Chico Freeman Celebrates His First Anniversary Back in the U.S.

Chico Freeman Celebrates His First Anniversary Back in the U.S. with Concerts in Seattle, Chicago, Baltimore, New York and Pittsburgh

Photo credit: Lois Gilbert

NEW YORK, NY, May 2, 2017 – After living in Europe for more than a dozen years, saxophonist Chico Freeman has been enjoying life at home for the past year. Touring around the country with eyes wide open looking at America with a fresh new perspective, he celebrates the anniversary of his homecoming with concerts in Seattle, Chicago, Baltimore, New York and Pittsburgh.
 
“The moment I returned to New York, I heard the sounds, smelled the aromas, felt the spirit of home,” said Freeman. “I immediately hit the clubs and concert halls and caught as much music as I could.  My homecoming reinforced what I had learned about myself and my music while working and living among different cultures – I can draw from the past, experience the present and think about my future, but all I really have to do is play my heart out and reach for infinite possibilities.”
 
Chico Freeman’s upcoming dates include:

Seattle, WA
May 20, 2017
Ballard Jazz Festival
Chico Freeman - Special Guest headliner performing with the George Colligan Trio
Chico Freeman - tenor saxophone
George Colligan - piano
Evan Flory-Barnes - bass
Matt Jorgensen - drummer
 
Nordic Heritage Museum, 3014 NW 67th St., Seattle, WA 98117
(206) 219-3649   www.ballardjazzfestival.com
7:30 pm
 
Chicago, IL
May 25-28, 2017
Jazz Showcase
Chico Freeman Plus+tet
Chico Freeman - tenor saxophone
Anthony Wonsey - piano
Kenny Davis - bass
Rudy Royston - drums 
George Freeman - guitar (Sunday, May 28, only)
 
Dearborn Station, 806 S. Plymouth Ct., Chicago, IL 60605
(312) 360-0234   www.jazzshowcase.com
8:00 pm, 10:00 pm, plus 4:00 pm on Sunday

Baltimore, MD
June 1-2, 2017
An die Musik Live
Chico Freeman Plus+tet
Chico Freeman - tenor saxophone
Anthony Wonsey - piano
Warren Wolf - vibes
Corcoran Holt - bass
Billy Hart - drums 
 
409 N. Charles St., Second Floor, Baltimore, MD 21201
(410) 385-2638   www.andiemusiklive.com
8:00 pm, 9:30 pm
 
New York, NY
June 7-8, 2017
Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola
Chico Freeman Plus+tet
Chico Freeman - tenor saxophone
Anthony Wonsey - piano
Warren Wolf - vibes
Kenny Davis - bass
Nasheet Waits - drums
 
Jazz at Lincoln Center, Broadway at 60th St, New York, NY 10019
(212) 258-9595  www.jazz.org 
7:30 pm, 9:30 pm
 
Pittsburgh Jazz Live International Jazz Festival
June 18, 2017
Chico Freeman Plus+tet
Chico Freeman - tenor saxophone
Anthony Wonsey - piano
Warren Wolf - vibes
Kenny Davis - bass
Nasheet Waits - drums
 
Pittsburgh Cultural District
(412) 456-6666     www.pittsburghjazzlive.com

​Born into the Freeman family legacy of Chicago, which includes his father, legendary NEA Jazz Master saxophonist Von Freeman and his uncles, guitarist George Freeman and drummer Bruz Freeman, Chico built a diverse following while performing R&B, blues, hard bop and avant-garde. Returning to Chicago is more than a homecoming for Chico, it is also a 90th birthday celebration for his Uncle George, who will join the band at the Jazz Showcase on Sunday evening. Adding to the Chicago magic, pianist Anthony Wonsey and bassist Kenny Davis were mentored by Chico’s father.
 
Expect Chico Freeman’s repertoire to be diverse and swinging when he makes his triumphant return to Dizzy’s. For the two evenings at Jazz at Lincoln Center, he has written new music and will also draw from his 2016 release, Spoken Into Existence, as well as from early albums.  He also will be "tipping his hat" to his friend, the late Bobby Hutcherson, who appeared on Chico's Destiny's Dance.
 
Spoken Into Existence is Freeman’s third release on the Austrian label Jive Music, and the first to be released in the U.S. It follows The Essence of Silence (2010) and Elvin: The Elvin Jones Project (2012).  Jones, the iconic drummer, hired Freeman in 1976 soon after he moved from Chicago to New York and sponsored Freeman’s second recording as a leader, Beyond The Rain, on Contemporary Records.
 
Freeman’s collegiate studies in Advanced Composition and Theory at Northwestern University led him to teach composition at the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) Music School, and while attaining his Masters in Composition and Theory at Governor State University, he studied composition with NEA Jazz Master Muhal Richard Abrams. Although jazz was the first music Freeman was exposed to, many of his early professional gigs were at Chicago clubs with blues artists including Memphis Slim, and Lucky Carmichael. Freeman went on to play with many pop and R & B greats The Temptations, Michael Jackson, The Four Tops, Jackie Wilson, The Dells, The Isley Brothers and The Eurythmics as well as Latin stars Chucho Valdes, Tito Puente, Machito, Irakere, Arturo Sandoval, Celia Cruz, Eddie Palmieri and others.
 
After arriving in New York, he soon began working with Jeanne Lee, Mickey Bass, John Stubblefield, and Cecil McBee. Through apprenticeships in New York and abroad with innovators Elvin Jones, Don Pullen, Sam Rivers, Sun Ra and Jack DeJohnette, Freeman developed his own group and rapidly rose to prominence with his energetic and exploratory style. 
 
No doubt Chico Freeman is happy to be home, but this jazz nomad frequently hits the road, making stops around the world including the London Jazz Festival; International Jazz Day in Yerevan, Armenia; Umbria Spring Jazz Festival in Terni, Italy; and Alpha Jazz Festival in Lviv, Ukraine.
 
For more information on Chico Freeman and his music:
http://chicofreeman.com
https://facebook.com/chicofreeman
http://twitter.com/chicofreeman
https://instagram.com/chicofreemanjazz
https://www.youtube.com/chicofreeman

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