Ernest Dawkins
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CD Release Party for Redefining Frederick Douglass honors, illuminates, and reinterprets the life and legacy of this African American hero and scholar. Commissioned by Chamber Music America and presented by Live the Spirit Residency, this extended original work features a 10-piece instrumental ensemble and spoken word artistry.
Dawkins is one of the world's premiere saxophonists and composers, whose life goal is for his music and compositions to reflect the evolving collective cultural memory of the African American jazz aesthetic. His four decades of work as a professional artist, educator, and community-based organizer are widely recognized for shaping the contemporary cultural landscape of Chicago and beyond. He is the founder and executive director of Live the Spirit Residency and is past Chairman of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). His latest Commissions from the Jazz Institute of Chicago, to compose Tim Black Blacker Than Black and Refound Connections Commissioned by South Arts, were premiered in 2022. Other recent projects include a commission from New Music America in 2020 to compose his work “Redefining Fredrick Douglass,” and in 2018 International Connections grant from the The McArthur Foundation to lead the Englewood to Soweto project, and a Joyce Award in 2017 in support of the composition “Quantum Englewood.” His creative work has additionally included commissions from the Old Town School of Folk Music, the Black Metropolis Research Consortium, Sant'Anna Arresi Jazz Festival, Sons d’Hiver Festival, Banliues Bleues Festival, Meet The Composers, the Jazz Institute of Chicago, and the King Arts Complex of Columbus Ohio. He is the leader and founder of several ensembles, most notably the New Horizons Ensemble, Aesop Quartet, Chicago Trio, Live the Spirit Big Band, and the Chicago 12. Dawkins has recorded numerous CDs and his publishing company, Dawk Music, has seventeen releases to date. Dawkins was named 'Chicagoan of the Year' twice by the Chicago Tribune, most recently in 2001. He received a Meet the Composers Round VII New Residencies grant in 2000 and has been awarded the State of Illinois Governors Fellowship award twice. In 2008, he received a Governor’s International Grant. Dawkins established The Englewood Jazz Festival, now in its 25th. year, showcasing the work of master musicians at a free annual outdoor event on Chicago’s southside. Dawkins has worked alongside many pioneering musicians including Ramsey Lewis, Muhal Richard Abrams, Vijay Iyer, Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Threadgill, Amina Claudine Myers, and Anthony Braxton, while also committing himself to uplifting and mentoring the next generations of young artists in Chicago and beyond, connecting tradition and history to the urgency of the present moment. ___
The Personnel
Ernest Dawkins • Composer, Director, Alto Saxophone and Soprano Saxophone, Vocals, and Percussion
Khari B. • Disco poetry
Kevin King • Woodwinds Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute and Oboe
Corey Wilkes • Trumpet, Electronics
Jamal Damien • Trumpet
William Faber • Banjo, Electronics
Caramani Edwards • Bass
Brian Mayo Trombone
Miles Richey • Piano
Isaiah Spencer • Drums