Angel Bat Dawid’s Requiem for Jazz Isn’t for Grieving
The clarinetist–composer’s new work is a corrective to repeated handwringing about the genre’s future.
By Mark Guarino
September 24, 2019, 5:15 PM
In just a few years, Angel Bat Dawid has emerged as one of the most compelling figures in Chicago’s free jazz scene. The clarinetist–composer has performed in ensembles led by Ben LaMar Gay, Damon Locks, and Roscoe Mitchell, and founded a collective called the Participatory Music Coalition. Earlier this year, the Chicago label International Anthem released her acclaimed debut The Oracle.
At this weekend’s Hyde Park Jazz Festival, she will debut Requiem for Jazz, a 12-part multidisciplinary performance that will include an instrumental ensemble, vocalists, visual projections, and dancers.
Dawid, 39, spoke recently from her home in Matteson.