Chicago historically hemorrhages talent: at times it seems that any writer, actor, or musician who’s any good at all is destined to leave. Even the post-Vandermark Chicago free-jazz scene–viewed the world over as a model of sustainable self-sufficiency and collaborative spirit–isn’t immune to the curse. In the past year, Chicago Underground drummer Chad Taylor and improviser Jim O’Rourke have both moved to New York. Hustling saxophonist Scott Rosenberg made an impression here quickly, but abruptly left to travel the world–he’s currently in France. And last month Chicago Underground ringleader Rob Mazurek followed his wife to Brazil.
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As these local fixtures perform out of town with increasing frequency, the audience they worked so hard to win is faced with a daunting crop of unfamiliar names–many of them younger musicians who’ve been drawn to Chicago in the past few years. It’s still too soon to tell what the new generation might contribute as a whole, but recently some individual players have started to show serious promise. In contrast to their improv-oriented predecessors, the new guys are working toward a sound that’s more introspective and composition based and draws on a wider range of jazz and nonjazz influences.
Nonetheless, with the exception of Rempis’s three-year-old trio, Triage–with drummer Tim Daisy and bassist Jason Ajemian–the new wave has yet to produce any distinctive working groups. Some of the players gig with their elders, but most form loose alliances with one another that disband after a few gigs. According to Aram Shelton, a 25-year-old saxophonist who moved here from Florida in 1999, “it’s kind of like dating in Chicago. There are lots of girls here and a lot of guys here, and it seems like it’s hard for people to commit to each other because they keep thinking, ‘Oh, someone better is out there.’” He and his peers acknowledge the role good working groups play in attracting an audience, but as Vandermark approvingly points out, “they’re doing what they need to do. They’re not making concessions in their aesthetic choices based on what they think the audience needs. That’s really good, and if the music is strong people are going to take chances on seeing these guys anyway.”
This weekend some of the next wave’s brightest lights are performing at the Nervous Center Improvised Music Festival, organized by Daisy; check the jazz listings for a complete schedule. Most of the players mentioned above will perform, as will up-and-coming percussionists Jason Adasiewicz, Dan Sylvester, and Jerry Bryerton, bassist Jason Roebke, pianist Alec Ramsdell, and reedist John Doyle, as well as vets Ernst Karel, Lonberg-Holm, Vandermark, and Drake (the last two perform on Thursday, January 10). “I think we’re all really patient,” says Shelton. “We realize that it’s going to take a long time to be comfortable playing this music and to get noticed. Everyone that’s doing well right now–Vandermark’s groups, the Underground groups–those guys are older than us and they’ve been doing it for a long time. Some people think they can come to Chicago and make a name really quick, but it’s impossible. But it is possible to do things, to change your ideas, and to think about what you’re going to do with the rest of your life.”
