through music and visual art. Six sets of music will take place over three days at Elastic Arts, Fulton Street Collective, and at Fred Anderson Park. Because of limited in-person capacity due to covid this year, the sets will also be broadcast via live and delayed video stream online. Initially envisioned by artist Lewis Achenbach, the festival is a collaboration between him, Saalik’s parents Taalib-Din and Daaiyah Ziyad, and partners Elastic Arts, Fulton Street Collective, and the Chicago Park District.

June 12th, 7-9pm - Streamed from Elastic Arts

*Marlene Rosenberg – leader & bass
*Phil Fornett – drums
*Daniel C. Tabion – piano
*Felena Bunn – vocalist 1st set
*Margaret Murphy-Webb – vocalist 2nd set

June 13th, 7pm – Streamed from Elastic Arts:

* Alex Wing – oud, piano, guitar
* Edward Wilkerson – saxophones
* Tomeka Reed – cello

June 14th, 7-9pm Streamed from Fred Anderson Park:

1st set

* Art Turk Burton – percussions
* Micah Collier – bass
* Leon Q Allen – trumpet
* Maggie Brown – vocals

****************

2nd set

* Adam Zanolini – flute & saxophone
* Taalib-Din Ziyad – flute & vocals
* Fred Jackson – saxophones
* Darius Savage – bass
* Dushun Mosely – drums

June 12th 2021

Featuring:

* Marlene Rosenberg – leader & bass
* Ari Brown – saxophone
* Phil Fornett – drums
* Daniel C. Tabion – piano
* Felena Bunn – vocalist 1st set
* Margaret Murphy-Webb – vocalist 2nd set
* Lewis Achenbach – visual art

Z Festival is three days of celebration honoring the life of Saalik Ziyad.

Saalik Ziyad was not only a dynamic performer on keyboards, voice, and electronics. He was not only an adventurous and inventive composer. He was also a unifying and supportive force in Chicago’s music landscape. Exemplifying the spirit of a past generation when musicians crossed porous boundaries among different genres, traditions and idioms, Saalik made consistent, significant contributions to modern jazz, creative improvised music, and sacred music.

Like too many other talented and accomplished jazz artists before him, Saalik made his transition long before any of his contemporaries, friends, family and fans were ready to say goodbye. At the age of 40, Saalik had already established himself as a consummate professional musician, brilliant composer, band leader, and arts leader in Chicago. But it’s hard not to imagine all the accomplishments we might have enjoyed if his life had not ended so soon.

Saalik and his music touched a great number of musicians and audiences in Chicago. It’s taken some time since his transition to cope with this tremendous loss to our community. But now a number of musicians and artists have come together to celebrate his life, his work, and his enduring legacy by organizing a three-day festival in his honor. Z Festival will include some of his closest collaborators and friends, who will pay tribute through music and visual art. Six sets of music will take place over three days at Elastic Arts, Fulton Street Collective, and at Fred Anderson Park. Because of limited in-person capacity due to covid this year, the sets will also be broadcast via live and delayed video stream online. Initially envisioned by artist Lewis Achenbach, the festival is a collaboration between him, Saalik’s parents Taalib-Din and Daaiyah Ziyad, and partners Elastic Arts, Fulton Street Collective, and the Chicago Park District.

June 12th, 7-9pm - Streamed from Elastic Arts

*Marlene Rosenberg – leader & bass
*Phil Fornett – drums
*Daniel C. Tabion – piano
*Felena Bunn – vocalist 1st set
*Margaret Murphy-Webb – vocalist 2nd set

June 13th, 7pm – Streamed from Elastic Arts:

* Alex Wing – oud, piano, guitar
* Edward Wilkerson – saxophones
* Tomeka Reed – cello

June 14th, 7-9pm Streamed from Fred Anderson Park:

1st set

* Art Turk Burton – percussions
* Micah Collier – bass
* Leon Q Allen – trumpet
* Maggie Brown – vocals

****************

2nd set

* Adam Zanolini – flute & saxophone
* Taalib-Din Ziyad – flute & vocals
* Fred Jackson – saxophones
* Darius Savage – bass
* Dushun Mosely – drums

Alto saxophonist Lenard Simpson leads a quartet in a set of his original compositions.

LENARD SIMPSON QUARTET

Lenard Simpson – alto saxophone
Julius Tucker – piano
Runere Brooks – bass
Sam Jewell – drums

Homeroom presents a new multimedia ensemble collaboration of sound, lights, video, and movement.

Blank Box: New Dimensions in Sense-uality
composition for abstract cinema

Tuli Bera – movement
Hunter Diamond – sound
Paul Giallorenzo – sound, composition
Samuel Lewis – lighting, cameras
Tselanie Townsend – video projections

About Blank Box: A new program of Homeroom that commissions and presents new multimedia performative work.

About New Dimensions in Sense-uality: new work by composer Paul Giallorenzo that uses contemporary methods of avant jazz/new music composition/arranging/conducting, extending into a collaborative multimedia “ensemble” framework.

$10 Suggested Donation

Donate Here: www.donorbox.org/elasticarts
Tune In Here: www.twitch.tv/elasticartschicago

Our online Improvised Music Series presents two stellar trios for tonight's incarnation. Between these two groups, we'll find a cross-section of the always active Chicago scene, ranging from venerated elders to young up-and-comers.

8 PM : Ernst/Rumback/Clausen

Sarah Clausen – alto saxophone
Katie Ernst – bass/vocals
Charles Rumback – drums


9 PM : Ed Wilkerson Trio

Ed Wilkerson – reeds/oud
Jamie Kempers – cello
Jim Baker – piano/electronics

$10 Suggested Donation

Donate Here: www.donorbox.org/elasticarts
Tune In Here: www.twitch.tv/elasticartschicago

A new piece from Rhizomes Films highlighting the collaboration between musicians in Mexico City and Chicago who first met in CDMX last March before the pandemic. The film consists of new work from the artists, highlighting their reflections of the last year and on the wonderful collaborations this cultural exchange has created.
 
$10 Suggested Donation
 

Donate Here: www.donorbox.org/elasticarts
Tune In Here: www.twitch.tv/elasticartschicago

The Elastro Series returns with a double bill featuring Quin Kirchner w/ visual artist Arthur Wright followed by a duo from Texas musicians Sandy Ewen & Lisa Cameron

Elastro Series
 
April 29, 2021
7:30pm
 
*Quin Kirchner & Arthur Wright
 
*Sandy Ewen & Lisa Cameron
 
$10 Suggested Donation
 

Donate Here: www.donorbox.org/elasticarts

Tune in Here: www.twitch.tv/elasticartschicago

Master Drummer Sura Dupart leads a band of seekers, healers, and mystic travelers on a sonic journey inward towards the truth of the infinite cosmos.

Sidepocket Experience April 21, 2021

Sura Dupart – drums
Adam Zanolini – flute, saxophone, double bass, oboe
Xristian Espinoza – saxophone, percussion
Curtis Black – cornet

Suggested Donation $10

Donate Here: www.donorbox.org/elasticarts
Tune In Here: www.twitch.tv/elasticartschicago

Join us for a night of duos featuring Julian Otis & Vincent Davis + Molly Jones & Norman Long!

3/4/21
7:30pm CDT
$10 Suggested Donation


The Vincent Davis | Julian Otis Duo will present an evening of cosmic improvisation and sonic explorations. We wish to explore the richness of two fundamental instruments: the drums and voice. Sound stripped down to these two elements exposes the vitality of the human experience pulsing in our hearts and vibrating throughout our bodies to meet you virtually.

Molly Jones is a saxophonist, electronic musician, and multimedia artist based in Chicago. Her work ranges from chamber pieces to electroacoustic environments for improvisation to audio/visual installations and poetry, and she has been commissioned by organizations including ThreeForm, Verdant Vibes, the Detroit Composers’ Project, and Saul Williams’ Chorus: A Literary Mixtape. Her album Microliths was nominated for Debut Album of 2017 by NPR’s Jazz Critics’ Poll. She is currently building a generative neural network instrument.

Norman W. Long’s practice involves walking, listening, improvising, performing, recording and composing to create environments and situations in which he and the audience are engaged in dialogues about memory space, value, silence and the invisible. Norman finds inspiration in the Creative Music and electric imaginations of The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Sun Ra, Pauline Oliveros, Phuture, Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi, Hildegard Westercamp and King Tubby. Norman Long has performed and exhibited at the Hyde Park Art Center, Experimental Sound Studio, Kavi Gupta Gallery, Links Hall, Elastic Arts, Chicago Humanities Festival, Chicago Cultural Center and 2017 PRIZM Art Fair (Miami). Norman performed and toured with Angel Bat Dawid and the Brothahood and has performed with Damon Locks, Standing On the Corner, Cher Jey, Sara Zalek, Cristal Sabbagh, Dan Bitney and Todd Carter. Norman has received 3Arts Award for Visual Art in 2011, 3Arts Djerassi (Woodside, CA) Artists Residency Fellowship in 2014, BOLT Artist in Residence at the Chicago Artists Coalition in 2014-2015, 3Arts Fellowship for AS220 (Providence, RI) 2017 Artist in Residence program, Three Walls RaD Lab and Outside the walls Fellow for 2017-2019 and Guest Composer at EMS Elektronmusikstudion, Stockholm, Sweden made possible in part by the City of Chicago’s DCASE grant. Norman was named one of Chicago’s to 50 artists by New City Chicago in 2020.

Donate Here: www.donorobox.org/elasticarts
Tune in Here : www.twitch.tv/elasticartschicago