Nearly four years ago pianist Jason Moran descended on Chicago to debut Looks of a Lot, an ambitious multimedia commission from Symphony Center. It grew out of a loose collaboration with artist and activist Theaster Gates into a sweeping salute to the profundity and resilience of Chicago’s creative music tradition on the south side. Moran voraciously absorbs art in all forms, and as the project developed he began enlisting a diverse cast from Chicago: reedist Ken Vandermark, whom he’d recently started performing with; singer and bassist Katie Ernst, whom he first encountered in 2012 through the Jazz Ahead program at the Kennedy Center, where he’s artistic adviser for jazz, in Washington, D.C.; and the high-caliber student band from Hyde Park’s Kenwood Academy, conducted by Gerald Powell and Bethany Pickens (Moran first heard them at the urging of Bethany’s late father, pianist Willie Pickens, when they performed at the Chicago Jazz Festival in 2013). The piece premiered on May 30, 2014, in a tightly choreographed performance at Symphony Center with a set designed by Gates.
Today’s playlist:
