A exciting set at the Original Velvet Lounge in ChicagoBy Chris Cooke
Omaha, Nebraska – Saturday night?s Last Call will return to Chicago for a new record by another of the groups to emerge out of the fertile avant-garde jazz scene of the Windy City.
The centerpiece of the show will be Ernest Dawkins' New Horizons Ensemble. The new CD from the band is The Messenger. Recorded live at the Original Velvet Lounge, before it was closed (The New Velvet Lounge has since opened to continue the tradition), the performance is Chicago jazz, cooked up to a boil.
From July 14, 2005, the Ensemble, lead by Saxophonist Ernest Dawkins, includes Trumpeter Maurice Brown, Trombonist Steve Berry, Bassist Darius Savage, and Drummer Isaiah Spencer.
Listeners and critics have noticed how much the three-decade-old band evokes the spirit of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. The band also embraces the dissonance of vintage free jazz, while not leaving most listeners behind. The result is a spiritually passionate, relentlessly exciting set.
Besides the CD, a DVD is available of the same performance, also on Delmark records.
Selections from Ernest Dawkins' New Horizons Ensemble's recording The Messenger will be presented on the Last Call Saturday night at 11pm.
Chris Cooke is the host of Jazz in the Afternoon and Last Call on KIOS-FM.