Chicago Jazz Hero
Saxist, organizer, educator and activist Ernest Khabeer Dawkins’ middle name, bestowed on him by a Muslim preacher, means “Big Man.” The moniker owes not so much to his height, though he’s six feet tall, more to his spirituality. Still, few will get the impression the formidable Dawkins spends too much time in the lotus position navel-gazing. The JJA’s Jazz Hero of 2022 in Chicago is a man of action.
Born on the south side of the city in 1953, Ernest was sent by his father to Virginia’s St. Emma Military Academy for Black men when he was 17, but music proved to be his mission, not conflict. One of Dawkins’ compositions for his long-running New Horizons Ensemble, “Baghdad Blues,” used to conclude live with the band filing offstage chanting “No more war!”
Nevertheless, Dawkins has long been a warrior for the often disparaged and indeed disadvantaged Chicago community of Englewood, where he resides. He is committed to this place. He started the Englewood Jazz Festival at the turn of the century after receiving a Meet The Composer grant, and inaugurated the Live The Spirit Residency Big Band at the same time.
The former has enriched a community often beset by gang violence, connecting with musicians across the world from London to South Africa to Sardinia, and remains a free public event every fall in Hamilton Park on W. 72nd St. The latter has nourished and mentored such outstanding talents as Nicole Mitchell, Greg Ward, Corey Wilkes, Maurice Brown, Isaiah Spencer, Junius Paul, Isaiah and Jeremiah Collier, Alexis Lombre and Devin Shaw.
Live The Spirit received its first NEA grant this year and a significant Cultural Treasures grant from the City of Chicago in 2021. The collective — “There are no bosses in a democracy” says Dawkins — is not just a seedbed for young talent; in the Senior Big Band, Dawkins teaches members in their 70s who are interested in learning the nomenclature and mechanics of jazz and improvisation, free of charge.
Dawkins is steeped in the cultural history of his Black neighborhood, and Black music’s connections with the wider world. One of his abiding memories is witnessing the unique multi-reeds master Rahsaan Roland Kirk very ably making his way down the street in Chicago and thinking, “Wait a minute, aren’t you supposed to be blind?” Such experience of expectations reversed made him determined to foster and promote the legacy of those who go forth, regardless of challenges. On behalf of the Englewood Jazz Festival, Dawkins annually bestows the Spirit of Jazz Award to a worthy recipient.
His other community involvement includes corralling a weekly jam session at Norman’s Bistro at 43rd and Ellis and, during the summer months, convening drum circles in Englewood and Columbus Park on Chicago’s west side — scheduled to expand also to South Shore. A veteran member of the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians), Dawkins recently fulfilled his lengthy third term as Chairman of the organization, this stint from 2015-2021. Frequently during that period he’d be seen directing the unwieldy Great Black Music Ensemble with a firm hand.
Though ostensibly a steely individual with an acute gaze, not to be trifled with, the saxophonist often breaks into a warm smile and laughter and will meet you halfway. Though very much an active part of his community from a performing perspective, Ernest Khabeer Dawkins sees the bigger picture, a characteristic of all JJA Hero honorees. He’s always eager to give back, to help young musicians survive and make a living, and has an eye out for the community’s traditions, developments, possibilities and elders, too. — Michael Jackson
