Greg Spero - The Chicago Experiment (2022)

RFor the past 15 years, Greg Spero and Makaya McCraven have been collaborators and supporters of each other's musical development. Darryl Jones, of the generation above Spero and McCraven, was introduced to Spero over a decade ago when co-composing for the record of another Chicago bass veteran Frank Russell. Years ago, Marquis and Spero road-tripped to Canada in Fareed Haque's RV for two nights at the Trane Jazz Club. The Velvet Lounge with Fred Anderson, the New Apartment Lounge with Vaughn Freeman, and the Jazz Showcase with Joe Segal have all been mainstays for these members of Chicago's new musical generation.

Through of the deep history of collaboration and community shared by Chicago artists, a distinct sound has made its appearance on the world stage. This sound is organic; you can hear it in the recordings of Spero and McCraven with Corey Wilkes and Junius Paul in recordings made 12 years ago at Close Up 2 in the south loop. It is genuine, improvisatory, and transparently soulful in a way that can only come as a natural expression of genuine history. Out of all the cities in the world, Chicago proved to be the ideal breeding ground for the next iteration of the Ropeadope Experiment series, following up the legendary Philadelphia Experiment with its new baby brother 20 years later, entitled The Chicago Experiment.

For this record, Spero brought in his long-time Chicago collaborators into the studio for 4 days of improvisation and performance. Spero came to the table with some compositions, but in the true spirit of Chicago, the sessions were filled with improvisation. The all-star group walked away from the 4 days with a huge slate of raw creative material, which Spero then distilled town into succinct groovy improvised compositions. The result is a record that embodies the true Chicago sound, and serves as a great example of the improvisational magic woven into the cultural fabric of Chicago's music scene.