8 Bold Souls

In January of 1985 eight musicians came together to premier new music for a series of Thursday night concerts in downtown Chicago at a performance venue called Chicago Filmmakers. The group featured the unusual instrumentation of two woodwinds, trumpet, trombone, cello, tuba, bass, and trap drums. The concerts, entitled "New Music for 8 Bold Souls", were successful with both critics and musicians. Hence the formation for the group known as 8 Bold Souls, led by Composer, Reedist Edward Wilkerson. In order to have a good understanding of 8 Bold Souls it is important to understand a bit more about the ensembleís leader. Musically Wilkerson finds inspiration from those he has studied or worked with such as Muhal Richard Abrams, Henry Threadgill, Lester Bowie, Fred Anderson, Von Freeman, Johnny Britt, as well as many other fellow members of the AACM. In addition, Wilkerson cites many non-musical inspirations like family, education and readings. Fostered by the AACM, Wilkerson learned to think about music in an encouraging environment that promoted musical education in equal doses with experimentation. 8 Bold Souls' music is both melodic (reminiscent of small groups led by Duke Ellington and Jimmy Lunceford) and challenging (featuring complex arrangements for innovative instrumentation).