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Corey Wilkes

As a child, Corey Wilkes was surrounded by the sounds of Blues, R&B, Soul, Funk and Jazz. He picked up the trumpet for the first time at the age of 10. Starting with the school band, Corey's natural talent immediately began to flourish. He dominated his peers in both group and solo competitions, always taking first place.

His confidence and maturity were well beyond his years. As a student at Rich South High School in Richton Park, Illinois, his hard work and dedication secured a spot in the Illinois All State Honors Jazz Combo; the first student in the school's history to do so.

Corey further honed his craft at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. While there, he studied trumpet under Tiger Okoshi and Charlie Lewis Jr. Leaving college for more hands on experience, Corey held down a trumpet seat for Carnival Cruise Lines for a short stint. Then in an even further effort to absorb the very essence of Jazz, he traveled to its heart, Louisiana. He integrated himself in to the local scene by frequenting jam sessions and playing with several different bands in New Orleans.

Since then, Corey has become an Artist in Residence for the Jazz Institute of Chicago, and a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. He has also shared the stage with numerous Jazz Masters including but not limited to; Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, James Moody, Kurt Elling, Von Freeman, Greg Osby, Roscoe Mitchell, Marcus Belgrave, Clark Terry, Harry “Sweets” Edison, and Mulgrew Miller.

To top off all of Corey's accomplishments, he made history playing with the Art Ensemble of Chicago. No one else had filled the trumpet seat after the passing of Lester Bowie in 1999. In October of 2003, Corey was asked to tour with the group on the West Coast, where his performance received rave reviews. Consequently he joined the Art Ensemble of Chicago; which tours the United States, Europe, and beyond.

Corey is currently soothing souls at some of the most renowned clubs and festivals in the world. His soulful, sophisticated sound can be found on numerous projects ranging from jazz to hip-hop.

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Album Review

Kahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: Open Me: A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit

Read "Open Me: A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit" reviewed by Chris May


The first few bars of Open Me: A Higher Consciousness Of Sound And Spirit promise the listener is in for a treat. Corey Wilkes' muted trumpet plays Miles Davis' “All Blues" counterpointed by Alex Harding's rugged baritone saxophone and Kahil El'Zabar's ankle bells and kalimba. Here is Ethnic Heritage Ensemble in all its enchanting bare-bones singularity, barely a year since the release of the masterpiece Spirit Gatherer: A Tribute To Don Cherry (Spiritmuse). Eighty minutes later, the ...

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Album Review

Isaiah Collier: Parallel Universe

Read "Parallel Universe" reviewed by Gareth Thompson


The direct-to-disc recording equipment in Haarlem's Artone studio resembles a vintage control room for time travel, or maybe the record deck in a cyberpunk loft. And yes, that's Haarlem, not Harlem, though one could be excused for mixing them up here. This is where Isaiah Collier came to record Parallel Universe, a valiant and affirmative album full of joyful noises. Musicians who trek to Artone cut their work onto acetate from single-take live performances. But anyone expecting a simplified version ...

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Album Review

Kahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: Spirit Gatherer

Read "Spirit Gatherer" reviewed by Chris May


Anyone who was chair of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians for a decade knows a thing or two about keeping a group of independently minded artists focused on a common goal. Drummer and percussionist Kahil El'Zabar continues to demonstrate that with his Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, an acoustic, improvising trio with an African foundation that has been recording since 1981. Most of the musicians who have passed through the group have been longtime members. The 2023 lineup comprises ...

415
Album Review

Corey Wilkes & Abstrakt Pulse: Cries From Tha Ghetto

Read "Cries From Tha Ghetto" reviewed by Troy Collins


Trumpet player Corey Wilkes was just 24 when saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell recruited him to join the Art Ensemble of Chicago in 2003, four years after Lester Bowie's passing. Since then he has demonstrated remarkable technical and creative ability, serving as a sideman in James Carter's Quintet, Kahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra and Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble. He also leads his own straight-ahead Quintet, the neo-soul outfit Black Slang and the forward thinking sextet Abstrakt ...

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Album Review

Corey Wilkes: Drop It

Read "Drop It" reviewed by John Barron


Trumpeter Corey Wilkes has been garnering considerable attention on the Chicago jazz scene in the last few years as a sideman with the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Kahil El' Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble and Fred Anderson. Drop It, Wilkes' debut as a leader, finds the young lion exploring an array of contemporary, funk-laden compositions with a talented cast of like-minded cohorts.

The Langston Hughes poem “Trumpet Player," read by Miyanda Wilson, is a fitting invitation to ...

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Album Review

Corey Wilkes: Drop It

Read "Drop It" reviewed by Jerry D'Souza


It was in 2002 that Corey Wilkes (trumpet, flugelhorn, cornet) made his presence on the Chicago jazz scene. His strengths as a musician soon ushered him into the seat left behind by Lester Bowie with the Art Ensemble of Chicago. He has filled that spot remarkably well just as he has added more fire to Kahil El' Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble. There is a lot more to his cannon, including stints with Fred Anderson and Wynton Marsalis which show his ...

529
Album Review

Corey Wilkes: Drop It

Read "Drop It" reviewed by Mark Corroto


At just 29 years of age, Corey Wilkes has emerged as the next big thing in the trumpet world. This isn't a career path similar to Wynton Marsalis, nor Roy Harper, for that matter. Wilkes, an Illinois native, may be the reincarnation of the master, Lester Bowie. In fact, he has distinguished himself in the trumpet seat for Art Ensemble of Chicago and with Kahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensembles. He can also be heard with Rob Marzurek's Exploding Star Orchestra, ...

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Recording

Trumpets: Wadada Leo Smith; Corey Wilkes

Trumpets: Wadada Leo Smith; Corey Wilkes

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland

Wadada Leo Smith—Dark Lady of the Sonnets (TUM, 2011) Always searching for new musical vistas, the trumpet and flugelhorn player Wadada Leo Smith teams up with Min Xiao-Fen on pipa and occasional voice and Pheeroan akLaff on drums. The trio is called Mbira, and they create a very interesting album featuring five lengthy improvisations which develop dynamically from abstract beginnings and unfold in suite-like formations growing collective improvisational energy gradually like particles from the cosmic void coalescing into stars and ...

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Recording

Delmark Records Summer 2008 Releases

Delmark Records Summer 2008 Releases

Source: All About Jazz

Delmark New Releases (Street Date June 17, 2008) Corey Wilkes Drop It (Delmark DE 582) Jazz trumpeter Corey Wilkes burst on the Chicago jazz scene in 2002. Corey took on the ghost of Lester Bowie and filled the vacant seat in the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Big shoes to fill for a new musician but Corey isn't an ordinary musician. He began at the age of 10, made the Illinois All State Honors Jazz Combo in ...

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Performance / Tour

Tuesdays on the Terrace: Corey Wilkes at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art

Tuesdays on the Terrace: Corey Wilkes at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art

Source: All About Jazz

Tuesday, June 3 5:30 - 8 p.m. Museum of Contemporary Art Terrace and Sculpture Garden Free Tuesdays on the Terrace presents another inspiring season of free evening jazz concerts on the MCA's Terrace and Sculpture Garden. Hosted by local radio personalities, visitors are invited to enjoy cocktails, Puck's Express snacks, or a dinner buffet from Puck's Cafe while listening to Chicago's finest jazz musicians. Dinner reservations at Puck's are recommended, call 312.397.4034. In case ...

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Performance / Tour

Tuesdays on the Terrace: Corey Wilkes Trio

Tuesdays on the Terrace: Corey Wilkes Trio

Source: All About Jazz

Tuesdays on the Terrace presents another inspiring season of free evening jazz concerts on the MCA's Terrace and Sculpture Garden. Hosted by local radio personalities, visitors are invited to enjoy cocktails and “lawn boxes" with cheese, crackers, and fruit or full dinner while listening to Chicago's finest jazz musicians. Dinner reservations at Puck's are recommended, call 312.397.4034. In case of rain, the event takes place in Puck's. Tuesdays on the Terrace: Corey Wilkes Trio Tuesday, September 25

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Spirit Gatherer:...

Self Produced
2023

buy

Parallel Universe

Night Dreamer
2023

buy

Be Known...

Self Produced
2019

buy

Cries From Tha Ghetto

Pi Recordings
2009

buy

Drop It

Delmark Records
2008

buy

Videos

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