Evanston Jazz: "Donovan's Garage" Brings Chicago Jazz to Evanston
Join Donovan Mixon--just honored with Evanston’s 2025 Mayor’s Award for the Arts—and three top Chicago Jazz artists for the latest “Donovan’s Garage” jazz event.
The show will be Tuesday, December 9 at 7pm at the AKAR Auditorium in Evanston, 2715 Hurd Ave. in Evanston. As with all “Donovan’s Garage” events, the show is free and families are welcome.
It will be the first opportunity to see a “Donovan’s Garage” show since Mayor Daniel Biss named Mixon this year’s recipient of the annual Mayor’s Award for the Arts. Mixon was recognized for his “Donovan’s Garage” project in which he brings top Chicago jazz players to Evanston.
Here’s who Donovan will perform with that evening:
• Ethan Philion, an award-winning bassist, composer, and bandleader based in Chicago. His debut album, Meditations on Mingus, was commended as “a labor of conspicuous love and respect for a musical titan” by Downbeat Magazine. Philion was one of the 2022 Jazz Institute of Chicago’s New Works Fresh Voices Fellowship recipients. He was also the winner of the 2019 International Society of Bassists Jazz Competition.
• Dakarai Barclay is a trumpeter and educator currently based in Chicago. He has had the privilege of performing with mentors and elder musicians such as Willerm Delisfort, Winard Harper, Jarrard Harris, Ernest Dawkins, Marlene Rosenburg, and many more. Dakarai can be seen playing in venues throughout Chicago, New York, and elsewhere.
• Drummer Jayden Richardson has appeared at venues and festivals worldwide, including Carnegie Hall, the Harris Theatre, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Le Duc des Lombards in Paris. His festival credits include the Atlanta, Detroit, and Chicago Jazz Festivals, among others. He has shared the stage with some of the defining voices in modern music, including Marcus Roberts, Rufus Reid, Isaiah Collier, Etienne Charles, and Steve Wilson.
“We hear so much about Chicago jazz. “Donovan’s Garage” is Evanston’s way to experience it.” said Mixon, a long-time Evanstonian and a jazz guitarist who is a mainstay of the Chicago jazz scene Over the past two years Mixon has brought more than 60 of Chicago’s finest jazz artists to perform in Evanston.
The AKAR Auditorium is at 2715 Hurd Avenue, across from the Willard School in Evanston. Families are welcome and admission is free (with donations gratefully accepted.)
Event Links
Website: https://go.evvnt.com/3363349-0
