This August, Julián and Friends will be highlighting the music of featured guest Micah Collier. The evening of original compositions will bring together the Haitian and Dominican heritage of Collier and Julián Pujols Quall and the intense musicality of CJ Knowles and Will Mallard, to deliver a unique look into Caribbean music.
The Julián and Friends composers showcase, created to celebrate and serve as a platform for young composers-instrumentalists, is in its second year at the Jazz Showcase. Each monthly presentation seeks to merge experimental and forward thinking music with the traditions of Black American Music.
Julián Pujols Quall
A Dominican-American pianist and composer based in Chicago and Baltimore, Julián´s journey started with the Caribbean rhythms of their childhood. A classically trained artist, their work found a home in jazz performance, improvisation, and collaboration.
Julián is a recent Jazz Performance graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, where they studied with Warren Wolf as a recipient of the Merit School of Music's Alice S. Pfaelzer Tuition-Free Conservatory Blue Ribbon Scholarship. As a solo pianist they have studied at the Aspen Music Festival, Gijón Piano Festival, Brevard Music Festival and Colburn Piano Festival.
As a founding member of the Peabody Improvisers Collective, Julián has been creating and performing improvisational music for ballet, modern and West-African dance programs for the last two years. In addition to Julián and Friends, they formed Mamey, a music project that seeks to deepen the understanding of the influence the Caribbean arts have had in their musical creative journey and to honor beautiful Dominican traditions and cultural resilience, as they strive to promote new and vibrant art.
Julianpujolsquall.com
Micah Collier
Micah A. Collier is one of Chicago's young and promising musicians as a bassist, teacher and composer. His artistic love of traditional jazz and funky bass lines helps to create a powerful musical voyage. Micah has grown in Chicago’s jazz scene by participating in The Jazz Institute of Chicago’s Jazz Ambassador program and Ernest Dawkins Young Masters program. Playing and studying under Chicago greats such as Dee Alexander, Vincent Davis, Michael Manson, Charles Heath, Kahil El Zabar, Robert Bobby Irving iii, Corey Wilkes and Junius Paul helped to shape his diverse sound.
Leading his band across the Chicago area performing at Dorians, Promontory, Bronzeville Winery, Millennium Park and the Hyde Park Jazz Festival as well as being a sideman to international artists such as Marquis Hill, Isaiah Collier and Makaya McCraven. Micah is enjoying his weekly residency at Andy’s Jazz Club where he showcases original music with two rotating bands, The AlecTet and Proximity.
Micah Collier brings a new resonance to contemporary jazz. Bridging the classic sounds of McCoy Tyner, John Colrane and Ahmad Jamal with the electric sounds of Marcus Miller, Herbie Hancock and Victor Wooten to create his unique sound of Jazz Fusion. He expands the understanding of jazz to be inclusive of other genres to create music that feels good to the soul.
TICKETS
General Admission $20
VIP $30
Student Tickets $15
Available at the door ONLY with valid student ID
