A 2016 Chicago Jazz Festival preview: James Sanders Proyecto Libre

This Is Jazz Today:  A 2016 Chicago Jazz Festival preview, in sound & vision.

James Sanders Proyecto Libre

Some of the previews you’ll read around the internet about this group will immediately highlight how James Sanders, as a jazz violinist, fits into the pantheon of predecessors on that instrument.  A few might mention some current names of the scene, too.  That’s all well and good, nothing wrong with that, but the lifeblood of this music, and its interest to you as a festival goer, is how Sanders’ ensemble meshes a Latin Jazz sound and a classic free jazz form of expression.  I hear this music and the first thing that comes to mind is how saxophonist Gato Barbieri launched into a similar synthesis of sound on his 1967 ESP’ Disc recording In Search of the Mystery.  This is where the inviting cadence and percussion of Latin Jazz attains a magical synchronicity with musicians who seem perpetually in conflict with the concept of form and structure… and yet it grooves and it flows and it’s wild and untamed and it’ll either freeze you in your seat in astonishment or it’ll compel you jump up from your seat and shout… maybe both, probably.

The show is happening at 12 noon on Friday, September 2nd in the Von Freeman Pavilion.

Listed as performing with Sanders are bassists Harrison Bankhead and Joshua Abrams, drummer Avreeayl Ra and percussionist Jean-Christophe Leroy.  You can’t go wrong with any of those musicians on stage.  Note:  A traumatic event has Avreeayl Ra in recovery and may not be performing at the festival.  If you’d like to donate to his cause, here’s a link to a Gofundme page.

Here’s a couple live tracks from a 2015 performance at Lewis Achenbach’s Jazz Occurrence…

Read more about this band and this upcoming show on the Chicago Jazz Festival site.

And here’s a cool short video of what it all looks like…

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The 38th annual Chicago Jazz Festival is taking place in (and around) Chicago’s Millennium Park, Wednesday August 31st – Sunday September 4th.

Read more about why you should be a part of the audience by visiting the official Chicago Jazz Festival site

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