Nicole Mitchell (musician)

{{short description|American jazz flautist and composer (born 1967)}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Nicole Mitchell

| image = Nicole Mitchell-68007.jpg

| caption = Mitchell in 2022

| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1967|2|17|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Syracuse, New York, U.S.

| genre = Jazz

| occupation = Musician, teacher

| instrument = Flute

| years_active =

| label =

| associated_acts = Black Earth Ensemble

| website = {{URL|nicolemitchell.com}}

}}

Nicole Mitchell (born February 17, 1967) is an American jazz flautist and composer who teaches jazz at the University of Virginia.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/14/arts/music/nicole-mitchell-jazz-university-of-pittsburgh.html |title=Nicole Mitchell to Lead Jazz Program at University of Pittsburgh |first=Giovanni|last=Russonello|authorlink=Giovanni Russonello |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 14, 2019 |access-date=January 14, 2019}}{{cite news|url=https://www.google.com/search?q=pitt+jazz |title=Pitt names Nicole Mitchell as head of jazz studies department |first=Rick |last=Nowlin |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=January 14, 2019 |access-date=January 14, 2019 }} She is a former chairwoman of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).{{Cite web|url=http://www.pointofdeparture.org/archives/PoD-3/PoD-3_PowerGreater2.html |title=PowerGreater2 |website=www.pointofdeparture.org |access-date=2018-09-02}}

Early life and education

Mitchell was born in Syracuse, New York, and moved to Anaheim, California at the age of eight.{{Cite news|url=https://jazztimes.com/features/nicole-mitchell-west-by-midwest/|title=Nicole Mitchell: West by Midwest - JazzTimes|work=JazzTimes|access-date=2018-09-02|language=en-US}} Her first instruments were piano and viola, which she started playing in fourth grade. She was classically trained in flute and played in youth orchestras as a teenager.{{Cite news|url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/an-improvised-life/Content?oid=925581|title=An Improvised Life|last=Margasak|first=Peter|authorlink=Peter Margasak|work=Chicago Reader|access-date=2018-09-02|language=en}} Though she intended to major in computer science in college, she took a class in improvisation from Jimmy Cheatham at University of California, San Diego,{{Cite news|url=https://jazztimes.com/departments/before-and-after/nicole-mitchell-aacm/|title=Before & After Listening Session With Nicole Mitchell - JazzTimes|work=JazzTimes|access-date=2018-09-02|language=en-US}} and started busking in the streets playing jazz flute. After two years at UCSD, she transferred to Oberlin College in 1987, then moved to Chicago in 1990.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/10/arts/music/nicole-mitchell-black-earth-ensemble-mandorla-awakening.html|title=Nicole Mitchell, an Innovative Flutist With an Afrofuturist Vision|work=The New York Times |date=10 January 2018 |access-date=2018-09-02 |last1=Russonello |first1=Giovanni }}

Mitchell returned to school in 1993 and 1996, completing her degree at Chicago State University in 1998; she earned a master's degree from Northern Illinois University in 2000.

Career

In Chicago, Mitchell performed on the streets and worked for Third World Press, a publisher of black culture. She also met drummer Maia, and bassist, sitarist and storyteller Shanta Nurullah, forming the all-female ensemble Samana and eventually joining the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).{{Cite book|last=Lewis|first=George E.|authorlink=George E. Lewis|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/154689784|title=A power stronger than itself : the AACM and American experimental music|date=2008|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-47695-7|location=Chicago|oclc=154689784}}

After earning her master's degree, she began teaching at schools around Chicago at the end of the 1990s, holding positions at Northern Illinois University, Chicago State University, Northeastern Illinois University, Wheaton College, and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

In 1995 Mitchell met Hamid Drake and worked with him throughout the second half of the decade. In 1997 she began an association with saxophonist {{interlanguage link|David Boykin|de}}, who encouraged her to start her own group, leading to Mitchell's establishment of the Black Earth Ensemble. In the early 2000s, she became a co-host for the Avant-Garde Jazz Jam Sessions in Chicago that were started by Boykin, bassist Karl E. H. Seigfried, and drummer Mike Reed.{{cite web |title=BOYKIN, SEIGFRIED, AND REED REUNION |url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/boykin-seigfried-and-reed-reunion/Event?oid=1190548 |website=Chicago Reader | date=23 September 2009 |access-date=7 March 2021}}

Mitchell issued her debut album, Vision Quest, with Black Earth Ensemble in 2001 on her label, Dreamtime Records. The album included appearances by Hamid Drake, Savoir Faire, {{interlanguage link|Edith Yokley|de}}, {{interlanguage link|Darius Savage|de}}, and {{interlanguage link|Avreeayl Ra|de}}.[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p512403/biography|pure_url=yes}} Nicole Mitchell] at Allmusic Vision Quest was expanded into a theater piece in 2003.{{Cite web |url=http://www.openskyjazz.com/2008/04/qa-with-flute-explorer-nicole-mitchell/|title=The Independent Ear {{!}} Q&A with flute explorer Nicole Mitchell |website=www.openskyjazz.com |access-date=2018-09-02}}

In 2006, Mitchell worked in the group Frequency with Harrison Bankhead, Edward Wilkerson, and Avreeayl Ra. Thrill Jockey released their album during that year.{{Cite web |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/frequency-frequency-thrill-jockey-review-by-troy-collins.php| title=Frequency: Frequency|last=Jazz|first=All About|website=All About Jazz| date=17 August 2006|language=en|access-date=2018-09-02}} Beginning in 2017, she toured and recorded with the Art Ensemble of Chicago.{{cite web| title=The Art Ensemble of Chicago| publisher=AKAMU SAS di Lofoco Alberto| url=http://www.akamu.net/aeoc.htm| date=2019| access-date=2019-05-21}}

The Artifacts trio—Mitchell, Tomeka Reid, and Mike Reed—released albums in 2015 and 2019. (In 2008–2009, the three were the executive team of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).){{cite web| publisher=Chicago Reader| title=A revamped AACM steps forward| author=Margasak, Peter| authorlink=Peter Margasak| date=June 11, 2009| url=https://chicagoreader.com/blogs/a-revamped-aacm-steps-forward/| accessdate=2022-07-16}}

As of 2022, Mitchell has continued to use the Black Earth and Black Earth Ensemble names for many of her projects, including recordings. For example, in 2022 she led performances by Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth SWAY quartet, with Chicago-based musicians {{interlanguage link|Alexis Lombre|de}} on keyboard, {{interlanguage link|JoVia Armstrong|de}} on drums and electronics, and {{interlanguage link|Coco Elysses|de}} on diddley bow, and everyone singing.{{cite web| publisher=San Francisco Standard| title=San Francisco Jazz Festival: 5 Essential Performers| author=Gilbert, Andrew| date=June 7, 2022| url=https://sfstandard.com/arts-culture/san-francisco-jazz-festival-5-essential-performers/| accessdate=2022-07-13}} (In 2022, Elysses and Armstrong are Chair and Secretary, respectively, of the AACM.){{cite web| publisher=Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians| year=2022| title=Executive Team| url=https://www.aacmchicago.org/team| accessdate=2022-07-16}}

Mitchell published her first book in 2022, The Mandorla Letters: for the hopeful, under the name Nicole Mitchell Gantt.

=University professor=

Mitchell joined the music department at the University of California, Irvine as an assistant professor and was promoted to professor in 2013.{{Cite web|url=http://music.arts.uci.edu/icit/nicole-mitchell/|title=Nicole Mitchell {{!}} ICIT|website=music.arts.uci.edu|language=en-US|access-date=2018-09-02}} She participated in the Integrated Composition, Improvisation, and Technology graduate program.{{Cite web|url=http://music.arts.uci.edu/icit/|title=ICIT {{!}} Integrated Composition Improvisation and Technology – A Graduate Degree in Music at the University of California, Irvine|website=music.arts.uci.edu |access-date=2018-09-02}} In 2019, she moved to the University of Pittsburgh as the Williams S. Dietrich II Chair of Jazz Studies and Professor of Music.{{cite web| title=PhD in Jazz Studies| date=2019| publisher=University of Pittsburgh Department of Music| url=https://www.music.pitt.edu/graduate/phd-jazz-studies| access-date=2020-05-28}} In 2022, she took on a position as professor of music at University of Virginia.

Awards and honors

Down Beat magazine named her a Rising Star for flute in Critics' Polls of 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008,{{Cite web|url=http://www.downbeat.com/digitaledition/2014/DB1408/_art/DB1408.pdf|title=Downbeat Critics Poll 2008}} and 2009.{{Cite web|url=http://www.downbeat.com/digitaledition/2009/DB0809/_art/DB0809.pdf|title=Downbeat Critics Poll 2009}} From 2010 to 2022 she has won the "top flutist" categories.{{Cite web|url=http://www.downbeat.com/digitaledition/2010/DB201008/_art/DB201008.pdf|title=Downbeat Critics Poll 2010}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.downbeat.com/digitaledition/2011/DB201108/_art/DB201108.pdf|title=Downbeat Critics Poll 2011}}
Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, California Institute of the Arts, 2011{{Cite web|url=https://herbalpertawards.org/artist/2011/nicole-mitchell|title=Nicole Mitchell {{!}} The Herb Alpert Award in the Arts |website=herbalpertawards.org |date=23 March 2013 |access-date=2018-09-02}}
Doris Duke Award 2012
United States Artist 2020

Personal life

Mitchell's husband of ten years, Calvin Bernard Gantt, died on July 31, 2021.{{cite web| publisher=Wright Funeral Home| title=Calvin Bernard Gantt, 1949 - 2021: Obituary| date=August 2021| url=https://www.wrightfuneralhomeofoxford.com/obituary/calvin-gantt| accessdate=2021-08-21}}

Discography

=As leader/co-leader=

(Incomplete)

{{cite web| publisher=AllMusic| url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/nicole-mitchell-mn0000234689/discography| date=2020| title=Nicole Mitchell: Discography| access-date=2020-05-28}}

Vision Quest (Dreamtime, 2001)
Afrika Rising (Dreamtime, 2002)
Hope, Future and Destiny (Dreamtime, 2004)
Frequency with Edward Wilkerson, Harrison Bankhead, and Avreeayl Ra (Thrill Jockey, 2006)
Indigo Trio: Live in Montreal (Greenleaf, 2007)
Black Unstoppable (Delmark, 2007)
Xenogenesis Suite (Firehouse 12, 2008)
Anaya (RogueArt, 2009)
Renegades (Delmark, 2009)
Emerald Hills (RogueArt, 2010)
Before After with Joëlle Léandre and Dylan van der Schyff (RogueArt, 2011)
The Ethiopian Princess Meets the Tantric Priest (RogueArt, 2011)
Awakening (Delmark, 2011)
Arc of O (RogueArt, 2012)
Three Compositions with Roscoe Mitchell (RogueArt, 2012)
Aquarius (Delmark, 2013)
Engraved in the Wind (RogueArt, 2013)
Intergalactic Beings (FPE, 2014)
The Secret Escapades of Velvet Anderson (RogueArt, 2014)
Artifacts with Tomeka Reid and Mike Reed (482 Music, 2015){{cite web |last1=Attarian |first1=Hrayr |title=Nicole Mitchell/Tomeka Reid/Mike Reed: Artifacts |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/artifacts-nicole-mitchell-482-music-review-by-hrayr-attarian.php |website=All About Jazz |access-date=24 February 2021 |date=6 November 2015}}
Moments of Fatherhood (RogueArt, 2016)
Mandorla Awakening II - Emerging Worlds (FPE, 2016)
Liberation Narratives (Third World, 2017){{Cite web|url=http://www.fperecs.com/catalog/mandorla-awakening-ii-emerging-worlds/|publisher=FPE records|title=Mandorla Awakening II: Emerging Worlds|access-date=2017-10-14}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.discovery-records.com/product-ST92793/nicole-mitchell/mandorla-awakening-ii-emerging-worlds.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801103656/http://www.discovery-records.com/product-ST92793/nicole-mitchell/mandorla-awakening-ii-emerging-worlds.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=August 1, 2017|website=Discovery-records.com|title=Artist: Nicole Mitchell; Title: Mandorla Awakening II - Emerging Worlds|access-date=2017-10-14}}
Maroon Cloud (FPE, 2017){{cite web| publisher=DownBeat| title=Nicole Mitchell: Maroon Cloud| author=Cohen, Aaron| date=November 2018| url=https://downbeat.com/reviews/detail/maroon-cloud| access-date=2020-05-28}}
All Things Are (RogueArt, 2019)
Earthseed (FPE, 2020) with Lisa E. Harris{{Cite web|last=West|first=Michael J.|title=Nicole Mitchell & Lisa E. Harris: EarthSeed (FPE)|url=https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/nicole-mitchell-lisa-e-harris-earthseed-fpe/|access-date=2020-08-04|website=JazzTimes|language=en-US}}
...and then there's this, with Artifacts (Nicole Mitchell, Tomeka Reid, and Mike Reed) (Astral Spirits Records, 2021){{cite news| publisher=Chicago Reader| title=Artifacts, and then there's this| date=October 28, 2021| author=Meyer, Bill|authorlink=Bill Meyer (journalist)}}
Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Sway (Sesc, 2023) with Jovia Armstrong, Coco Elysses, and Alexis Lombre

=As guest=

(Incomplete)

Hamid Drake, Bindu (Rogueart, 2005)
The AACM Great Black Music Ensemble, At Umbria Jazz 2009 (Musica Jazz, 2010){{cite web| publisher=Discogs| title=The AACM Great Black Music Ensemble| url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/4005893-The-AACM-Great-Black-Music-Ensemble| access-date=2020-06-19}}
Joshua Abrams, Represencing (Eremite, 2012)
Art Ensemble of Chicago, We Are On the Edge (Pi, 2019)
Art Ensemble of Chicago, The Sixth Decade: From Paris to Paris (RogueArt, 2023){{cite news| work=The Guardian| title=Art Ensemble of Chicago: The Sixth Decade: From Paris to Paris review – devoted heirs carry the torch| author=Fordham, John| author-link=John Fordham (jazz critic)| date=January 27, 2023| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jan/27/art-ensemble-of-chicago-the-sixth-decade-from-paris-to-paris-review| accessdate=2023-03-17}}

References

External links

[https://www.music.pitt.edu/people/nicole-mitchell-gantt Nicole Mitchell Gantt's University of Pittsburgh faculty webpage]
[https://www.allmusic.com/artist/nicole-mitchell-mn0000234689/biography AllMusic's biography of Nicole Mitchell]
[https://arts.virginia.edu/stories/new-music-faculty-welcome-nicole-mitchell-jovia-armstrong Nicole Mitchell at University of Virginia]

Category:1967 births

Category:Living people

Category:American jazz flautists

Category:University of Pittsburgh faculty

Category:Musicians from Syracuse, New York

Category:Chicago State University faculty

Category:Northern Illinois University faculty

Category:Northeastern Illinois University faculty

Category:University of Illinois Chicago faculty

Category:Wheaton College (Illinois) faculty

Category:American women flautists

Category:Jazz musicians from New York (state)