Edward Wilkerson Jr. is an internationally recognized composer, arranger, saxophonist, clarinetist, and educator based in Chicago, where he has been closely associated with the AACM, serving at one time as its president. He first came to prominence as a member of Khalil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, participating in a number of recordings by the group. As founder and director of the cutting-edge octet 8 Bold Souls, and the 25-member Shadow Vignettes ensemble, Wilkerson has toured festivals and concert halls throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, and the Middle East. “Defender,” a large-scale piece for Shadow Vignettes, was commissioned by the Lila Wallace/Reader’s Digest Fund and featured in the 10th Anniversary of New Music America, a presentation of BAM’s Next Wave Festival. His music can be heard on over a dozen recordings, including two film soundtracks and the critically acclaimed albums Birth of a Notion, and 8 Bold Souls, both on his own Sessoms Records label.
exploring the role of sound and listening in natural and cultural environments
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Summer Soundwalk Series: Deirdre Harrison, Ed Wilkerson and Avreeayl Ra
September 7 @ 10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Join us at Washington Park, 550 E 60th St (pedestrian access from Best Dr), on Saturday, September 7th at 10:30am. Artist and educator Deirdre Harrison and jazz legends percussionist Avreeayl Ra and saxophonist Ed Wilkerson invite explorers of all ages to take a walk on the wild side of Chicago Parks.
Cross the bridge and pass through the rarely opened gate of Bynum Island in Washington Park. We will hike paths once well-trodden and paths grassed over, listening for sounds of wind, wood and water. We’ll listen for contributions made by humans and other creatures living in or near the island and imagine soundscapes from its past as a magical moonscape playground, an adventure course site, and rehearsal space for south side musicians. Participants will be asked to respond to the emerging musical calls of woodwinds and percussion. The walk culminates in the grassed over amphitheater where we will jam, dance and hear a story in honor of the island’s former history as a place where teaching artists employed by the park district once welcomed children out of school time. Participants will be gifted clay water whistles and children will receive a new book for their home libraries as an invitation to keep reading and make joyful noise.
The soundwalk meeting spot is at the marker for the entrance to Bynum Island on E. Best Drive, which runs inside the park parallel to E 60th Street on the southern edge of the park. The entrance to the bridge is about halfway between the east and west sides of the park and can be accessed from S. St. Lawrence Ave as well. Another icon that may appear on Google Maps is Washington park Playground South. There is plenty of free parking along E. Best Drive. MSAE will have a banner and someone to greet walkers. Click here for a link to the direct coordinates on Google Maps.
Participants are encouraged to bring bug spray and wear long pants and sleeves if they have sensitive skin. The island is accessible, but not all pathways are.
RSVP here: https://forms.gle/GFC4DFfyi1tMNPZC7
Deirdre Harrison works as a director and performance artist in Chicago’s burgeoning new music/opera scene and with her kids’ chamber band The Lucky Trikes, who lead free, public music story times all over the region, and their bigger, bawdier adult iteration, The Lucky Bikes. Deirdre has worked as a professional actress and singer for many years in London, Rome, New York and all over the regions in the UK and US. She believes all people have stories to tell, and that listening to each other’s stories enriches us all beyond measure. During the day, she runs a consulting practice, Big Dipper Projects, Inc. to support and coach nonprofits, creative small businesses and individuals, and to produce cultural events. In March 2023, she produced a global conference with over 200 scholars and artists for the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology’s 30th Anniversary at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida.
Avreeayl Ra Amen (he/him), born Arthur L. O’Neil in Chicago on May 21, 1947, has become a local legend in the rich, progressive Chicago avant-garde jazz scene, with a career spanning more than half a century. John Kelman of IndieJazz.com described his solos as “part Tony Williams, part Evan Jones, and all RA.” The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) describes him as a “master drummer” and claims him as a longtime member. Ra represents one of Illinois’s most treasured cultural exports as a home-grown jazz musician; he has played in various African nations, Austria, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.
In partnership with Night Out In The Parks and the Chicago Park District, our program consists of a series of guided soundwalks, workshops and training sessions that engage multi-generational communities in their own neighborhoods. Participants will listen to and for cultural and natural features of the landscape. Rivers, streets, residential and commercial dwellings, traffic patterns, human and animal sounds all feature in these soundscapes. Are plants tuning in, contributing, or responding to all this sound? How do we listen culturally, collaboratively, and more carefully?