Ravinia 2021 - Issue 4

MICHAEL SCHMELLING (BIRD) PAVILION 7:00 PM FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2021 ANDREW BIRD featuring JIMBO MATHUS and BOWL OF FIRE with special guest THE FLAT FIVE † KELLY HOGAN•NORA O’CONNOR•SCOTT LIGON CASEY MCDONOUGH•ALEX HALL † Ravinia debut SANDRA K. CROWN SOUTH GATE PLAZA Introducing the Ravinia is grateful to name the Sandra K. Crown South Gate Plaza in honor of Sandra K. Crown and her exceptional contributions and dedication to Ravinia. Located at the South Entrance to the park, the Sandra K. Crown South Gate Plaza is a stunning way to welcome guests to the beauty and respite of the park, and carries with it a distinct sense of calm or an excited buzz, depending on the concert showcased that evening. ANDREW BIRD A Chicagoland native, Andrew Bird gradu- ated from Lake Forest High School in 1991 and Northwestern University in 1996 with a degree in violin performance, having stud- ied the instrument from the age of 4. He also made his first solo album in 1996, Music of Hair , featuring several members of the swing revival group Squirrel Nut Zippers. Bird re- ciprocated the collaboration on three Zippers albums in the late ’90s: Hot , Sold Out , and Perennial Favorites . Returning to the role of bandleader, he formed Bowl of Fire for Thrills (1998) and Oh! The Grandeur (1999), both of which also featured Zippers members. Bird’s sonic palette broadened with 2001’s The Swimming Hour , branching into rock and pop, at which point he refocused on solo cre- ations. His first such album, 2003’s Weather Systems , fomented elements of his next two discs, Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Produc- tion of Eggs (2005) and Armchair Apocrypha (2007), which also introduced his signature multitracked and looped recordings of his own playing. The latter album also led to his national television debut on late-night shows, as well as a live broadcast of one of his con- certs on NPR. Following 2009’s Noble Beast , Bird released both Break It Yourself and Hands of Glory in 2012, the former including a duet with Annie Clark (St. Vincent). He covered songs by fellow Chicagoans The Handsome Family on 2014’s Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of… and 2016’s Are You Serious featured collaborations with Fiona Apple and Blake Mills. The title of his 2019 collection perhaps foreshadowed its reception: My Finest Work Yet earned Bird his first Grammy nomina- tion. In between those albums, he inaugurat- ed an instrumental cycle titled Echolocations , featuring field recordings in the subtitled locations: Canyon (Utah’s Coyote Gulch) ap- peared in 2015 and River (Los Angeles River) in 2017. After releasing his soundtrack to Nor- man (2010) recut as an independent album, Bird’s film work grew with “The Whistling Caruso” in The Muppets (2011) and the score to FX’s The Baskets (2016), then took a new turn in 2020 as he appeared in the fourth se- ries of Fargo playing Thurman Smutney. A ticket-taker at Ravinia in his youth, Andrew Bird made his concert stage debut in 2017 and tonight makes his first return to the Pavilion. JIMBO MATHUS Mississippi native Jimbo Mathus dabbled in varied bands through high school and early years of college, eventually landing in North Carolina, where he co-founded the swing revival band Squirrel Nut Zippers in 1993. The group entered the mainstream in 1996 with the single “Hell” off their top-30, plat- inum-selling sophomore album Hot , which featured Andrew Bird as a guest on violin. Bird continued collaborating with the group through the 1997 EP Sold Out and 1998 LP Pe- rennial Favorites , which climbed into the top 20; the Zippers guested on Bird’s three albums over the same period. Meanwhile, Mathus had also formed His Knockdown Society as a side project, recording Play Songs for Rosetta in 1997, a blues collection to support a fami- ly friend. After 2000’s Bedlam Ballroom , the Zippers disbanded and Mathus rekindled his Delta blues work, releasing National Antisep- tic in 2001, the same year he guested on the acclaimed Buddy Guy album Sweet Tea . The pattern repeated in 2003 with his own Stop and Let the Devil Ride and a guest spot on Guy’s Grammy-winning Blues Singer . After Mathus released Knockdown South (2005) and Old Scool Hot Wings (2006), he put solo work on hold for a Zippers reunion between 2005 and 2010, releasing the live album Lost at Sea in 2009—the same year the group played at Ravinia. He returned to roots and blues rock following the second hiatus, forming The Tri- State Coalition to record 2011’s Confederate Buddha , 2013’s White Buffalo , and 2014’s Dark Night of the Soul . A quest for the warmth of analog led to 2015’s Blue Healer , and the ener- gy was dialed back in for the following year’s Band of Storms . Mathus convened a new line- up of the Zippers in 2016 as well, immediately hitting the road and soon the studio, releasing Beasts of Burgundy in 2018. After his 2019 solo collection Incinerator , Mathus reteamed with Bird to create These 13 , released in March. THE FLAT FIVE The Flat Five is a Chicago-based pop vocal supergroup of in-demand musicians who in- dividually spend much of their time touring and recording with artists like Neko Case, New Rhythm and Blues Quartet, The Decem- berists, Andrew Bird, Mavis Staples, Iron & Wine, Jakob Dylan, Robbie Fulks, Alejandro Escovedo, and The New Pornographers. At first the quintet came together only once a year for a sold-out holiday show in the city, but as month-long residencies crept in, so did the idea of recording an album. It’s a World of Love and Hope appeared in 2016 and Another World this past fall, both fileld with twisted sunshine pop tracks by Chicago songwriting statesman Chris Ligon, elder brother to quin- tet member Scott. The Flat Five are making their Ravinia debut. RAVINIA MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER 7 – SEPTEMBER 24, 2021 62