Angel Bat Dawid and Makaya McCraven fly the flag at International Anthem’s Chicago showcase

Even International Anthem Recording Company honcho Scottie McNiece was not sure exactly what would happen one cold Monday night in January at label HQ, Co-Prosperity Sphere, in Pilsen. Renowned UK DJ Gilles Peterson was in town on a rare visit and eager to confer his eponymous Worldwide Award on IARC as label of the year. Duly, McNiece pooled his 2019 roster, including clarinetist and unquenchable provocateur Angel Bat Dawid; bassist Junius Paul in duo with the label’s breakout star Makaya McCraven; Will Miller’s fusion crew Resavoir; trumpeter Jaimie Branch, plus Damon Locks’ ambitious Black Monument Ensemble.

As youthful progressive music fans huddled into the informal space, Dawid emerged with her troupe including Isaiah Collier on drums (who’s better known as a booting saxophonist). Whirling like a dervish and incantating about her ‘Black Family’ (expanded since her solo debut The Oracle), Dawid ended up on the floor kicking up bright orange boots, before settling behind the Fender Rhodes to goad her funky sextet towards the cosmos. In a brief interview Peterson asked what she liked about IARC. “They let me be ME!” she responded, with unbridled conviction. 

Rather than attempt to corral the 15 musicians diversely featured on his rangy and uncompromising twofer ISM, bass-ace Paul elected to throw down with just McCraven, as a video behind them told of the drummer’s musical journey and philosophy. Paul really takes charge on ISM – this is no bassist-in-back album – and he and McCraven forged fierce breakbeats boasting advanced levels of groove-stamina and virtuosity.

The refreshing aesthetic of Resavoir proved relatively mellifluous, though stoked by another bruising drummer in Jeremy Cunningham. That quintet heralded a solo spotlight from Branch, who bravely and affectingly sang ‘You Don’t Know What Love Is’, while drenching the reverb and looping vox to transcend the prosaic. A trenchant yet uplifting IARC release was mixmaster/spoken word guru/visual artist Damon Locks’ Where Future Unfolds, and his choral group, backed by another mighty drummer, Dana Hall, took the evening to the mountaintop. 

“It was certainly a special magical evening where all the elements that make Chicago in my mind came together,” reflected Peterson later. “The music communities seemed to align… (IARC) is the closest thing to a modern day Impulse or Prestige where the music feels so in tune to the times – just so happy to be able to feel it.”

“It was amazing to put on a show with all those artists in a single night,” remarked McNiece, who only levied $10 cover for the bonanza. “Even though they and we are based in Chicago, this kind of event with this many folks from our label family is not something that has ever happened before, nor do we anticipate it will happen  [again] any time soon. We’re incredibly grateful everyone pulled together for the celebration.”