Local Unsung Heroes

In my continuing series on Local Unsung Heroes of the Chicago scene, I'd like to shine the spotlight on Mwata Bowden, the multi-instrumentalist and educator who continues to plant the seeds that ensure the future of great music here in the city.

He was born in Memphis but grew up in Chicago, spending some of his formative years living near the once vibrant stretch along 47th street, where you could hear live jazz at the Regal Theater, the Metropolitan Theater, and at the historic Gerri's Palm Tavern.

He started out on the clarinet, studying under the legendary Captain Walter Dyett. Captain Dyett's band program produced such luminaries as Gene Ammons, Von Freeman, Joseph Jarman, John Gilmore, Clifford Jordan, Wilbur Ware, Richard Davis, Fred Hopkins, Wilbur Campbell,  Leroy Jenkins, Dinah Washington and Johnny Hartman, to name only a few. Mwata is a part of the second wave of AACM members that includes George Lewis, Douglas Ewart, Henry Threadgill, Anthony Braxton, and others.

After graduating from college with a degree in music education, he picked up the baritone sax and hit the road with the big R&B acts of the time, playing with the bands Bobby "Blue" Bland and Albert King amongst others. This aspect of his sound is still very much a factor as he can get deep into the blues and R&B bag. He's probably best known for his long association with Ed Wilkerson's 8 Bold Souls, he performs with Tatsu Aoki's Miyumi Project, and he also leads his own groups, Tri-tone and Sound Spectrum.

But when I think of Mwata, I think of a fantastic musician and an incredible human being. He is a consummate educator, leading the jazz big band at the University of Chicago, acting as the conductor of the AACM's Great Black Music Ensemble, and bringing his warm and generous spirit to every situation he is a part of.

I also think of him as a secret weapon in any ensemble he plays in. Most people don't think of him as a dominating voice, but that always puts him in a position to impress and wow people with his playing, which he does for me on a consistent basis.

There's a great interview with Mwata available here, and if you ever get a chance to hear his music or speak with him, I encourage you to do so. He possesses a magnanimous.spirit and a kind heart which he expresses in everything he does.

Thanks for everything, Mwata.

This is the first post in what I hope will be a long series that will shine a spotlight on local musicians here on the Chicago scene who are not as well known on the national and international scenes. Another main criteria for the series is that it has to profile musicians who do something active to help foster the local scene. I'm sure you all know musicians that fit this description in your own local scene.

The first musician I'd like to write about is Ari Brown, a local tenor saxophonist and pianist.

He was actually mentioned over at Do the Math, both in relation to a Muhal Richard Abrams album and in a follow up email by Craig Taborn singing his praises, the latter of which is particularly noteworthy for highlighting the fact that Chicago is "teeming" with unsung music masters. I agree wholeheartedly.

Ari Brown is probably best known for his extensive involvement in the AACM, appearing with Muhal Richard Abrams, Lester Bowie, an ongoing chair in Kahil El'Zabar's Ritual Trio, also making a guest appearance with the Art Ensemble of Chicago on occasion. He's soft spoken in person with a monster tone on the tenor and a deft touch on the piano, displaying a mastery of both instruments that makes you wish he'd left a little talent for the rest of us.

He has two Delmark titles in his own name, Ultimate Frontier and Venus, featuring his quartet and his own compositions. Brown has an impeccable sense of history on his saxophone, encapsulating the entire tradition with an ease that is rarely heard while retaining an individuality. To me, he exemplifies the ethic of inside/outside playing, utilizing the vocabulary of bebop and Coltrane era harmonic understandings with post-Coltrane extended techniques and emotional expression. One listen to his tenor and you know he comes from Chicago, following in the great tradition of Sonny Stitt, Gene Ammons, Clifford Jordan, Von Freeman, and John Gilmore, amongst others.

Perhaps more importantly, Ari has and continues to teach private lessons to young budding musicians here in the city on both saxophone and piano, regularly teaches in the public schools through a local program placing musicians in classrooms, and retains an ease of personality and conviviality that makes you wish he was your uncle. Just knowing that he's out there teaching makes me feel good about the future of music.

I wish there was some seminal recording that he's featured on that I could recommend to you - certainly the Muhal recording mentioned earlier deserves a listen (but then again I believe all Muhal Richard Abrams recordings deserve a listen, so I'm biased), and of his two quartet recordings I prefer the latter, Venus. He recently appeared with his Quintet at the Banlieues Blues festival in Paris, continuing a long standing relationship between the AACM and that festival, and last year he appeared in Poland leading his own group. It's a shame he doesn't get to lead in his own name more often, but I understand why it doesn't happen: he's so in demand as a sideman, and it seems to agree so well with his personality.

I have a dream that someday there will be a festival here in Chicago where Ari Brown will be the artist in residence and sit in with every band on the bill. There's no doubt in my mind that he could pull it off with ease - he's at home in any variation of jazz, as long as he has a horn or a piano to play.