Nick Mazzarella at 2022 Chicago Jazz Festival

Congratulations to DGN Band alumnus Nick Mazzarella, who recently led the Nick Mazzarella Quintet in a marquee performance at the 2022 Chicago Jazz Festival.

Mazzarella has been described as "continuing the approach taken by like-minded trailblazing altoists Eric Dolphy, Ornette Coleman, Henry Threadgill, Oliver Lake, and Gary Bartz” by “seeking to embody the history of the music while pushing it forward into new realms” (All About Jazz). He has been a consistent presence in Chicago's music scene since the early 2000s where his continuous performance schedule has made an aesthetically unique contribution to the city’s rich culture of jazz and improvised music. His working trios and quintet have served as the primary vehicles for his endeavors as a composer and bandleader, while as a collaborator or sideman he has performed and recorded with such artists as Joshua Abrams, Geof Bradfield, Hamid Drake, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Dana Hall, Makaya McCraven, Rob Mazurek, Avreeayl Ra, and Tomeka Reid. Recordings of his original music have been released by Nessa, Clean Feed, Astral Spirits, International Anthem, and Out of Your Head, and he has performed throughout the United States and Europe, as well as in Africa and the Middle East.

In addition to his activities as a performing musician, Mazzarella has contributed to the vibrancy of the Chicago jazz community by working as a concert series presenter since 2008. He currently curates two ongoing concert series in Chicago—the Anagram Series, presented weekly at Elastic Arts in Avondale, and the Ratchet Series, presented quarterly at Cafe Mustache in Logan Square.