WANTED: Paid bassist, guitarist, pianist: jazz/trip-hop poetry project

Lakeview East, Chicago IL

Description

Hello, creative peoples. I am a slam poetry champion who has lived and performed around the world, a serious writer who has won awards for her journalism and essays. Spoken word poetry remains my creative heart, and performing dynamically to original music composed for my poems is a joy. I had a long-running jazz poetry band while living in Europe; we performed in France, Ireland, England, Croatia, Bosnia, and Denmark. I also performed prolifically in New York while living in Harlem. I returned to hometown Chicago just before the pandemic, and as the gig world is again booming, I seek to form a new, Stateside band for regular performances and recording. My favorite genre to perform is jazz, though recently I've integrated more of a milky trip-hop sound, one of my original loves. I am not classically trained, though play piano, and have excellent natural rhythm and timing for working with musicians as a vocalist. I love the process of jamming, organic collaboration, and co-composing. My composing style is "poet": I once told a co-composer, "I'd love this section to sound like driving rain on the hood of a car during a road trip at night." He created an incredible, moody structure in Logic Pro that we transferred to live instrumentation, and it's been a favorite with every iteration of the band. I'm currently working with a lofi hip-hop producer overseas on a few singles I'm releasing as a solo artist this year. The Chicago-based live band would exist to flesh out these recordings and add signature flair to them, and to create our own stable of distinctive songs. I seek ego-devoid, joyful, experienced musicians who've contributed to avant-garde projects. Formal jazz training is unnecessary, though jazz familiarity, trip-hop familiarity, a good ear and soul for improv, artistic flexibility, and a kind, fun-loving nature are a must. Again: I do not award any energy to big musician egos, nor to sexism. I have been all around the block, 17 times and back, and can sense them immediately. For a bassist, guitarist, and pianist: paid gigs, paid rehearsals at a rented Northside space, low-key schedule-wise. I moonlight as a host at a restaurant, and have daytimes free to create. Availability to rehearse on Sunday or Monday evenings is desired. Bimonthly rehearsals, starting with around one gig per month. I am a former booker for diverse East Coast and European acts, did all the booking for my international tours, and have some good contacts in Chicago. I plan on booking cool, off-the-beaten-path gigs -- to start, for example, at Soho House, where I'm a member, and at my private wine club in Lincoln Park. Once we grow and are a well-oiled machine, I am hiring a booking agent and manager. The band certainly doesn't have to be your sole focus, as this would not be full-time income, and I have multiple writing projects I focus on, as well. Yet I am ambitious and passionate about creating, so seek dedicated people who have fun with and love the project. YOU: Between 25 and 45 (I am 35). BIPOC folx preferred, of any sexuality and gender expression. If you are white, you must have genuinely stepped upon your anti-racist, mental decolonization journey -- in real, not performative, ways. I am a Black and indigenous woman who has engaged in years of sociopolitical activism around the world. There's no space for entitlement nor unrealized racism. I am so eager and happy to meet you. Please get in touch and we'll start with a chat. I'll hold audition sessions to gauge vibe. Thank you so much! Let's inject unique beauty into this world.