Hyde Park Jazz Festival

Lauded for its boldness in showcasing cutting-edge compositions, the Jazz X-tet is a versatile collection of 12-18 musicians, frequently joined in performance by noted Chicago-area professionals. The X-tet’s concert season offers a variety of pieces, from jazz standards to hip-hop, often in arrangements that are custom-designed for the ensemble by its own members. In rehearsal and performance the X-tet focuses on developing the improvisational skills of its musicians, as well as on deepening their understanding of the wide-ranging jazz idiom.  The group has issued two CDs, and frequently performs for University events on campus and elsewhere in the city.  In addition to the Jazz X-tet itself, several small jazz combo groups are set up each year to provide training and experience to interested musicians. Director of Jazz Ensembles at the University of Chicago, MWATA BOWDEN attended Chicago’s DuSable High School where he studied music with the legendary Captain Walter Dyett. Mwata served as chair of Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and played with the AACM Big Band. Mwata plays the family of clarinets, tenor and baritone saxophones, as well as the flute and the didgeridoo.