As we all go through this season of coronavirus together, we’re finding that the very thing we, as humans, most need, being closer, can actually be a bad thing.
Which made me realize that less “high touch” forms of connection, including social media, have just become more important than ever ─ with “social media” especially living up to its name as never before.
Can’t hug or shake hands? Keeping your distance? Staying particularly aware of who is coughing in the office, while disinfecting your desk for the seventh time? But still need connection?
Where to go? What to do?
Post. Like. Comment. Share.
And wave. Elbow bump. Jazz hands. Vulcan salute.
Call. Text. Email. Send a card.
Yes, as we can already see, we’re walking smack dab into the middle of that “undiscovered country” Mr. Shakespeare told us about. A twilight forest, where the shadows can quickly turn into monsters if we don’t have a hand to hold.
But we’re being told not to hold hands right now.
So, what to do?
Post. Like. Comment. Share.
And wave. Elbow bump. Jazz hands. Vulcan salute.
Call. Text. Email. Send a card.
Connect.
We’re all in this together.
And, I do believe that, over the coming weeks and months, we’re going to realize that more than ever.
Comments Note: All comments are reviewed. Any that are considered to be a personal attack or hate speech will be removed. In my blog, I always try to be respectful. I expect the same from my readers, both in responses to me, and about or to each other. And, again, thank you for reading.
Copyright 2001-2020, James R. Warda. All rights reserved.
James Warda, author of “Where Are We Going So Fast?”, is a keynote speaker who focuses on connecting to each other, and ourselves, through our moments. His background also includes being a writer and speaker for Chicken Soup for the Soul Enterprises, and a columnist for the “Chicago Tribune” and Pioneer Press.
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Experts say training to be an athlete – ready to run marathons, compete in endurance trials and eat and train seriously — should represent the culmination of proper nutrition, smart exercise and committed lifetime habits.
It’s a timely topic, since March is National Athletic Training Month.
The founder of several Chicago runners’ groups for African-American men and women remembers how he discovered the hurdles of transitioning to outdoor running after sticking to a treadmill for two years.
“I didn’t have the confidence to go outside,” said Terrance L. Lyles, a resident of Greater Grand Crossing who grew up in Chicago’s West and South Sides.
Lyles said he overcame his hesitation to run outdoors by starting a training program that focused on completing a certain distance.
“I started during a hot summer, and it was rigorous,” Lyles said. “You run outdoors in the elements with no excuses – whether it’s in rain or ice, or cold or hot weather,” he said. “Other than lightning and thunder, it’s ‘Game on.’”
Lyles’ running high was cemented after he lost 30 pounds early on in his training, saw his skin clear up, quit drinking liquor, and got in tune with how good he felt after a long run.
The journey had its moments.
“My first eight-mile run, I remember like it was yesterday,” Lyles said. “I didn’t think I was going to die. I knew I was going to die.”
Yet his perseverance led him to become a certified running coach and create and mentor 57 members of Men Run Deez Streets, and Black Chicago Runners, with 225 women members. Men Run Deez Streets counts 12 other active members spread among Atlanta; Houston; Little Rock, Ark.; Tampa, Fla., and St. Louis.
“It’s not a fad. It’s a lifestyle,” he said.
Others who’ve transitioned into serious athletes say they’ve overhauled their diets: They’ve quit soda pop, cut back on eating favorite cakes, donuts and cookies, and started munching on nuts instead of chips.
In fact, running outside puts extra demands on breathing, and, when it’s cold, can blunt a person’s thirst reflex, said Audra Wilson, a dietitian at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in west suburban Geneva, Ill.
Wilson, who ran the 2018 Chicago Marathon, advises runners to weigh themselves before and after trial runs – not to become obsessed with each ounce one way or the other – but to see how much water weight they’re losing, and to plan to hydrate to make up for the loss.
“I lose three to four pounds on a (marathon) run,” she said. “I need to drink at least 64 ounces before the run and then drink every 15 minutes if I’m running for an hour or longer.”
The best way to know if you’re staying properly hydrated? Your urine should be light yellow to clear throughout the day, said Alicia Glass, senior sports dietitian for the United States Olympic Committee.
The latest research shows runners should beware eating too many calories and too many carbs.
“You can’t outrun a bad diet,” Wilson said. “Half of our plates should be non-starchy vegetables such as broccoli, onions, peppers, cauliflower, and/or a salad; one-quarter of the plate should consist of carbs, such as oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice and, on a heavy running schedule, a glycogen drink to maintain the body’s main form of fuel for long-term energy; and one-quarter should include protein, such as eggs, tofu, fish, legumes, chicken breast and lean meat.”
Dairy products such as milk, soy milk, other milk substitutes, and yogurt also fall under high-quality proteins, Glass said.
“After eating enough proteins and carbohydrates, dietary fats should fill in to balance out our energy needs,” Glass said. “The best choices are fish and plant sources rich in essential fatty acids, which act as anti-inflammatories for the heart and body. Salmon, avocados, olive oil and nuts, such as walnuts and almonds, are great examples.”
Yet Glass also noted that 30 minutes of running may burn 200 to 300 calories. That’s less than a cup of pasta – not a huge entree dish of spaghetti.
Professional sports games will continue as usual in Chicago, at least for the time being.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she spoke Wednesday with “all the major sports teams” in Chicago. With opening day games coming up for the Cubs and White Sox, Lightfoot said she’s talking to team officials, but they’re “not there yet” on restricting access, even as soccer games in Italy are being held in empty stadiums because of the virus.
“We’re mindful of the fact that the Fire (home opener) is on March 21st, and that opening day for the two sports teams, obviously the Blackhawks and the Bulls are playing,” Lightfoot said. “This is something that we are in conversation with them about. And we’re looking, and as the situation evolves we will be continuing those discussions on an ongoing basis. But we’re not there yet.”
On Wednesday, San Francisco’s mayor banned all gatherings of more than 1,000 people in the city, including Golden State Warriors NBA games. And in Washington state, Gov. Jay Inslee banned public gatherings of more than 250 people, including Seattle Mariners baseball games.
Navy Pier issued the below statement in regard to its event on Sunday, March 14:
Due to rising concerns related to the potential community spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) at high-volume events, and out of an abundance of precaution, Navy Pier has cancelled this Saturday’s Holi celebration, which typically expects around 3,000 guests. This determination was based on discussions with local Indian community leaders and partner organizations for this event, and the decision is in line with the measures recommended and taken by the City of Chicago’s Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Please note that while this particular event has been cancelled in anticipation of a high volume of guests and to ensure public health safety at large-scale events in the current climate, Navy Pier is continuing its standard daily operations and has been taking appropriate measures—as recommended by the CDC and local agencies—to ensure the safety and well-being of its guests on a regular basis.
Navy Pier continues to invite and encourage guests to visit and experience its many Pier-wide offerings—from dining, retail and attractions, to theater productions, museum activities and free cultural programming. Please take the time to review CDC guidelines and use them as a practical guide for continuing to actively explore and enjoy the Pier and the city.
Christopher Morel doesn’t swing at everything, but aggressive is certainly an apt description of his current approach at the plate. Thankfully, the 20-year old also shows good barrel control, allowing him to square up pitches even when reaching out of the zone to get to them. He did make strides on waiting for better pitches to hit in 2019, which was a big reason for his success. He’ll need to continue improving in that area if he ever hopes to tap into his above average raw power and reach his ceiling as an everyday player.
2019 Midseason Update:
The Chris Morel show is in full swing at South Bend. Maybe the most exciting player to watch in the system, he brings an energy and aggressiveness to all facets similar to Javier Baez. Here are just a handful of the defensive plays he’s made at 3B this year pic.twitter.com/teG13s2Imm
Morel is one of the more energetic on-field presences in the Cubs system. He shows a penchant for exciting plays in the field and on the bases. If given the opportunity, Morel could probably play any position on the field, including short (his inital pro position) and center. I’m not big on comps, but there are shades of former 15-year MLB veteran and Cubs utility man Jose Hernandez, who finished his career with a .312 OBP but also 168 homers, while playing 50 or more games at six different positions and making appearances everywhere except pitcher and catcher.
There will be more power to come as well. Morel is only 20 and still getting stronger. Some of his many doubles and triples will start getting over the wall in the coming years. In the meantime, enjoy watching him go for third base with frequent abandon. pic.twitter.com/WD6ZISzlWB
The acquisition of Luis Rivas didn’t elicit much notice this offseason. A 2018 4th rounder by Oakland out of the University of Arizona, the first baseman has hit just 10 home runs across his first 800 professional plate appearances. But he’s also batted .290 with a .390 OBP as a pro, while already receiving a cup of coffee in AAA a year and a half into his career. He continued to show well in the AFL (.306/.417/.449) as well.
Rivas is likely to open 2020 in AA (he skipped AA to make his late season appearances in AAA last year), but don’t be surprised to seem him in Iowa by midseason as the Cubs don’t have a natural first baseman set for Iowa. A left-handed hitter, his lack of power production makes it difficult to project him into a full-time MLB role at 1B, but the Cubs are making some adjustments to help him turn on some more pitches rather than taking everything the opposite way. Rivas is also a solid athlete with plenty of arm for the corner outfield so proving he can become an adequate defender out there will go a long way toward securing a future bench job.
His other path to a Major League role would be to unlock additional power. He’s not a big guy, but he does have enough bat speed. The trouble is his swing is grooved for the opposite field. He’ll need to learn to turn on pitches more frequently. We saw him do so on a run scoring triple in a ST earlier this week.
Jared Young (Photo by Stephanie Lynn)
At this time last year it appeared that Jared Young was poised to put himself into the same conversation. Another 1B/COF, Young had already begun tapping into some power in 2018 (16 HR), then made a strong impression last spring. He’d hit a few home runs over the first couple of weeks once the AA season opened, but everything fell apart from there, as a lack of plate discipline and an inability to lift the ball consistently haunted him the rest of the way. Young would finish with just 5 HR in 123 games. His struggles continued in the AFL (.196/.315/.304, 1 HR).
It certainly looks like Young is in danger of being bypassed in the system by Rivas. A former middle infielder, he has the advantage of being the better athlete, but he’ll need to rediscover his power stroke to put himself back on the map. This figures to be a pivotal season in his career.
While P.J. Higgins has settled in as a catcher while still retaining enough athleticism to handle the infield, Cam Balego didn’t take quite as well to the catcher conversion. He’s stuck mostly to third base, but still offers the ability to step behind the plate if necessary. A year ago that may not have mattered much, but with the extra bench spot now available on MLB rosters, coupled with the offensive improvements Balego made at Myrtle Beach in 2019, it isn’t out of the question Balego could eventually factor in as a AAA/MLB shuttle player down the road.
Nelson Maldonado by Rikk Carlson
I can’t really wrap my head around Nelson Maldonado at this point. A low bonus, senior sign out of the University of Florida, his contact skills translated immediately at the pro level. He put the barrel on just about everything (.332/.378/.456) for both Eugene and South Bend. But as an undersized right-handed first baseman, he’ll either need to show he can play corner outfield or develop some home run power. He’ll get his chance at Myrtle Beach to start the year.
Myrtle Beach will also feature three maybe-but-probably-not prospects at the infield corners (Tyler Durna, Luke Reynolds, Jake Slaughter) drafted the year before Maldonado. Durna offers good defense and plate discipline but like Maldonado lacks much juice in his bat. Reynolds has pop, but probably never hits enough to fully access it. Slaughter is the best athlete and a potential late bloomer, but after a disappointing collegiate career at LSU, his pro career started slow as well. He finally showed some progress at the plate as an over-ager for Eugene and then after a call up to South Bend late in 2019. I’m not a big believer, but he can at least move around the diamond to make up for some of his current short comings at the plate.
The Cubs used a 13th round pick last July on Ryan Reynolds, who is the son of former Houston Astros hurler Shane Reynolds. His career at Texas was rather non-descript and he failed to make much contact in his stint on the Cape in 2018, but he is a good athlete and it seems like the Cubs are betting on him as another late bloomer. The contact issues cropped up again for the switch-hitter in his pro debut. My guess is he’ll open the year in South Bend, but I wouldn’t rule out him staying behind in extended spring training either.
A short season bat to keep an eye on is 19-year old Widimer Joaquin. Praised as a raw power bat when signed off the international market in 2017, there were concerns raised regarding whether Joaquin’s hit tool would develop. Well, two years into his pro career Joaquin has hit at least .290 in each season, so I’m going to take that as a win. The power has yet to come around, but from the initial scouting reports, that was likely to be expected. I’ve yet to see him live or really even on video, so I can’t offer any insight, but he figures to get his first taste of Eugene this season. I’ll definitely be watching.
By Kelley Lauginiger // @peapodmcgee,
today at 4:13 pm
Photo by Rene Huemer
One of the improv music scene’s most dynamic performers is coming to Chicago this weekend and you don’t want to miss it. Extraordinary trumpet player and home to one of the most robust and powerful voice boxes around, the lovely Jennifer Hartswick will be joining Melvin Seals & the Jerry Garcia Band at Park West this Saturday.
Hartswick is currently on her own duo tour with friend, guitarist and collaborator Nick Cassarino (check for dates near you here) and will soon head to Iceland with longtime collaborators Umphrey’s McGee. We caught up to talk about music giving us all the freedom to experience, and how she experiences it as a traveling performer every day.
Q: Since you grew up with Nick, do you feel like it’s just your own intimate thing that you are sharing with everyone else?
A: Yea, that is what we sort of set out to do. We’ve known each other now for twenty years! So after playing music together so long, we just sort of had this idea one day to invite people into what we’d already be doing in our living rooms anyway. If he comes over my house, that’s what we do, and if I go over his house, that’s just what we do. So we thought, “Hey, people might kinda like this!?”
Q: Well, they do! Your music together is so well-received by music fans and critics alike. But you also don’t tour many dates, so it also creates demand in that it’s not to be missed when you come through town.
A: Well, thanks. I mean, it’s our favorite thing to do. We talk about it all the time, that of all the stuff we do, and all the collaborations and bands we’re a part of, we just love to share and perform this music together.
Q: Is your project with Nick the way you’re most true to yourself as a performer and creator, compared to your more collaborative roles in other arrangements?
A: No question about it! We know each other so well that there is a full-on telepathy situation that happens (laughing). We don’t have to talk about anything; he reads my mind and I read his mind, and we just know.
And what’s interesting is, he is always pushing me to be a better musician. I think there is always this … feeling of safety with him, that if I want to try something insane, that he is gonna be right there.
Q: Like your personal safety net?
A: Yes, totally! There’s an absolute safety net with him. And sometimes it’s gonna bomb, and then we laugh about it, cuz that’s what we do. But sometimes, it sticks, and we’re so excited and get to freak out about it together later, like, “Remember that thing you did?!” (laughing) There’s just this really free feeling with him where we both feel free to try stuff. Free to experience.
Q: That’s so cool and so special with your close friend. Do you and Nick talk at all about how your experiences playing improvisational music for so long, in so many projects, has led you to a place where you can kind of pick up and play with anyone, but that it’s especially great with each other?
A: Yes, definitely. We both grew up in an improvisational world, playing jazz music when we were much younger. Improv is a part of everything we do, and I know for me, it is the basis of what I set out to do every day.
‘Cuz you can play the same song every day, but how is it going to be different and special this time? It is our responsibility as improv musicians to make it feel new, to deliver something different, and for you guys as the crowd who see lots of shows, to experience something fresh so you enjoy it and have a new experience.
I know I feel lucky for that in some ways, because for some performers that’s not a thing. I LOVE Chris Stapleton, I’m a huge fan of his songwriting, I think he’s an amazing performer, singer, guitar player; I just think he’s great. I saw him this summer and I thought to myself, “He doesn’t have that luxury of singing it a different way each show. He doesn’t have that option because every single person in there wants to sing along with him, which is a really beautiful thing. But, at the same time, I would lose my mind if I had to sing every note, every inflection the same way every night.
Q: That’s such a good point. People expect that.
A: I was one of them! I was one of these people (laughing). I really thought to myself, “Wow, he isn’t allowed to do anything different with that melody, ever. What a bummer!” So it made me really appreciate my situation a little more.
Q: Hilarious. You live in Nashville, the epicenter of country music. Do you find this with a lot of country music?
A: I think a lot of popular music, period, not just country. The shows that sell a zillion tickets. You assume that when you go see that person, it’s going to sound *just* like the record. That’s sort of what they sell you; that experience, where it will be much more visual, but sonically, it will be exactly the same.
Q: That brings up a really good point about the way your own music translates live. I love your song, “Numb,” and I notice when you play it with Nick, it can be fast, slow, soulful, bluesy, have a hip-hop kinda vibe, or really any number of styles. Is that just how you’re feeling that night, and the variables of the room you’re in, or is the song meant to be malleable in its creation?
A: I think any difference in performance night to night is strictly about whatever is happening that night. I also think it depends how long we’ve been performing a song. The more you perform it, the less raw it becomes, I guess, if that makes sense?
Q: Like it’s not therapeutic as much once you’ve gotten it out, or done it enough times?
A: Right, exactly, it just becomes a vehicle to do whatever we want in this moment. At the time of writing it, it was a vehicle for what I was going through then.
The life of a song; it really goes through all sorts of metamorphoses, you know? We wrote that track and went right into the studio, so the version on the record is very much of a, “OK! Here’s how it goes.” And now, a couple years later, it’s really grown into a total vehicle for something else. That’s one of the beautiful things about music, is that it will have a life right along with you.
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Q: So beautifully said. I love what you said about creating something for a reason, but then when that reason isn’t as prevalent, being able to just play the music in its natural form. That says so much about the interpretation listeners have of music as well, who can extract your words and sounds and apply them to their own timeline as well.
A: Definitely. People can tell if it’s genuine, you know? I know I can tell if someone’s just writing another one of “those songs.” People are really smart. So if you write about things that you really feel, and are true, I think people can feel that and put their own spin on it and relate it to their own lives as well.
Q: Absolutely. And as far as the lyrics on all of Nexus, they are deep. Is the album a personal story about you and your husband, (Chris Chew aka “Big Chew,” bass, North Mississippi Allstars), or someone in your life? Or are they written as kind of, general pining that people can ascribe to?
A: They are absolutely not about me and Chris. Some of them are stories, and some of them are about some real life shit. I wrote that music so I didn’t have to talk about some hard things I was going through, but, it is certainly not about my amazing, wonderful husband that I’m married to now.
Q: Fair enough. I can definitely understand what you mean about writing something so you don’t have to talk about it. So you go way back with Umphrey’s McGee and have collaborated with them a ton, for years. Can you talk about that a bit?
A: Umphrey’s and I have been family since about 2004. I knew them all single, I know all their wives and I know them as dads. I love all the band members and their whole crew. Being able to grow along with them has been an amazing, beautiful thing. I think they’re all incredible musicians and any time they call me to do something, it’s an obvious “yes.”
We’re all going to Iceland together soon, which should be a ton of fun. Those guys are just a dream to work with, and such sweet guys to be family with.
Q: HOW EXCITED ARE YOU FOR ICELAND?
A: Super, super excited! I’ve never been! I feel like that goes without saying, but I’m sure people have been to Iceland.
Q: Have people been to Iceland? (laughing)
A: (laughing) You know, that’s what I thought! I started telling people I was going and friends came out of the woodwork with suggestions to try stuff or go places, and I just didn’t know people had gone to Iceland!
Q: Is it Northern Lights time when you go?
A: I think it is! I think it’s the very beginning of that time. I hope that happens, that would be amazing.
Q: Maybe some great show photographers can get you guys all out there for an epic family photo under the lights.
A: Yes! They should just hire one to leave the show, and go get footage of that, no matter what. Hire people for the show, too, but definitely send someone out to get those (laughing).
Q: Since we’re talking Umphrey’s, I have to ask; have you ever played the “complisult game” with Joel Cummins (Umphrey’s Mcgee keys)?
A: I’m not sure, what is it?
Q: Well, it is when he delivers a comment to you that is half compliment, half insult.
A: (cracking up) No. Well, I guess, not knowingly! But, I wanna play.
Q: Joel has talked about playing this game with friends on the road, and I’m curious if the people getting “complisulted” are in on it, or it is just Joel doing a Joel-ruse (laughing).
A: (laughing) I will definitely inquire. We will have Icelandic versions of that I hope; I need to know about this.
Q: Definitely, please report back! So, another Umphrey’s-related question, when you are covering a male vocalist like Robert Plant or Angus Young, does it matter that you’re singing “a man’s part,” or is it just hitting the pitch and delivering a song?
A: Most of the time, it doesn’t matter. When you’re talking about Zeppelin, as far as I’m concerned, there are no dudes who can do that! Of course, I’m exaggerating. There’s probably some. But most guys don’t want to tackle that because it’s insanity (laughing)!
But you know, a great song is a great song. I was just talking to the Greensky Bluegrass guys this afternoon (in preparation for Winter Wondergrass) trying to decide which cover we would do together as a sit-in for me to join them. I said, “I’m going to walk on your stage Saturday. You can kick me off or we can do something, your choice.” (laughing) We’re just that close at this point. But, what I’m trying to say is, a great song is a great song. We went through lots of options, and kind of sifted through what would be most effective when playing just one song together in this upcoming moment.
We settled on some Pat Benatar, which should be super fun! (Hartswick performed “Heartbreaker” with Greensky Bluegrass on February 22. Stream the show here:)
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The point is to choose something everyone will love! Not some brooding, random song most people won’t know. That is kind of how I felt singing that Rush song at Red Rocks (“Red Barchetta,” July 1, 2017). One guy LOVED it, but everyone else was like, “What IS this shit?!”
The thing is, I got to meet the one guy. The one, super pumped guy. He came up and was freaking out, like, “OH MY GOD! ASK MY WIFE! I HAD A HEART ATTACK AND CAME RUNNING UP TO THE STAGE,” and I was just like, “Oh. You were the guy who cared about that song. Got it.” (laughing) It was just hilarious.
Q: That is amazing (laughing). Something I’ve always wondered, and it feels like a good time to ask…when you’re on stage singing and don’t have an instrument to play, what do you do with your gaze? Do you kinda just try to avoid eye contact or what do you do?
A: That is a really good question. I’ll say this, if you want to connect with people in the audience, people are really, really all about it (laughing). It can be super distracting, but people are there to have a good time and enjoy and dance. Sometimes I just look out to the back of the crowd and see nothing so I don’t lose concentration.
Q: That totally makes sense. We’ve talked a lot about your singing, but you are an amazing trumpet player too. How do you feel about there being minimal female trumpet players out there?
A: So, I first want to say, I am never going to be someone who forms an all-girl band as some kind of novelty. I’ve worked my entire life to not be a novelty, so that is just not my thing. If there are not women trumpet players, I think just being a trumpet player and showing up is how we combat that. The most famous female trumpet player is probably Ingrid Jensen, and she’s still playing and she’s been doing her thing for a long time.
Being authentic is so important. I think someone like Natalie Cressman, an awesome trombone player out there touring and creating all of her own music is just amazing. People need to see that.
Q: Well said. Do you and Natalie cook together at all when you’re on the road with Trey Anastasio Band? I know she loves to get in the kitchen.
A: No, but I wish we did. We don’t really have the ability to cook as we’re always on the go. But, for me, when I get home from touring, it’s almost a sign to my brain that I’m done working. It’s like, when I have the time for the privilege of cooking, I know I can relax and I’m home for that time at least. I can relax.
Q: That makes sense, and maybe why you appreciate it so much when you are able to do it. What’s your favorite thing to make?
A: My favorite thing is whatever you want. I love to cook for people. You could knock on my door and I’d make you a meal. I love to have people over and have a house full of people. It’s my favorite. We just bought a new house in December, but I’ve only spent about five nights in it so far (laughing), so I’m looking forward to using my kitchen there when I can.
Q: Are you a cook, of dinner/main course food, or are you more of a baker of desserts?
A: I am absolutely not a baker. I am 100 percent non-baker.
Q: Most people are one or the other, it seems.
A: I know! That’s definitely a thing. I think most people who bake are more Type A, who like to follow rules and measure the ingredients and stuff, and that’s just not me. I think a lot of musicians like to cook because of the improvisational nature of cooking.
Q: That’s so true. So as far as improv goes, aside from your own tour taking place, you are also playing in Chicago with Melvin Seals and Jerry Garcia Band on March 14. How vibey is Melvin Seals? He is just… a smile.
A: He IS a smile! Oh my gosh, I love Melvin Seals. He is just the best. We did some shows recently together for a few weeks and it was so fun to get some hang-time in. You said it better than I ever could; he is a smile! He’s got a big old heart. He’s a very special guy.
Q: Awww. What is he like? What are some things about him you would love for people to know about?
A: He just sort of exudes joy, whether there is an organ in front of him or not. He’s just a happy fella. I mean, I haven’t been on tour with him for 20 years or anything, but for those two weeks, I never saw him be anything but lovely (laughing). He’s a great guy.
One funny aside to share is that during that tour, he had just discovered the Animoji’s because the iPhone 11 had just come out. The band for that tour was on this huge group text and Melvin would send us all Animoji’s of himself as the poop (laughing).
Q: That is the best thing I’ve ever heard in my life (laughing).
A: Oh, definitely. What’s even funnier is that we were all on the same bus! He was hanging in the back lounge by himself, sending us texts like, “WAIT, there’s a unicorn?!” So, that’s what he’s like (laughing). He’s just really lovely. I appreciate him and his musicianship so much. He’s incredible.
Photo by Rene Huemer
Q: How is it different for you joining his six-or-seven-piece band as a backup vocalist/trumpet player, while coming in and out of your own tour where you are the focal singer with just two people on stage?
A: It’s a difference for me because I have to learn a lot of the JGB material. The Dead or Jerry’s music were never catalogs that I was very familiar with. When I’ve done shows with them, it’s been cool to kind of be in the back and play some trumpet. I have sung lead a few times, but only on songs where it feels right.
I think to be a well-rounded musician, you pretty much have to be able to do everything. Sometimes that involves shutting up, and singing harmony well, and not being the center of attention. That’s a real skill, an important skill, that a lot of people don’t feel they need to work on. But it’s very important. You have to learn how to play well with others, you know? And if they sort of, let you have a moment to shine, that’s cool. But you have to be ready to perform in all types of situations, because you never know what you will be called for tomorrow, and you need to be ready for it.
Q: Of all the different genres you’ve played as a sit-in queen, what’s something that has surprised you or something anecdotal you could share from your experiences?
A: I think honestly the hardest thing for me is sitting in with a bluegrass band. Really fast picking, major keys, and the fact that everyone takes a solo on every song…sometimes, very often even, you may even take two solos in the same song! It’s all very foreign to my soul. It’s like Oprah up there, “You get eight bars! And you get eight bars! And you get eight bars!” (laughing) It’s just a really different experience for me compared to my background.
I was At-Large at Strings n Sol and it was challenging for me. It’s not like I was uncomfortable, but it’s not what I’m used to. Like, a slow R&B song, I’ll sing that all day. That’s basically the opposite of bluegrass (laughing).
Q: Well you’re friends with Greensky, walking on their stage, so you’re doing all right. Do you play any bluegrass instruments?
A: No. I cannot play a chord on a guitar or any stringed instrument. I grew up playing piano when I was really young, then switched to trumpet by the time I was ten, and never looked back.
Q: Interesting. A perfect note to end on, re: trumpet. Would you rather jam with Miles Davis or Chuck Mangione?
A: Miles Davis. He was a nutcase. Who wants to hang out with somebody normal? He was innovative and he didn’t give a fuck. I admire that. There were a lot of people who didn’t understand him. I’m not saying I do; I don’t. But I would definitely want to jam with him.
Imagine an intimate room full of young children playing decorated DIY shakers and other instruments they’d just learned to make from beans, beads, macaroni, water bottles, and rice; or an audience at a senior citizens’ center cheering on an all-Black string quartet; or a crowd that ranges across the ages in between that’s dancing, mingling, and bonding over the pulsing introduction of Juvenile’s “Back That Azz Up,” played by the same all-Black string quartet. This is the kind of classical music experience that D-Composed is creating for Black people in Chicago.
D-Composed founder and executive director Kori Coleman, 28, grew up in the Lake County area, often visiting Chicago with her musically inclined family for productions at the Chicago Theatre and exhibits at the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium. Her mother, a teacher at a local community college, also took her to her school’s productions, introducing her to dance and music for free. Coleman’s mom played the French horn, her dad sang in choirs, and her older sister was a violinist in an orchestra. Coleman gravitated to the violin at age five, mostly playing Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and the like–dead white composers were the only composers she’d been taught. Though she gave up the violin by around age 16, her love for the arts remained.
In 2017, Coleman attended a Black History Month program called “The Black Composer Speaks,” presented by Fulcrum Point New Music Project (she’d previewed it for her lifestyle blog, the Chicagolite). “A light-bulb moment went off for me, where I realized I didn’t know Black composers,” she says. “It’s crazy, because as a Black person, you know Black people are in everything–but as a Black musician, I’d never thought about Black composers.”
To foreground Black composers, Coleman initially wanted to organize a series of concerts. D-Composed arose out of that effort. The quartet plays a wide range of material, including classical and trap music, and it prefers small rooms–cafes, galleries, private ballrooms, Chicago Park District facilities–rather than conventional concert halls. Its programming includes Family Edition shows (so far they’ve all been at the Stony Island Arts Bank) and D-Compressed yoga shows (at the Museum of Contemporary Art, though the group hopes to branch out to various yoga studios). But every D-Composed concert, no matter where or for whom, follows one rule: the music must be written by Black people.
Because Coleman hadn’t played classical music since her teens, when she started working toward D-Composed in spring 2017, she did what most millennials do–she started googling to find someone who shared her passion. She researched musicians from the Chicago Sinfonietta, a group that already had a track record of promoting diverse voices. One of those musicians was Danielle Taylor, who would soon become D-Composed’s artistic director and violist.
“I knew I wanted Black musicians, so I started literally googling ‘Black violinists in Chicago,’ and I came across another orchestra that I saw Danielle was a part of,” Coleman says. “I was like, ‘OK, let me do more digging on this individual.’ Then I did and I found her website, and I was like, I’m going to reach out to her and tell her about this series idea. I told her I wanted to do this, and what was really interesting was, we met up, just talked on the phone in April, and then we had our first event September 28, 2017, at Currency Exchange Cafe.”
Taylor, 32, grew up in Oakland, California, in the 1990s and started playing string instruments when she was seven. As she passed through a series of youth orchestras, specialized music programs, and other institutions, she learned that classical music was not a hobby that Black kids stayed with for long. That pattern persisted into her adulthood, when she earned bachelor’s degrees in violin performance and African American studies at Oberlin College & Conservatory.
“I’ve been in pretty intensive classical music training since I was a kid. Usually I’m one of just a couple of Black folks, if there are any at all,” Taylor says. “Usually, it’d be my younger sister. I didn’t realize until my adulthood that she was really the reason why I stayed in orchestras, because there was somebody that I could look at and be like ‘I got you!’ I think that if I didn’t have her there, I would’ve not really felt like the way I was experiencing the music was valid. That was the case from my early years through D-Composed. When I was at Oberlin College as a student, I planned a Black classical music conference, just because I didn’t see a lot of Black players and I wasn’t learning the music of Black composers.”
After graduating from Oberlin, Taylor returned to Oakland and taught classical music in public schools for a few years. At that job, she swiftly learned why Black and Brown kids don’t remain in the field like their white peers. While Taylor’s students of color shared crowded classes at underfunded public schools, her white students were given more expensive private lessons. “Oakland is very segregated. I could see firsthand the disparities in classical music education, because all the kids I taught in my public school job were all Black and Brown, all ready to play, ready to learn, and then I had a private studio that was primarily white folks,” Taylor says. “To leave the public school to go to my studio, it was just really destroying me, to the point where I felt like I couldn’t do them both spiritually–because it was so hard to see some folks not having access at all and other folks having more access than they even realized what a privilege it is. Then I decided I wanted to be a performer again.”
Taylor moved to Chicago in 2015 to study violin performance at Northwestern University, and she’s still working on a master’s. Her meeting with Coleman was anything but happenstance, and their intentionality manifests itself in the seamlessness of their planning for D-Composed. Their similarly disappointing experiences with classical institutions not seeking out the work of Black people made it easy to settle on a mission: uplifting Black composers and performers and bringing a more intimate classical music experience to Black communities throughout Chicago all year long, not just during Black History Month.
During their planning stage in spring and summer 2017, Coleman and Taylor didn’t yet have a concrete idea of what kind of ensemble D-Composed would be. Taylor, who’s well connected with other Black musicians in the city, e-mailed “all the Black people I knew in Chicago–and that’s a lot.” Several of the musicians who expressed interest had moved out of state since Taylor had last been in touch, though, and those who were left all happened to play string instruments–so D-Composed became a string quartet. In addition to Taylor, the group’s roster currently consists of Caitlin Edwards and Kyle Dickson on violin and Tahirah Whittington on cello.
Everyone in the group plays in other ensembles–D-Composed isn’t a full-time operation yet–and some have day jobs too. All four members are part of the Matt Jones Orchestra; Taylor runs the Chicago Sinfonietta’s Project Inclusion fellowship program and plays in the associated ensemble; and Dickson is studying for a master’s in orchestral conducting at Northwestern. Whittington cofounded and still plays in another Black classical group called the Ritz Chamber Players, and she was also the cellist for the three-year run of Hamilton in Chicago. Coleman, a creative strategist for ad agency Momentum Worldwide by day, handles the administrative side of D-Composed: conceptual planning, overseeing partnerships, and tracking the pulse of the city’s arts to look for potential collaborators.
According to a 2016 report by the League of American Orchestras, African Americans make up 1.8 percent of American orchestra musicians (they’re at least 13.4 percent of the country’s population). D-Composed helps expose Black people to the beauty of classical music and reimagine what it can be. The group operates as a limited liability company (LLC), enlisting brand partners and collaborators such as alcoholic beverage conglomerate Diageo, the Rebuild Foundation, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Arts + Public Life initiative from the University of Chicago to pay them for events, which allows the musicians to be compensated for their time.
Meanwhile the nonprofit arm of D-Composed, called D-Composed Gives, focuses on bringing its chamber music experiences to places that will maximize accessibility and reach: homeless shelters, senior citizens’ centers, museums, charities, and more. It’s played for underserved youth at Lurie Children’s Hospital, and it has another concert coming up at the Midland Center for the Arts in Michigan. In April, D-Composed will collaborate with Mosaic Vocal Ensemble for a performance in Englewood. Shows presented by D-Composed Gives tend to be free, while many booked by the LLC are ticketed.
Sun 4/5, 3 PM, Saint Benedict the African Catholic Church, 340 W. 66th St., $20, all ages
“When orchestras aren’t diverse, it sends a very loud message: ‘Hey kids, your career might end before you get here, because no one that looks like you was on that stage,'” says Coleman. As a kid, she remembers, “I felt classical was kind of boring. My favorite thing to play was the songs I’d hear in movies–like, I did Titanic‘s ‘My Heart Will Go On’ a lot. I just wanted to hear music I liked, and I felt the classical world would sometimes get too rigid, stuffy–and it’s not really open to exploring the artistic beauty of Juvenile, because it is there! A lot of the way the classical world is structured isn’t fully embracing Black culture. It looks at things as very separate, like you can’t be classical and Black.”
The culture of classical music certainly presents a barrier to entry for people of color, but an arguably even bigger hurdle for young players learning the ropes is cost: the price of lessons, instruments and their upkeep, and summer festivals can really add up.
Money is always an obstacle, but Taylor argues that it doesn’t necessarily have to be an insurmountable one. “It’s expensive over the years,” she says. “But I also feel like so are sports. Sports are expensive, but the Black community will put dollars where they see value and investment. I feel like, the return on investment in string–people aren’t as sure as they are perhaps with sports, where they can see a line of success.”
One of Taylor’s most memorable experiences with D-Composed was when a father who’d come to a Family Edition performance told her afterward that he was considering putting his son in music lessons. “The kids inspired me,” she says. “Seeing the look in their eyes when they see a cello up close. To see the look in their parents’ eyes, to just see that light bulb go off, is probably one of the best things I could hear. Seeing someone see a new door open that they literally did not know was there. I know that, because I was that kid that didn’t know it was there and has now had a whole life of creating music. That’s what makes it all worthwhile–seeing people’s minds change, thoughts change, and their universe grow just from one hour.”
The participatory nature of most forms of Black music–gospel, blues, hip-hop, soul, rock–speaks to the expressiveness of Black people. It’s no wonder that the traditional environment in an orchestral concert hall, which enforces a norm of stoic silence during performances, doesn’t feel immediately welcoming to many Black people. It’s antithetical to how Black communities tend to engage with music. This is why D-Composed makes it a point to encourage the audience to clap, dance, and talk–they want to demonstrate that classical music can also be a reciprocal experience.
Taylor and Coleman were guided to this practice in part by their experiences with gospel. “Both of us were raised in church–the church aesthetic of not having what’s happening in front of the church be some separate thing you’re observing. You don’t observe church happen–you participate, even if you’re not the minister or a musician,” says Taylor. “That is something that’s very, very different aesthetically than how concert music has evolved. That’s very intentional, and that’s the way I feel the most natural in playing music–when I know that people are comfortable enough to give me feedback and participate.”
D-Composed prioritizes this kind of comfort in its own routines as well. It’s more than a professional ensemble; its members feel like a family. At their rehearsals, in Taylor’s Evanston home, there are always snacks, and she calls rehearsals “reunions.” The musicians can be their true selves when playing together, and that brings their sound to another level–affection and compatibility are hard to fake. “Sometimes somebody might start playing ‘Tootsee Roll’ in the middle of rehearsal, and somebody will go up and literally dance and we’ll laugh about it,” Taylor says. “I don’t think we’d ever had a space like D-Composed where that’s even something you would consider doing, let alone doing, and have other people dancing with you. That’s huge.”
Yet even with support from the tight-knit community its members have created, D-Composed faces serious challenges, like any innovative project does. To play Black composers, you have to have their sheet music. But the sheet music that’s been deemed important enough to copy, record, share, and learn has been by dead white composers, and it’s been that way for years. For Taylor to fulfill D-Composed’s mission of prioritizing the music of Black composers, she often has to do deep dives in books and in the archives of places such as Columbia College’s Center for Black Music Research–especially if the composer has passed away. One obvious way for D-Composed to sidestep that difficulty is to give Black composers their flowers while they’re still alive.
Fortunately, a wide network of Black composers is more than available to lift one another’s boats and share their work: they include Tomeka Reid, a cellist and former Chicagoan who’s now a professor at Mills College in Oakland; Carlos Simon, an assistant professor at Georgetown University; Joel Thompson, a composer based in Atlanta; and Courtney Bryan, an assistant professor at Tulane University whose work the Chicago Sinfonietta played at its Sight + Sound concerts earlier this month. For Taylor, sometimes commissioning music for a D-Composed performance is as simple as e-mailing a composer to find out what they’re working on.
Coleman hopes to bring D-Composed to markets outside Chicago, to increase awareness of its work and broaden its range of funding opportunities. But the group recently had to cancel its first trip–it had planned to bring D-Compressed to the SXSW Wellness Expo in Austin, Texas, with Trap Yoga creator Asia Nichole Jones, but backed out due to coronavirus concerns even before the entire festival was called off last week. (D-Composed has already been invited back next year.) Travel and networking will be necessary for the ensemble, because there’s always the chance that brands and institutions won’t want to align with it because its mission doesn’t include non-Black people of color. And D-Composed sets pretty high standards for collaborators itself.
“D-Compressed is very popular, because it’s yoga and white people love yoga, but I’m not going to allow a studio to approach me if they don’t have a Black instructor and if they haven’t previously engaged the Black community,” says Coleman. “It’s about having those tough conversations to make sure if you want D-Composed, you cannot tokenize us, you cannot only reach out to us for Black History Month and not really support the Black community. We’re ready to have those conversations, but that’s been the challenging part–because when you take a stance like that, you have to be OK not getting as much support and as much money. And we’re OK with that.”
In addition to the Family Edition shows and D-Compressed, the quartet recently launched D-Composition, an event combining spoken word and music: Taylor arranges music to accompany a poet’s writing, and members of the audience write and perform their own poems. It debuted in February 2020 at the Michigan Avenue Apple Store, as part of the company’s Black History Month celebration.
The crowd was about three dozen strong, on the lower level of the store. D-Composed gave equal care to traditional classical music, hip-hop, soul, R&B, and other genres–its program included “Prospective Dwellers” by Tomeka Reid, “Strum: Music for Strings” by Catalyst Quartet violinist Jessie Montgomery, and “Montego Bae” by rapper Noname.
During the workshop portion, led by poet Raych Jackson, the ensemble played an arrangement of Solange’s “Don’t Touch My Hair” while the audience wrote poems on iPads. Jackson supplied several writing prompts: What actions are disrespectful only in your household? What words or phrases do you hesitate to say in front of your elders? Inevitably, Black women took center stage. Excited audience members, having told D-Composed the general feel of the poems they’d just written, read them aloud to the accompaniment of simpatico pieces that the quartet chose from its repertoire. The audience became a part of the ensemble, and it elevated everyone’s art.
“A lot of what D-Composed is trying to combat is how segregated Chicago is, and knowing how Chicago has treated the Black community and the arts,” says Coleman. “Our focus is making sure we’re in these communities and we have a presence and we show that we see you. We’ll have performances and give you a great experience, even if no one else is doing it.”
To serve that end, D-Composed defies the aesthetic hierarchy that dominates classical music. “We’re not trying to get validation or a stamp of approval from the classical world,” says Coleman. “Our work comes from asking, ‘Are we serving our community well?'” v
ARTIST: Nik Dali SHOW: Desmadre featuring Sammicee, DJ Squadooble, Eleeza Silva, and Jei at the Auxiliary Art Center on Thu 3/12 MORE INFO:Nik Dali
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