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NICK MAZZARELLA, BEN LAMAR GAY AND THE SCANDINAVIAN BONANZA

A BLUESTEM JAZZ PRESENTATION
Saxophonist and composer Nick Mazzarella has been described as "continuing the approach taken by like-minded trailblazing altoists Eric Dolphy, Ornette Coleman, Henry Threadgill, Oliver Lake, and Gary Bartz by seeking to embody the history of the music while pushing it forward into new realms (All About Jazz). He has been a consistent presence in Chicago's music scene since the early 2000s where his continuous performance schedule has made an aesthetically unique contribution to the citys rich culture of jazz and improvised music. His working trios and quintet have served as the primary vehicles for his endeavors as a composer and bandleader, while as a collaborator or sideman he has performed and recorded with such artists as Joshua Abrams, Geof Bradfield, Hamid Drake, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Dana Hall, Makaya McCraven, Rob Mazurek, Avreeayl Ra, and Tomeka Reid. Recordings of his original music have been released by Nessa, Clean Feed, Astral Spirits, International Anthem, and Out of Your Head, and he has performed throughout the United States and Europe, as well as in Africa and the Middle East.

Raised on Chicago's South Side, Gay developed his cornet skills as a member of the respected AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians). As a solo artist, he released the album Orange under the Juba Dance moniker. From there, he appeared on albums by a diverse range of artists from hip-hop performer Polyphonic the Verbose and jazz drummer Makaya McCraven to alternative R&B artist Coultrain. He has also collaborated with Jaimie Branch, Theo Parrish, Celso Fonseca, and others. In 2018, Gay collected a handful of his own unreleased tracks for his debut album, Downtown Castles Can Never Block the Sun, on International Anthem. A second full-length, Open Arms to Open Us, arrived in November 2021 and featured appearances from Angel Bat Dawid, Ohmme, Tomeka Reid, Tommaso Moretti, and others.