Nicole Mitchell

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the last century; the first recorded jazz solo on the instrument dates to 1927, when Alberto Socarrás was featured on "Shootin' the Pistol." Players such as Wayman Carver, Jerome Richardson, and Frank Wess were featured on flute in various big bands, and from the 1960s on many saxophone players have doubled on the smaller horn with great success. More recently, full-time flute players such as Herbie Mann, Sam Most, Hubert Laws, and James Newton have established a firm place for the instrument in modern jazz.

Nicole Mitchell has followed in their footsteps. She is a classically trained flutist who concentrates on one instrument (although she also plays the piccolo and the alto flute), and she's developed a highly individual style. Initially inspired by visionaries such as Eric Dolphy and Newton, she extended her well-developed classical technique in new directions, concentrating on the more progressive forces in improvised music. With a degree in music from Oberlin, she settled in Chicago and quickly became immersed in the unique new-music scene of that city, joining the all-woman ensemble of the famed Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). When Mitchell joined, she was one of the new young faces; now vice-chair of AACM, she is cultivating another generation of artists as the organization celebrates its fortieth anniversary this year.