On February 11, 6:30pm at Preston Bradley Hall, (Chicago Cultural Center), Nicole Mitchell will premiere a new work entitled "Mother Nature," featuring harpist Edmar Castenada with Black Earth Ensemble. The concert is free. Mitchell has admired Castenada's polyrhythmic approach to harp improvisation since their meeting/performance together at Banff as faculty for Dave Douglas' Jazz and Creative Music Workshops in Canada last summer. She states: "I think Edmar has found a new language for his instrument and it will be an amazing encounter for us to connect with him in Black Earth Ensemble. Of her new work, "Mother Nature," Mitchell states the desire "to inspire us to realign with the wondrous Earth, whom we depend on for our very lives. Then the healing can begin."
6:30pm, Preston Bradley Hall, Chicago Cultural Center 78 E Washington Street, Chicago 312-744-6630
Black Earth Ensemble featuring Edmar Castenada, Columbian harp
Nicole Mitchell flutes, composition
David Boykin bass clarinet
David Young trumpet
Jason Adasievitz vibraphone
Marcus Evans drums
Edmar Castaneda was born in 1978, in the city of Bogotá, Colombia. Since his move to the United States in 1994, Edmar has quite literally taken New York and the world stage by storm with the sheer force of his virtuosic command of the harp—revolutionizing the way audiences and critics alike consider an instrument commonly relegated to the “unusual category”. A master at realizing beautiful complexities of time, while skillfully drawing out lush colors and dynamic spirit, Edmar has been characterized as “almost a world unto himself” (The New York Times). The legendary Paquito D’Rivera, Edmar’s frequent collaborator, has remarked:
Edmar is…an enormous talent, he has the versatility and the enchanting charisma of a musician who has taken his harp out of the shadow to become one of the most original musicians from the Big Apple.