Ethan Philion's Meditations on Mingus is a 10 person ensemble that honors the great bassist and composer Charles Mingus. The band has performed at Dizzy's Jazz at Lincoln Center, Chicago's Hyde Park Jazz Festival, the Green Mill, North Street Cabaret, Evanston Township Jazz Festival, Northwestern University, Oberlin Conservatory, and more. They were one of the featured artists for the Jazz Institute of Chicago's New Works Fresh Voices Program. The group was featured as a headliner at the 2022 Chicago Jazz Festival. Their debut album was released in August of 2022 on Sunnyside Records to critical acclaim--Downbeat Magazine praised the album as a "labor of conspicuous love for a musical titan..Philion demonstrates chops and taste...sophisticated yet faithful arrangements" and Neil Tesser wrote in JAZZIZ that "ingenious wrinkles along with dazzling and deeply realized performances from all lift this album above so many of this year's Mingus centennial tributes."
"Meditations on Mingus" connects the social and political themes in Mingus’s music to modern life. Mingus used his music to speak against injustice and to call for compassion towards all people. His message resonates in our current era--an era marked by increasing incidents of hate crimes, aggressive political polarization, and ever-increasing wealth disparity. The compositions performed in “Meditations”--such as “Pithecanthropus Erectus,” “Meditations on a Pair of Wire Cutters,”and “Haitian Fight Song,”--speak to these issues of injustice. The compositions ask listeners to reflect on humanity’s capacity for evil, but as Mingus’s psychiatrist put it, they are also “a call for acceptance, respect, love, understanding, fellowship, freedom--a plea to change the evil in man and to end hatred.”
“Meditations” is directed by bassist Ethan Philion, one of the Chicago area’s most active freelance musicians. Philion won 1st place in the 2019 International Society of Bassists Jazz Competition and is a 2020 Luminarts Fellowship winner. He maintains a busy performance schedule in Chicago and beyond, including performances with Greg Ward, Ryan Cohan, Russ Johnson, Dana Hall, Ernest Dawkins, Mark Feldman, Alyssa Allgood, and more.
Ethan Philion-Double Bass
Lenard Simpson-Alto Saxophone
Mai Sugimoto-Alto Saxophone and Flute
Geof Bradfield-Tenor Saxophone and Bass Clarinet
Russ Johnson-Trumpet
Victor Garcia-Trumpet
Tracy Kirk-Trombone
Brendan Whalen-Trombone
Julius Tucker-Piano
Dana Hall-Drums and Cymbals
Tickets - $20
