WDCB's Fundraising Concert features bassist Ethan Philion's "Meditations on Mingus" Ensemble celebrating Charles Mingus's birthday

Tickets are available in advance for $20 each

Two 60-minute sets at 8pm & 10pm
(Tickets will be good for BOTH sets)

Ethan Philion's Meditations on Mingus is a 10-person ensemble that honors the great bassist and composer Charles Mingus, who used his music to speak against injustice and to call for compassion towards all people. The band features many of the Chicago area's top musicians, and has performed at Chicago's Hyde Park Jazz Festival, the Green Mill, Fulton Street Collective, and more. They are one of the featured artists for the Jazz Institute of Chicago's New Works Fresh Voices Program. The group was featured as a headliner at the 2022 Chicago Jazz Festival. Their debut album was released in August of 2022 on Sunnyside Records to critical acclaim--Downbeat Magazine praised the album as a "labor of conspicuous love for a musical titan.. Philion demonstrates chops and taste...sophisticated yet faithful arrangements."  

“Meditations” is directed by bassist Ethan Philion, one of the Chicago area’s most active freelance musicians who has been praised by the Washington Post for his "well-honed chops and astounding musicality." Philion won 1st place in the 2019 International Society of Bassists Jazz Competition. Former winners include John Clayton, Ben Williams, Jorge Roeder, and Shawn Conley. Ethan maintains a busy performance schedule, including performances with Greg Ward, Dana Hall, Ernest Dawkins, Alyssa Allgood, and more … as well as weekly shows at the Green Mill with Alfonso Ponticelli. Philion is a graduate of DePaul University’s Master’s Program and Oberlin Conservatory where he won 2 Downbeat Student Music Awards in 2014.