Chicago's Avant Today: Delmark 50th Anniversary Collection in Bloomington, MN

As part of
Delmark Records
' 50th anniversary celebration, the label has been issuing budget-priced compilations of some of its stellar offerings. Earlier in 2003, there were double CDs of
jazz
and
blues
followed by a host of single-disc compilations. This is one of the most satisfying, a single-disc overview of the Windy City's vanguard tradition as it bridges the passing and new centuries. Nothing on this set was recorded before 1993 (
Kahil El'Zabar
's
Ritual Trio
"Trane in Mind"
) and some was recorded as late as 2002 (guitarist
Jeff Parker
"Holiday for a Despot"
). In between are offerings from leader like
Ken Vandermark
and his
Sound in Action Trio
,
Ernest Dawkins' New Horizon Ensemble
Malachi Thompson
(who began to come into his own in the 1990s), and
Rob Mazurek
with the
Chicago Underground
. In addition, many of the leaders here -- such as
Mazurek
Parker
, and
Vandermark
-- are part of other ensembles. From the smoking,
jump blues
post-bop
of
"Stranger"
by the
Dawkins
ensemble that clearly echoes the tradition while extending it beyond its imagination to the loping, Latin-tinged exotica of
"Ostinato,"
to the
Afro-blues
modalism of
El'Zabar
Thompson
"An Elevated Cry,"
as well as sonic extrapolations aplenty when
, and the
NRG Ensemble
use
as a platform for a world of musical ideas, this collection is provocative, riveting, and quite accessible. If you are a looking for a way into the outside in general, or to survey the breadth and depth of Chicago's
vanguard, this compilation is for you. ~ Thom Jurek