When avant-garde jazz drummer Frank Rosaly moved from Chicago to Amsterdam in 2016, he did it for love, not to further his musical career. But on the professional front, Europe has always treated him well. He entered Chicago’s improvised-music scene in 2001 and watched the rise and growth of new concert series here, but it wasn’t until he started touring Europe in 2003 that he began performing for larger audiences.
Neither musician has cut ties with Chicago, and Clearfield in particular will be back for a return visit soon: He plays with Matt Ulery’s Delicate Charms, alongside Greg Ward, James Davis, and Quin Kirchner, on Sunday, September 15, at the Hungry Brain. The same band has a record-release party at the Green Mill on Friday and Saturday, November 1 and 2.
When I do play clubs in Europe, the audience tends to be quieter. Sometimes this is great, because they’re bringing an air of reverence and attention to the occasion, but other times, I miss the vocal feedback and energy that’s more common at an American jazz club. Of course, there are exceptions on all sides.
The subsidized, institutionalized context I found in Europe felt different than Chicago. Big stages, light plots, and backstage snacks. . . . It felt less punk to scrape drums with a fork there than in Chicago. My impulses came from a different place because 1,000 people were listening versus 12.
Rosaly For now, it seems there are more mechanisms in Europe in place where prospective music lovers are more likely to be mobilized because of subsidy, education, and national/institutional programs than in the United States.
I have the hopeful overseas perspective that in Chicago, at least, it’s growing. v
