Paying Tribute to the Late, Great Fred Anderson

Paying Tribute to the Late, Great Fred Anderson

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Musician Karl Seigfried does his interpretation of what the late Chicago jazz legend Fred Anderson sounds like. Seigfreid’s new release, Portrait of Jack Johnson conjures a number of prominent boxers and jazz musicians through musical portraits. Anderson was a tenor saxophonist. In the 1960s, he co-founded the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. Today, more than 40 years later, that group still supports and showcases innovative music. Anderson was well known for his own mentoring, of young musicians like Hamid Drake, Nichole Mitchell, and Ken Vandermark. At the Velvet Lounge, his club on the near South Side, he often took to the stage with them. His Sunday night jam sessions were opportunities for new musicians to develop their skills. Anderson died earlier this year, but every Sunday night, musicians still gather at the spot he created to help anchor Chicago’s jazz scene. 

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