Asian American Jazz Festival 30th Anniversary Panel

Saturday, September 27

TIME: 4:30pm-5:30pm

VENUE: Logan Center screening room. 915 east 60th st.

Chicago’s Asian American Creative Jazz movement was influenced by the San Francisco Bay Area Asian American Jazz and Improvising Music movement led by Francis Wong, Jon Jang, Anthony Brown, Mark Izu, Glenn Horiuchi and Miya Masaoka in the 80’s. SF Asian American Jazz Festival was the origin of the Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival which started 30 years ago at the city's Bop Shop and Hot House. Jon Jang’s Pan Asian Arkestra was presented in 1994, and Anthony Brown’s Asian American Orchestra was presented in 2000 at the Chicago Jazz Festival. In 2001 Jazz Institute of Chicago’s executive director (at the time) Lauren Deutsch initiated to inaugurate the Chicago version of Asian American Big Band and created a residency program as a local Asian American initiative. Chicago Asian American creative musicians already had sold roots in the city both in Jazz/Creative and Blues music, yet recognition of such track records were few and far between. Thus the first Asian American Creative Jazz Big Band was born as a project “Origins of Now” MIYUMI project big band and this was the first Asian American big band local in Chicago. This conversation considers the history and contemporary landscape of the Asian American Creative Jazz movement. 

The celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the Asian American Jazz Festival is made possible in part by support from the MacArthur Foundation.