The story
Black Diamond thrives on the chemistry and compositions of saxophonists Artie Black and Hunter Diamond. They met while studying under David Baker and Tom Walsh at Indiana University. A mutual admiration for the collaborative recordings of saxophonists Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh led them to experiment with their own two-tenor palette, and it quickly became apparent that the variance in their tonal and artistic approaches created a captivating sense of balance.
In Chicago, the band has been featured in residency at Andy's Jazz Club, The Drake Hotel, and The Whistler. Other performances include the 2018 Chicago Jazz Festival, and associations with the Jazz Institute of Chicago, Sounds of the City Workshop, the Anagram Series at Elastic Arts Foundation, and the Chicago Jazz Composers Collective. The band has been on three U.S. tours and will make their EU debut at the 2024 We Jazz festival in Helsinki, Finland. As active music educators, the group has been featured as guest clinicians and lecturers of jazz and ethnomusicology at Slippery Rock University (Slippery Rock, PA), Whitworth University(Spokane, WA), Pacific Lutheran University (Tacoma, WA), and Knox College (Galesburg, IL).
2017 marked the release of Black Diamond's debut recording , "Mandala," on Shifting Paradigm Records. Featuring bassist Matt Ulery and drummer Neil Hemphill, the album debuted nine original works by Black and Diamond. The title is inspired by the Vajrayana Buddhist practice of sand painting. The intent of a mandala is to form a representation of the enlightened mind through intricate patterning of layered grains of colored sand. The music on "Mandala" represents their grains laid; their mandala composed. "Mandala" was listed as an editor's pick in Downbeat magazine in August 2017.
Black Diamond's second album, “Chant” (Shifting Paradigm), was recorded live at The Whistler in Chicago and released in March 2019. This recording built on the momentum of "Mandala" and further crystalized the band's sound. The nature of the live recording leads to a heightened level of energy and collective improvisation. In praise of "Chant," the Chicago Reader describes Black Diamond's ability "...to affirm the importance of discovering the commonalities between mediums that are bound by creativity and growth."
The most recent from Black Diamond, "A Held Space" (Woolgathering Records, 2020) features Black and Diamond in a series of improvisational duets whose raw material was edited and produced to create a collage that represents their longstanding chemistry. Jazz Journal UK wrote that "Black and Diamond’s augmenting of their in-the-moment work stops short of straightforward overdubbing and has the effect of deepening their spontaneity and the acute degree to which they are a meeting of musical minds."
Feature 1
The Band
photo by Jeremy Catledge at Rtisan.
Artie Black has been a part of Chicago's vibrant music scene since 2012. In 2016, he and guitarist Jeff Swanson released an album of original music with their group Living Bridge on Ears & Eyes Records, and Bird is the Worm praised the recording's "fluid lyricism and abundant warmth." Artie also appears on the new Origin Records release by drummer Gustavo Cortiñas, Esse - featured in performance at the 2017 Chicago Jazz Festival. His newest project is an apprenticeship and collaboration with Indian tabla master Sandip Burman. Visit his website to learn more.
photo by Jeremy Catledge at Rtisan.
Chicago based bassist/composer and bandleader, Matt Ulery, has developed an instantly recognizable sound. Known for his sweeping lyricism, unconventional phrase structures, expressionistic emotionalism, Ulery’s music, from small, diverse chamber ensembles to full orchestras, is informed by the entire spectrum of jazz, classical, rock, pop, and folk– specifically American, South American, Balkan, and other European folk styles. He has been performing for 20 years on upright, electric, and brass basses. To learn more about Matt visit his website.
photo by Jeremy Catledge at Rtisan.
Attending Indiana University, Hunter Diamond studied with the legendary Dr. David Baker, and saxophonist Tom Walsh. After leaving IU, Hunter toured with Sammy Figueroa (Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins) and his Grammy Experience Band, The Main Squeeze (LA), The Media Noche Quartet (LA), and headlined the Amelia Island Jazz Festival with Randy Brecker (Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Brecker Brothers).
Hunter completed his Master’s in Jazz Studies from DePaul University where he studied with world-renowned drummer/educator Dana Hall, and saxophonist Scott Burns. Most recently, Hunter became a 2017 Jazz Fellow through the Luminarts organization, which provides extensive support to young artists of all fields in Chicago. Visit Hunter's website for more information.
photo by Jeremy Catledge at Rtisan.
After moving from Denver to Chicago in 2015, Neil Hemphill immediately became an in-demand drummer in Chicago's jazz and creative music community. To hear more about Neil's process, his influences, and his thoughts about jazz history and its progression, check out this interview he did with Colorado's KuvoJazz radio station.
Interview
Ep 2 of the Rtisan Podcast. Interview conducted by Jeremy Catldege. Topics: David Baker, Chicago's creative music scene, our musical and artistic influences, and more.