HEAT ON————————— OUT NOW!
Today is the day! My album debut as bandleader is out now! A BIG thanks to Steve at Cuneiform Records for releasing the album in to the world. Amazing to be alongside such a vast and inspiring discography. Get it here on Bandcamp!
Album art by Ivette Colón
Photo by Leah Wendzinski
This band came together after an improvised set at Elastic Arts in the summer of 2023. It was such a joy to play with Edward Wilkerson Jr, Fred Jackson Jr, and Nick Macri that I wanted to make this a band. I wrote tunes and we then played and recorded them the following summer at Experimental Sound Studio. Kate In did an incredible job recording, mixing, and mastering the album. It’s been an experiment in form and flexibility. The folks at Cuneiform did a nice write up of the album.
In a jazz era that bristles with young talent, releasing an album that’s sure to be shortlisted for best debut recording of the year is impressive but Chicago drummer and composer Lily Finnegan’s consistently enthralling band Heat On album introduces her powerhouse, multi-generational, inside-out quartet.
“It is a love letter to Chicago,” Finnegan says. “I’m clearly inspired by the music, energy and ethos here. Chicago is about creating good music and art for itself. It’s about dealing with the whole spectrum of sound. Even the more angular, dissonant music comes back to deep grooves. The free things can still have a dance and melody.”
Her freedom-in-swing approach is evident from the opening track Green Milk; a harmelodic blast that quickly pivots away from the angular Ornettish feel into an extended dialogue between Jackson and Wilkerson, who at 71 is at the peak of his powers. Best known as the founder and director of the cutting-edge octet 8 Bold Souls and the 25-member performance ensemble Shadow Vignettes, Wilkerson has been at the center of the Chicago scene for half a century. In Heat On he swoops, swaggers and croons with complete authority, adding an eloquent new chapter to his discography.
Part of what makes Heat On such a revelatory project is the frisson created by the intertwined tandems of rhythm section and horns. Finnegan and Macri, who met through shared associations with Ken Vandermark, have often found that they share similar aesthetics, “connecting over their love of punk and rock and free improvised music,” she says.
Finnegan’s affirmation of freedom and groove, dissonance, dance and lyricism runs throughout Heat On. In many ways the project embodies the intergenerational nature of the Chicago scene, and Finnegan is both proud and humbled to be joining that history and lineage.
We will be playing release shows in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Detroit. Definitely come out and get a CD at one of these shows!
July 6 Chicago at the Hungry Brain
(We got a great concert preview in the Chicago Reader!)
July 8 Milwaukee at the Jazz Gallery
July 19 Detroit at Trinosophes
Also excited to announce that we will be playing the Hyde Park Jazz Fest! One of my all time favorite festivals and I can’t wait to present this band.
September 27 at the Hyde Park Union Church 4-5pm
I just got back from a full trip to the east coast where I got to play 5 special shows. It was great to start off by playing duo with Brandon Seabrook at an Arts for Art organized show. Then got to share the stage with my wonderful friend gabby fluke-mogul for 4 nights! We started off by playing with the great Bill Orcutt, opening for Tropical Fuck Storm, at the Bowery Ballroom in Manhattan. First time as a trio and I hope it happens again. Deep appreciation to Bill for inviting us! We then went on to DC and Philly to play 2 HOT duo shows. It’s amazing to travel for music. The presence of queer folks at these shows meant so much to us. We do it for you! Finished out back in Brooklyn in Samantha Kochis’s quartet with Hans Young Binter. Played as Zohran won the election, an extremely memorable night.
Thank you for supporting!!!!!
❤️🔥🧊❤️🔥🧊❤️🔥🧊❤️🔥🧊❤️🔥🧊❤️🔥🧊❤️🔥🧊❤️🔥🧊