Photo Essay: Women of Chicago Jazz Concert

  I  
Image

Dee Alexander performs at the Women In Jazz Leadership Initiative concert in Chicago on March 10. (Photo: Lauren Deutsch)

(Photo: )

March is national Women’s History Month. It’s an occasion to commemorate the role of women in the political, cultural and scientific history of the United States, as well as to honor the innovations and pioneering spirit of trailblazing women around the world. That sense of purpose was on full display at a recent concert in Chicago, where the Women In Jazz Leadership Initiative, a free program focusing on dialog, connection and musical exchange between professional women musicians, produced a star-studded event featuring some of the city’s best female artists.

Held at the Garfield Park Conservatory and produced in part by the Jazz Institute of Chicago, the concert coincided with the centennial anniversaries of Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Tadd Dameron and Lena Horne, and included numerous tributes to these groundbreaking musicians.

The performers on hand to pay homage included a host of Chicago treasures, including vocalist Dee Alexander, cellist Tomeka Reid, bassist Marion Hayden and drummer Gayelynn McKinney (who together formed the Chicago-Detroit Collective), as well as members of the SHE sextet, a dynamic ensemble spearheaded by former Chicago Jazz Orchestra members Bobbi Wilsyn (vocals), Deanna Witkowski (piano) and Audrey Morrison (trombone).

Below is a series of photos from the concert that capture the overwhelming sense of pride in this momentous occasion. For more information on the Jazz Institute of Chicago Women’s Leadership Initiative, visit www.jazzinchicago.orgDB

Anastasiya Kadukov Quartet
Anastasiya Kadukov (center) performs with her quartet at the Women In Jazz Leadership Initiative concert in Chicago. (Photo: Courtesy of the Jazz Institute of Chicago)

Tomeka Reid
Tomeka Reid (Photo: Courtesy of the Jazz Institute of Chicago)

Gayelynn McKinney
Gayelynn McKinney (Photo: © Lauren Deutsch)

SHE Sextet
Kelly Brand (left), Marlene Rosenberg, Bobbi Wilsyn, Sarah Allen, Juli Wood and Audrey Morrison of the SHE sextet. (Photo: © Lauren Deutsch)

Bobbi Wilsyn
Bobbi Wilsyn (Photo: © Lauren Deutsch)

Chicago-Detroit Collective
Marion Haden (left), Dee Alexander, Gayelynn McKinney and Tomeka Reid of the Chicago-Detroit Collective. (Photo: © Lauren Deutsch)

Garfield Park Conservatory
Chicago’s Garfield Park Conservatory, home of the Women In Jazz Leadership Initiative concert. (Photo: Courtesy of the Jazz Institute of Chicago)



  • Coltrane_John_008_copy_2.jpg

    “This is one of the great gifts that Coltrane gave us — he gave us a key to the cosmos in this recording,” says John McLaughlin.

  • 2tx3p_BNJF2025LineupApr11080x1350--1_copy.jpg

    The Blue Note Jazz Festival New York kicks off May 27 with a James Moody 100th Birthday Celebration at Sony Hall.

  • Ethan_Iverson_by_David_Moressi_2024_copy.jpg

    “I’m certainly influenced by Geri Allen,” said Iverson, during a live Blindfold Test at the 31st Umbria Jazz Winter festival.

  • Isaiah_Collier_by_Michael_Jackson_2025.jpg

    “At the end of the day, once you’ve run out of differences, we’re left with similarities,” Collier says. “Cultural differences are mitigated through 12 notes.”

  • Andy_Bey_NYC_2014_by_Steven_Sussman_copy.jpg

    “It kind of slows down, but it’s still kind of productive in a way, because you have something that you can be inspired by,” Andy Bey said on a 2019 episode of NPR Jazz Night in America, when he was 80. “The music is always inspiring.”

    Vocalist Andy Bey Dies at 85

    Singer Andy Bey, who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing…


On Sale Now
June 2025
Theo Croker
Look Inside
Subscribe
Print | Digital | iPad