Interested in performing in this festival? See the How to Apply to Perform at the 2010 MOSE Music Festivals page at ExploreChicago.org.

Interested in performing in this festival? See the How to Apply to Perform at the 2010 MOSE Music Festivals page at ExploreChicago.org.

Portland Cello Project     Monday, August 2, 6:30 pm

Formed in late 2007, this indie-cello orchestra has had a meteoric rise in Portland’s vibrant music scene. “Portland Cello Project is a rotating cast of classically trained cellists known for mixing Salt ‘n’ Pepa with Bach and providing the lush backdrop for some of indie rock’s most compelling voices,” said Spin Magazine. The group has a strong community focused approach and aims to increase accessibility to international audiences. Whether playing a symphony hall or a local punk club, the Portland Cello Project continues to cross the popular-classical divide by collaborating with a veritable who’s who of local musicians across different genres. In Millennium Park, we’ll see six cellos on the stage of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, under the musical stewardship of Douglas Jenkins.

http://portlandcelloproject.com

Victoire   Monday, August 9, 6:30 pm

This chamber-rock quintet, founded by composer/pianist Missy Mazzoli in 2008, presents a stirring blend of winds, strings, keyboards and lo-fi electronics. Missy Mazzoli is noted as one of “the most consistently inventive and surprising composers now working in New York” (New York Times).  Victoire was recently dubbed “an all-star, all-female quintet” by Time Out New York and was described by Pitchfork as “… so good… a pleasingly accessible entree into the world of modern pseudo-classical music.”  The group is exclusively dedicated to performing Mazzoli’s work and offers a mix of dreamy post-rock with quirky minimalism and rich romantic sounds. Since forming in 2008, the group has shared the stage with artists such as Tortoise, Bing and Ruth, Twi the Humble Feather, and Redhooker.  Victoire will release their first full-length album in late September 2010 on New Amsterdam Records.

http://www.missymazzoli.com

http://www.myspace.com/victoiremusic

Lost In The Trees   Monday, August 16, 6:30 pm

This inventive music collective from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, helmed by composer and songwriter Ari Picker, has grown from a solo effort to a full symphonic band. Picker’s group merges the dramatic symphonic elements of classical music with the accessibility of American folk and modern pop, creating a sound that is simultaneously intimate and sonically ambitious. Lost In The Trees was recently featured at this year’s SXSW music festival and will re-release the album All Alone In An Empty House on August 10, 2010 through Anti-Records.

http://www.lostinthetrees.com

Clare and the Reasons   Monday, August 23, 6:30 pm

Brooklyn-based/chamber group Clare and the Reasons is fronted by collaborators Clare Manchon and Olivier Manchon; this band creates swirling orchestral pop and is complete with a string section. The group presents elegant arrangements infused with beautiful harmonies, full of catchy melodies and childlike vocals. “Clare and the Reasons play sweetly intricate chamber-pop that somehow mingles folk-pop, Philip Glass, cabaret oompay and the Beach Boys — for starters — behind the songwriter Clare Muldaur Manchon’s poised high voice, with an endearing quaver,” said The New York Times.  Clare and the Reasons will return from their appearance in Japan just in time to hit the stage at Millennium Park on August 23.

http://www.claremuldaur.com

http://www.myspace.com/clareandthereasons

06/07           Solvent                                                         http://solventcity.com/

06/14           The Cool Kids                                              www.coolxkids.com/

07/03           Green Velvet aka Cajmere                           http://www.myspace.com/greenvelvet

07/05            Nice Nice                                                     www.nicenice.net/

07/12             El Guincho                                                  http://www.myspace.com/elguincho

07/19             High Places                                                 www.hellohighplaces.blogspot.com/

07/24            Chicago Hip Hop–All Headz on Deck           www.chihiphop.org

07/26             A Grape Dope

08/02            VHS or BETA Dee Jays                                 www.vhsorbeta.com/VOB/Home.html

08/09            Javelin                                                            www.myspace.com/hotjamzofjavelin

08/16             Juan Maclean DJ Set                                   http://www.thejuanmaclean.com/

08/23            All City Affairs                                                www.allcityaffairs.com/

08/30            Future Rock                                                    www.futurerock.net

09/04            Orchard Lounge                                             http://www.myspace.com/orchardlounge

07.29.2010        Tortoise 2.0

Tortoise kicks off the series with a world premiere, concert-length commission featuring Dan Bitney, John Herndon, Douglas McCombs, John McEntire and Jeff Parker along with Ed Wilkerson, Greg Ward, Nicole Mitchell, Jim Baker and Fred Lonberg-Holm. Unique in the world of contemporary music, the group is known for its boundless intellectual curiosity, unmistakable compositional voice and contradictory sound worlds.

08.05.2010   Mary Lou Williams at 100 featuring Bethany Pickens and Amina Claudine Myers

Bethany Pickens leads an all star band in a retrospective to honor jazz innovator, composer and pianist Mary Lou Williams, who arranged for Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and Earl Hines, and mentored Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Thelonius Monk, among others. Amina Claudine Myers’ special commission salutes Williams, in honor of the jazz pioneer’s hundredth birthday. Participating as Music Director, Richard Wang, noted historian and Music Professor Emeritus at UOIC and project consultant Cecilia Smith from New York make certain that the celebration will engage the whole spectrum of Williams’ power.

08.12.2010     Toumani Diabate and the Chicago Transilience Ensemble

Internationally acclaimed Malian kora master Toumani Diabate, continues his collaboration with Chicago’s jazz community in a concert of original and newly commissioned material. Toumani Diabate joins the Chicago Transilience Ensemble led by Jeb Bishop and Josh Berman with Hamid Drake, Josh Abrams, Jeff Parker, Jason Adasiewicz, Nicole Mitchell and Nate Lepine for an evening of cross-cultural fertilization, improvisation and expanded musical frontiers.

08.19.2010    Django: A Celebration featuring Alfonso Ponticelli and Swing Gitan with Special Guests

Belgian-born Gypsy jazz guitarist, Jean “Django” Reinhardt revolutionized the way people think about the guitar and helped pioneer a hybrid form of jazz, known for its hot grooves. To mark his centennial birthday, Alfonso Ponticelli along with guests Ensemble Zaiti from France and Stephane Wrembel and Arturo Martinez from New York join Swing Gitan to tell Django’s musical story and remind us why his style and sound reverberate throughout the jazz world today. Also featuring Tony Ballog, Beau Sample, Jason Miller, Howard Levy, Gerald Dowd, Pat Mallinger, Steve Gibons, Nicolae Feraru, Juliano Milo and Larry Bowen.

08.26.2010   Latin Inferno: James Sanders Conjunto with Special Guests Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre, Papo Santiago and Fred Anderson

Steeped in the Afro-Cuban musical tradition, violinist James Sanders can be seen and heard across Chicago from symphonies to Latin clubs and everywhere in between. This night, his Latin Jazz band, Conjunto, featuring Steve Eisen, Jose Porcayo, Luis Rosario, Roel Trevino, Donald Neale, Jean-Christophe Leroy and Brett Benteler welcomes members of Cerqua Rivera Dance Company, vocalist Papo Santiago and special guest saxophonist Fred Anderson for an evening of fiery music making.

For more information about this performance, visit: http://www.chicagolatinjazz.com/http://www.chicagolatinjazz.com.

09.02.2010  Big Band Birthday Bash: Ahmad Jamal’s 80th with the Chicago Jazz Orchestra**

Time 7:30pm – 10:00pm

What better place to feature a pioneer of musical rhythm and space than in Millennium Park’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion? A seminal pianist with strong Chicago ties; Ahmad Jamal’s impact on jazz spans a good portion of his eighty years. Jeff Lindberg’s Chicago Jazz Orchestra renews its engagement with Jamal and his trio for a big band birthday bash in the Park.