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| Nicole Mitchell in Downbeat Critics Poll 2007 In the August 2007 issue of Downbeat Magazine, Nicole Mitchell has placed #1 in the Rising Star Flutist category. This is Mitchell's third year to carry the title. For the first year, Nicole has also placed in the Veteran Flute category. Nicole Mitchell has been celebrated for bringing a exciting new approach to flute improvisation. Co-president of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), Mitchell is the founder of the critically acclaimed Black Earth Ensemble and Black Earth Strings. #1 in Downbeat magazine's critic's poll for "Rising Star Flutist 2006 and 2007", Mitchell has performed with creative luminaries including George Lewis, Anthony Braxton, Lori Freedman, Miya Masaoka, James Newton and Muhal Richard Abrams. She also works on ongoing projects with Ed Wilkerson, David Boykin, Hamid Drake and Arveeayl Ra. Nicole Mitchell is one of few African American women to take the path as a creative instrumentalist, composer, bandleader and an educator. With her ensembles and as a featured flutist, she has been a highlight at art venues and festivals throughout Europe, the U.S. and Canada. Awarded "Chicagoan of the Year 2006" by the Chicago Tribune, Mitchell is co-president of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Mitchell does a variety of residencies, workshops and panel discussions in Europe, Canada and the U.S. with a focus on creative music. Mitchell is thankful to mentors including: Jimmy Cheatham, Donald Byrd, Brenda Jones, James Newton, George Lewis, Fred Anderson, Ernest Dawkins and Edward Wilkerson. Black Earth Ensemble (BEE), founded by Mitchell in 1997, is a forum for her compositions and creative vision. BEE is a multi-genre, multi-generational celebration of the African American cultural legacy. Notable performances for Black Earth Ensemble include the Sons d'hiver Festival (Paris), Guelph Festival (Canada), Le Labbre Nude Festival (Rome), Kerava Jazz Festival (Finland) and Nouve Forme Festival (Verona). With Black Earth Ensemble, Mitchell has recorded three critically acclaimed CDs: Vision Quest, Afrika Rising and Hope, Future and Destiny. Mitchell also leads Black Earth Strings, an acoustic quartet that brings African rhythms, contemporary sounds and swinging improvisation to a chamber music setting. In March, Nicole Mitchell directed the AACM's Great Black Music Ensemble in her newly commissioned work "Episodes for Creative Ensemble, " featuring saxophonist Matana Roberts. Mitchell also currently directs the Wheaton Jazz Ensemble at Wheaton College. Nicole Mitchell has performed as featured soloist with the Orbert Davis Chicago Jazz Philharmonic at the Auditorium Theater and at Millineum Park in Chicago. In December 2005, Nicole Mitchell performed a special duo concert with pianist Muhal Richard Abrams in celebration of the AACM's 40th Anniversary in Chicago. Mitchell has also performed as a soloist with composer George E. Lewis and the International Composer's and Improvisers Ensemble (2003) in Munich, Germany. In Chicago, Mitchell has also been a featured soloist with Chicago's CUBE Ensemble, University of Chicago's Jazz X-Tet, and the New Black Repertory Ensemble of Columbia College. Currently Nicole Mitchell recently premiered "Xenogenesis Suite at the 2007 Vision Festival in New York" -- pieces inspired from science fiction writer Octavia Butler's award winning novel "Dawn." This work has been commissioned by Chamber Music America's New Works: Creation and Presentation Program funded through the generosity of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Mitchell has also been Illinois Arts Council fellow for music composition (2005, 2002). Her piece "Dream Deferred for piano" inspired by Robert Shumann's "Scenes from Childhood", premiered at Ravinia in fall 2006. In November 2003, Mitchell unveiled Vision Quest: Hope, Future and Destiny (VQ), a multi-dimensional community project featuring Black Earth Ensemble and a cast of over fifty people in dance, video, acting with live music. This major project was sponsored by the Jazz Institute of Chicago through the support of the Illinois Arts Council. Mitchell currently directs other projects which include: Tindanga Mama (a multi-generational, all-woman ensemble) and the Aaya Sensation (a group showcasing the talents of Mitchell's teen daughter). In addition to her own projects, she performs with the collective, Frequency (with Ed Wilkerson Jr., Arveeayl Ra and Harrison Bankhead), the Indigo Trio (with Hamid Drake and Harrison Bankhead), the Exploding Star Orchestra (project of Rob Mazurek), the Orbert Davis Jazz Philharmonic, the New Black Reperatory Ensemble (of Columbia College), the Great Black Music Ensemble (of the Chicago AACM), the David Boykin Expanse, and Anthony Braxton's 12tet. Her newest project is founding and directing the AACM Creative Youth Orchestra, which began in fall 2006. Mitchell has done a variety of residencies, workshops and panel discussions in Europe and the U.S. with a focus on jazz and creative music. This spring, Mitchell completed a residency with forty local musicians in Paris. The project, called Unity Orchestra, featured her compositions at the Banlieues Bleues festival in April 2007. In 2005, she was a faculty member of the Vancouver Creative Music Institute (Canada) and the Sherwood Flute Institute (Chicago). In June 2006, and 2007, Mitchell returned to Vancouver to work with a large ensemble of talented high school musicians and lead their performance at the Vancouver Jazz Festival. Mitchell has also done residencies at Guelph, Canada, and University of Michigan. At home in Chicago, Mitchell is part-time jazz faculty of University of Illinois, Circle and Wheaton College. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |