Meet Chicago’s next generation of jazz musicians — and find out where to catch them

One chilly spring night in Chicago, a line formed outside of a speakeasy hidden in the back of a retail shop.

Once inside, the patrons were rapt as musicians played “Take the ‘A’ Train,” “Caravan,” “In a Sentimental Mood” and other jazz tunes.

It wasn’t the 1930s, but 2025 at Dorian’s, a bar tucked behind a record store in Wicker Park. Onstage, the members of the night's band — the Julius Tucker Trio — were in their 20s or early 30s. Remarkably, the audience was too.

Bassist Micah Collier, 25, was a performer in the show, a tribute to Duke Ellington. He said he was thrilled to see a younger crowd embrace a jazz show.

“A lot of the jazz clubs bring in an older audience because there's this stigma that jazz is for the older generation,” said Collier, whose latest album, “Live at Dorian’s, Vol 1.,” was released this year. “Jazz is everybody’s music.”

Collier is just one of several rising local stars who are asserting themselves as new bandleaders, composers and teachers on the scene. They’re not only mastering the jazz standards, but pushing boundaries within the genre. And this is the month to catch them at the Englewood Jazz Festival (Sept. 16 - 20) and the Hyde Park Jazz Festival (Sept. 27-28), two free showcases that pride themselves on mixing the old and new guard.

Micah Collier, expanding the boundaries of jazz

“I feel like the younger generations are changing their definition of what jazz has been,” said Collier, who will perform with his band, Proximity, at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival on Sept. 27. “We're breaking all of those barriers currently. Jazz is funk. Jazz is soul and R&B. It’s all pulling from the same place, and it all has the same goal at the end of the day. That’s the reason why young people are like, ‘Oh yeah, I listen to jazz. This is cool right here."

Growing up in a musical family in Morgan Park, Collier learned the foundations of funk and gospel from his father’s side. He also picked up musical influences from his mother and grandfather, who are Haitian. He attributes his rhythmic bass-playing to his experience playing drums as a child.

He went on to graduate from the Chicago Academy for the Arts and take courses at the Brubeck Institute and DePaul University. He has been mentored by Vincent Davis, Junius Paul and Corey Wilkes, to name just a few. He counts playing with jazz veterans at the North Sea Jazz Festival, Worldwide Festival and other international shows as pivotal moments in his career.

In the two years since releasing his debut album, “Becoming,” he has continued to sharpen his skills as a composer.

“I want to write music that people can remember and sing daily,” he said. “When they hear it, it's like, ‘This reminds me of home, this reminds me of my childhood.’”

Collier will also join his friend and frequent collaborator, Frank Morrison, in a large ensemble during the Englewood Jazz Festival. On Sept.18, the group will play a four-movement piece, “Great Black Music - Ancient To The Future,” composed by festival founder Ernest Dawkins.

“I really hope that people receive my music and my sound on the bass like a warm hug,” Collier said. “There will always be crazy things going on. I just want to be that space creatively where people can come and feel relief and enjoy themselves.”

Frank Morrison, ‘hardest working’ drummer in town

Morrison, a 24-year-old Roseland resident, is a drummer in demand. Last month, he played with his band, the FM Trio, as well as Dawkins’ band and two others at the Chicago Jazz Festival, which branded him the “hardest working man” at the event.

“I would say that I have a strong sense of musicality and a keen ear,” Morrison said. “I think about each person as having their own story when they're playing, and I help them tell their story. It's like I’m a co-signer.”

Morrison also describes his playing as “intense” and “fiery.”

“Let's be honest, everybody loves a good drum solo,” he said, laughing. “You have a responsibility in a way to give the people what they want.”

Morrison’s first set of drums were pots and pans before he started playing in church. He fell in love with jazz at Morgan Park High School, where he was taught by Shemeka Nash. He went on to study at the University of Louisville. And both he and Collier completed Ernest Dawkins’ Young Masters program. Morrison’s many other mentors include Ernie Adams, Greg Artry and the late Wille Pickens.

Some of Morrison’s most impactful moments include playing with Dawkins in South Africa and Wadada Leo Smith in Italy. Today, he is focused on growing as a bandleader, composer and teacher.

“You never know who could be the next Miles Davis,” he said. “It sounds a little funny, but it's serious. You can really change someone's life as a teacher. I revere my teachers to this day. I wouldn't be in the position that I'm in right now if it weren't for [them]. So, I want to be like that.”

Lily Finnegan, earning the respect of veterans

A drummer known in both the punk and jazz scenes, Evanston native Lily Finnegan started playing drums as a tween and began forming bands at 14. After graduating from Evanston Township High School, she attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Berklee College of Music. Her mentors include Jeffrey Lien, Vincent Davis, Allison Miller and Terri Lyne Carrington, founder of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice.

Under Lyne Carrington’s tutelage, Finnegan studied the intersection of music and social justice.

“Art doesn't exist in a vacuum,” Finnegan said. “It can give people a reason to keep living or feel free.”

Today, as a new music teacher, Finnegan is learning how to guide both young musicians and veteran jazz players. The 27-year-old recruited seasoned saxophonists Edward Wilkerson Jr. and Fred Jackson Jr., as well as bassist Nick Macri for her band, Heat On. The musicians released their debut album this year.

Finnegan said she pushed past the initial fear of asking such accomplished musicians to trust her vision.

“I’m not used to telling people how to play or what to do,” said Finnegan, of Logan Square, who will appear with the group on Sept. 27 at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival. “But I think of it as giving some structure and ideas to play off of. That’s the really nice thing about composing for improvisers. You can just trust them that it’s going to work out somehow. And it’s been a cool lesson to apply to life, too.”

Finnegan, who also works as an event organizer, co-curates the Option Series, which features performances and discussions on improvisation and composition. She is also a member of Catalytic Sound, an independent music cooperative that seeks ways for musicians to reach economic stability.

Finnegan said a recent highlight of her career was being asked to sub for the drummer of Red Lily Quintet on their European tour last year. The experience taught her to have faith in her abilities.

“When you're in a school setting, you're used to people telling you what you can improve on,” she said. “But it's like, ‘OK, I'm here and it's happening every night, so they must like it enough.'”

Feedback from a Chicago legend also doesn’t hurt. Hamid Drake, a celebrated 70-year-old percussionist, has complimented her playing.

“I was like, ‘Ok, I think I can trust myself,’” she said.