The third and final concert in the series is May 3 with Chicago jazz legend Harrison Bankhead. One of the leading figures of Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, bassist Bankhead recently brought together a talented group of Chicago jazz artists who amazed listeners and critics with Bankhead’s sophomore release “Velvet Blue.” At the May concert, Bankhead performs with saxophonists Mars Williams and Edward Wilkerson Jr., and drummer Avreeayl Ra.

According to Vega, the Harrison Bankhead Quartet is part of a “post-Coltrane continuum, a branch of jazz that was blossoming in the 1960s in Detroit, Chicago and New York, and continued to evolve long after Coltrane died. It’s very street, from the street, very raw. A lot of it comes from the fact these guys, these musicians, knew and played with many former members of Coltrane’s previous bands. It’s an evolving tradition that continues to be expanded upon.”  In other words, Bankhead’s music could be described as diverse, avant-garde, free jazz.