Nicole Mitchell (musician)
Encyclopedia
Nicole Mitchell is an American jazz
flautist
and former president of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians
(AACM).
. Her first instruments were piano and viola, which she started playing in fourth grade. She was classically trained in flute and played in youth orchestras as a teenager. Though she initially had intended to major in mathematics
in college, she took a class in jazz music from Jimmy Cheatham
while a college student at University of California in San Diego, and took to busking
in the streets playing jazz flute. After two years at UCSD, she transferred to Oberlin College
in 1987.
In 1990 she moved to Chicago
, where she played on the streets and worked for Third World Press
, a publishing house devoted to black culture. She met members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians
, and soon started playing with the all-women ensemble Samana
under the AACM umbrella. In 1992 she left Chicago, living in New Orleans, and gave birth in 1994 to a girl named Aaya. She returned to school in 1993 and then again in 1996, completing her BA at Chicago State University
in 1998; she earned her Master's from Northern Illinois University
in 2000. She met Hamid Drake
in 1995 and worked with him extensively in the second half of the decade. In 1997 she began an association with saxophonist David Boykin, who encouraged her to start her own group, which she called the Black Earth Ensemble. In the early 2000s, she became a co-host for the Avant-Garde Jazz Jam Sessions in Chicago that were started by Boykin, bassist Karl E. H. Seigfried
, and drummer Mike Reed
.
Mitchell began teaching at Chicago area institutions at the end of the 1990s, holding positions at Northern Illinois, Chicago State, Northeastern Illinois University
, Wheaton College
, and the University of Illinois at Chicago
. She issued her debut album (with the Black Earth Ensemble) in 2001, entitled Vision Quest on her own label, Dreamtime Records. The album included appearances from Drake, violinist Savoir Faire, Edith Yokley, Darius Savage, and Avreeayl Ra. Vision Quest was expanded into a theater piece in 2003.
Down Beat
magazine named her the "Rising Star" for flautists in 2004, 2005, and 2006. And in 2010 and 2011 Mitchell won 1st place in both the "established" Flute and the "Rising Star" Flute categories in the "Down Beat
International Critics Poll. She has been co-president of the AACM since 2006. In 2006 she also worked in the collective Frequency with Harrison Bankhead, Edward Wilkerson
, and Avreeayl Ra for an album released on Thrill Jockey
. From 2009-2010 she was president of AACM.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
flautist
Flautist
A flautist or flutist is a musician who plays an instrument in the flute family. See List of flautists.The choice of "flautist" versus "flutist" is the source of dispute among players of the instrument...
and former president of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians
Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians
The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians is a non-profit organization, founded in Chicago, Illinois, United States, by pianist/composer Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall, and composer Phil Cohran....
(AACM).
Biography
Mitchell was born on February 17, 1967 in Syracuse, New York, where she was raised until age eight, when her family moved to Anaheim, CaliforniaAnaheim, California
Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States...
. Her first instruments were piano and viola, which she started playing in fourth grade. She was classically trained in flute and played in youth orchestras as a teenager. Though she initially had intended to major in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
in college, she took a class in jazz music from Jimmy Cheatham
Jimmy Cheatham
Jimmy Cheatham was an American jazz trombonist and teacher who played with Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton and Ornette Coleman. In 1978, Cheatham was invited to head the jazz program at University of California, San Diego and, in 1979, he was appointed head of the African American and jazz...
while a college student at University of California in San Diego, and took to busking
Busking
Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
in the streets playing jazz flute. After two years at UCSD, she transferred to Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
in 1987.
In 1990 she moved to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, where she played on the streets and worked for Third World Press
Third World Press
Third World Press is the largest independent black-owned press in the United States.In December 1967, Haki R. Madhubuti met with poet and activist Carolyn Rodgers and Johari Amini in the basement of a South Side apartment in Chicago to found Third World Press, an outlet for African-American...
, a publishing house devoted to black culture. She met members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians
Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians
The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians is a non-profit organization, founded in Chicago, Illinois, United States, by pianist/composer Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall, and composer Phil Cohran....
, and soon started playing with the all-women ensemble Samana
Samana
-Dominican Republic:*Samaná Province*Samaná, Dominican Republic, or Santa Bárbara de Samaná, the capital of Samaná Province*Samaná Peninsula*Cape Samana on Samaná Peninsula*Samaná Bay, a body of water in the Atlantic next to the Samaná Peninsula...
under the AACM umbrella. In 1992 she left Chicago, living in New Orleans, and gave birth in 1994 to a girl named Aaya. She returned to school in 1993 and then again in 1996, completing her BA at Chicago State University
Chicago State University
Chicago State University is a state university of the U.S. state of Illinois, located in Chicago.-History:Cook County Normal School was founded in 1867, largely through the initiative of John F. Eberhart, the Commissioner of Schools for Cook County...
in 1998; she earned her Master's from Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University is a state university and research institution located in DeKalb, Illinois, with satellite centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford, and Oregon. It was originally founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895 by Illinois Governor John P...
in 2000. She met Hamid Drake
Hamid Drake
Hamid Drake is an American jazz drummer and percussionist. He lives in Chicago, IL but spends much of his time traveling around the world for concerts and studio dates....
in 1995 and worked with him extensively in the second half of the decade. In 1997 she began an association with saxophonist David Boykin, who encouraged her to start her own group, which she called the Black Earth Ensemble. In the early 2000s, she became a co-host for the Avant-Garde Jazz Jam Sessions in Chicago that were started by Boykin, bassist Karl E. H. Seigfried
Karl E. H. Seigfried
Karl E. H. Seigfried is a German-American jazz, rock, and classical bassist, guitarist, composer, bandleader, writer and educator based in Chicago....
, and drummer Mike Reed
Mike Reed
Professor G. Mike Reed is an American computer scientist and Director of UNU/IIST, Macau, part of the United Nations University since 2005. Previously he was at the Oxford University Computing Laboratory where he was also a Fellow in Computation of St Edmund Hall, Oxford...
.
Mitchell began teaching at Chicago area institutions at the end of the 1990s, holding positions at Northern Illinois, Chicago State, Northeastern Illinois University
Northeastern Illinois University
Northeastern Illinois University is a public state university located in Chicago, Illinois. The main campus is located in the community area of North Park with three additional campuses in the metropolitan area. Tracing its founding to 1867, it was first established as a separate branch of a...
, Wheaton College
Wheaton College (Illinois)
Wheaton College is a private, evangelical Protestant liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago in the United States...
, and the University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Illinois at Chicago
The University of Illinois at Chicago, or UIC, is a state-funded public research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, near the Chicago Loop...
. She issued her debut album (with the Black Earth Ensemble) in 2001, entitled Vision Quest on her own label, Dreamtime Records. The album included appearances from Drake, violinist Savoir Faire, Edith Yokley, Darius Savage, and Avreeayl Ra. Vision Quest was expanded into a theater piece in 2003.
Down Beat
Down Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
magazine named her the "Rising Star" for flautists in 2004, 2005, and 2006. And in 2010 and 2011 Mitchell won 1st place in both the "established" Flute and the "Rising Star" Flute categories in the "Down Beat
Down Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
International Critics Poll. She has been co-president of the AACM since 2006. In 2006 she also worked in the collective Frequency with Harrison Bankhead, Edward Wilkerson
Edward Wilkerson
Edward L. Wilkerson, Jr., , is an internationally recognized American jazz composer, arranger, musician, and educator based in Chicago...
, and Avreeayl Ra for an album released on Thrill Jockey
Thrill Jockey
Thrill Jockey Records is an American independent record label established in 1992 in New York City by former Atlantic Records A&R representative Bettina Richards.-History:...
. From 2009-2010 she was president of AACM.
Discography
- Vision Quest (Dreamtime Records, 2001)
- Afrika Rising (Dreamtime, 2002)
- Hope, Future and Destiny (Dreamtime, 2004)
- Indigo Trio:Live in Montreal (Greenleaf Records, 2007)
- Black Unstoppable (Delmark RecordsDelmark RecordsDelmark Records is an independent American jazz and blues record label, based in Chicago since 1958. The label originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953 when owner Bob Koester released a recording of the Windy City Six, a traditional jazz group, under the "Delmar" imprint.-History:Born in 1932 in...
, 2007) - Xenogenesis Suite (Firehouse 12, 2008)
- Anaya (Rogue Art, 2009)
- Renegades (Delmark RecordsDelmark RecordsDelmark Records is an independent American jazz and blues record label, based in Chicago since 1958. The label originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953 when owner Bob Koester released a recording of the Windy City Six, a traditional jazz group, under the "Delmar" imprint.-History:Born in 1932 in...
, 2009) - Emerald Hills (Rogue Art, 2010)
- Before After (Rogue Art, 2011) with Joëlle LéandreJoëlle LéandreJoëlle Léandre is a double bassist, vocalist, and composer active in new music and free improvisation....
and Dylan van der Schyff - Awakening (Delmark RecordsDelmark RecordsDelmark Records is an independent American jazz and blues record label, based in Chicago since 1958. The label originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953 when owner Bob Koester released a recording of the Windy City Six, a traditional jazz group, under the "Delmar" imprint.-History:Born in 1932 in...
, 2011) - The Ethiopian Princess Meets The Tantric Priest (Rogue Art, 2011)