Compound Yellow is excited to co-present Taalib-Din Ziyad & Mankwe Ndosi – Earth Connection with Experimental Sound Studio as part of their long running OPTION series. OPTION features performances by improvising musicians from across genres, followed by an artist-led interview.

This performance is FREE. Walk-ups welcome; reservations encouraged here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/option-taalib-din-ziyad-mankwe-ndosi-earth-connection-tickets-338500142037

About the Artists
Taalib-Din Ziyad is a vocalist,flutist, composer, arranger and instructor. Taalib-Din received vocal training as a teenager with the renowned Lina McLin and classical training at the Chicago Music School/Roosevelt College with voice instructor Thelma Wade Brown. He began performing in various recitals throughout Chicagoland and Indiana in his early teens. After being drafted in the Army, Taalib-Din continued his love of music by performing in the 3rd Army Soldier Show. This group toured the southeastern states entertaining troops.

In 1991 Taalib-Din became a member of the Association for the Advancement of Created Musicians (AACM). During this time he performed as a vocalist and flutist with Vandy Harris Front Burners.

Taalib-Din has performed with many notable musicians such as Ari Brown, Phil Kelan Cohran, Ernest Kabeer Dawkins, Adegoke Steve Colson, Jodie Christian and many more. Taalib-Din is a member of the Renee Baker Chicago Modern Orchestra Project, AACM Great Black Music Ensemble, AACM Experimental Ensemble and Art Turk Burton’s Congo Square.

He has performed in Paris France; Poznan Poland; the Umbria Jazz Festival; the Frankfort Jazz Festival in Frankfort Germany and many other venues.

Taalib-Din has held the position of school instructor; AACM finance officer and most recently as Vice President from 2016 to 2020.

Mankwe Ndosi is a Vocalist, Composer, and Culture Worker of sound and soil. Her practice emerges from black ritual legacies of music and performance learned from and played with Douglas R. Ewart, Laurie Smith Carlos, Sharon Bridgforth, Amoke Kubat, Nicole Mitchell, Miriam Makeba, ancestors, earth, and many peers across species, cultures, and creative genres. She crafts sonic and soil experiences for transformation and liberation that connect the electro-magnetics of internal landscapes with the power of the earth.

OPTION is an ongoing music salon curated by Chicago musicians Tomeka Reid, Ken Vandermark, and Andrew Clinkman and presented by Experimental Sound Studio. Its programming explores contemporary perspectives on improvisation and composition in a ‘salon’ format, enabling local, national, and international artists to publicly discuss their practice and ideas as well as perform. For more information about the series and a full 2022 calendar listing, please visit https://ess.org.