For 34 years, master percussionists Michael Zerang and Hamid Drake have carved out a space of temporal grace in an ever-changing world with their winter solstice concerts. Even the fiercest lovers of winter can struggle with Chicago’s months of increasing darkness and welcome the return of the sun, and these performances, which celebrate and uplift the growing length of our days, are works of nondenominational spirituality that offer a breath of fresh air from the commercialism of the holiday season. That such a tradition has continued uninterrupted for nearly three and a half decades (they livestreamed the 2020 edition) and has even grown is itself a small miracle.
This year there are five events: three sunrise duos held at Links Hall (for which Zerang was once a curator and producer) and two larger evening bills at Constellation. On Saturday night, Chicago-based avant-garde indie-folk guitarist Bill MacKay (of Black Duck and BCMC) will join Zerang for the first evening concert; Drake will play in a duo with internationally renowned New York bassist and composer William Parker. The second evening will feature the world premiere of a new piece by Parker called Chicago Shout. Parker is a master improviser and jazz historian who’s played with luminaries such as Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry, and Peter Brötzmann, and he frequently contributes to the Chicago scene. For this occasion, he’s pulled together a large ensemble of local musicians, including Drake, Zerang, saxophonists Ari Brown and Isaiah Collier, vocalist Zahra Glenda Baker, trumpeter Ben LaMar Gay, pianist Jim Baker, and bassist Joshua Abrams. This year the winter solstice proper—the moment when the planet’s tilted axis points most directly away from the sun—falls on Saturday, December 21, at 3:21 AM Central Standard Time. Our ancestors observed the longest night of the year and celebrated the promise of brighter days ahead in varying ways. Our descendants may very well carry on the tradition—it’s a reminder that dark times come, but they also pass. In the spirit of jazz and improvisational music, these performances call on artists and audience members alike to be fully mindful in the present moment, come what may, and to find inspiration and resilience in collaboration.
Hamid Drake & Michael Zerang winter solstice sunrise concert Sat 12/21 – Mon 12/23, 6 AM, Links Hall, 3111 N. Western, $38
Hamid Drake & William Parker, Michael Zerang & Bill MacKay Sat 12/21, 8 PM, Constellation, 3111 N. Western, $30, 18+
Hamid Drake & Michael Zerang with William Parker and ensemble This group performs Parker’s composition Chicago Shout with a lineup that also includes vocalist Zahra Glenda Baker, trumpeter Ben LaMar Gay, pianist Jim Baker, saxophonists Isaiah Collier and Ari Brown, and others. Sun 12/22, 8 PM, Constellation, 3111 N. Western, $30, 18+