Do You Know Nicole?

The theme of my radio show is ‘Things you might not have heard from people you might not know’. The underlying reason for this theme is that although we might not hear from folks we have never heard of, it does not negate the significance of what they may have said or done. The purpose of the show is to allow some of their voices to be heard and some of their endeavors shared. Nicole Mitchell, someone you might not know, is our upcoming guest.  What I’d like to do is share a few things I’ve heard, that because of her modesty, you might not otherwise hear.

Nicole was born in Syracuse, New York and moved with her family to a neighborhood in Anaheim, California at the age of 8. Being one of the very few children of African American descent in that area, her elementary and high school experience was riddled with both overt and subtle racial animosity that she still recalls from time to time. Not only did she devise a means of dealing with the years of being referred to as ‘Spider Web’, because of the texture of her hair, or being constantly called the N word.“  Her beige exterior did not adequately reflect her  “I’m proud of being black…. don’t get it twisted attitude”, and she grew stronger in what would become a precursor to and preparation for the trials and tribulations that lay ahead. Probably most disheartening was Nicole’s being only 16 when her mother transitioned. No longer a child, not yet a woman, she consciously resolved to continue her mother’s artistic path, through music.  “There’s something I’m supposed to do she vowed. I’m going to have to do it on my own, but Anaheim is not the place I’m going to do it in.

She continued her education at UC San Diego and augmented her flute playing skills by playing music on the streets of La Jolla. Adorned in eveningwear, this young performer astounded the passers by with the virtuosity displayed through both her classical and jazz renditions. She subsequently moved to Oberlin College in Ohio and later to the city of her mother’s birth, and the place where that something she felt she had to do took on a more recognizable form. Chicago was now the hometown of Nicole Mitchell.

While living in Chicago Nicole accomplished her educational goals, taught for years at several Universities, while playing the piccolo with the Chicago Sinfonietta. She still performs with the several jazz bands she started while living there, served as the first and only female president of the almost 50 year old Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, has been and is still recognized for the past 4 years as the world’s best jazz flutist by the Jazz Journalists Association and Downbeat magazine.  Not to mention that on one of her many trips to Europe she was approached by a college student in Italy who wanted her to sign an Italian magazine that had her picture on the cover.

You may have heard some or none of these things, but what you might not have heard is the fact that she’s more respected and renown in Europe than she is in her hometown. You might not have heard how some folks in Chicago tried to sabotage her classical concert career because a black woodwind player was rare and not readily accepted. You might not know that the jazz arena is still male dominated and female performers, with the exception of vocalists, are at times looked upon with disdain and oftentimes scrutinized in terms of their ability and success. Did you know that her avant-garde musical approaches ruffled the feathers of a more conservative Chicago college administration? Were you aware that her first encounter with Chicago’s finest was being arrested in downtown Chicago and charged with a noise violation. Accolades on the one hand, rejection on the other, and in spite of it all, her resolve is still reflective of the Maya Angelou mantra “… Still I’ll rise”.  

Well, that’s enough for now and I hope you guys have realized that my intent for both this blog and the radio show is to unveil the unknown. Like Nicole, we all have a place on this planet and we all have something to give. We need a platform for doing so and Nicole Mitchell is one who has made that platform for herself because, rather than opting to have her dream deferred, she chose to develop and maintain a consciousness committed to doing what she has been put here to do. When you hear her play her piccolo or flute, when you listen to an orchestra perform one of her composition, be aware that you’re witnessing a ‘heart form’, not an art form; and that Nicole’s intent is to inspire you to continue doing whatever it is that you do to contribute positive energy to this universe in which we all reside. All I have left to say right now is, “Play on Nicole…Play on.”

I’ll holla 

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