Cross Modulations Series: Taalib-Din Ziyad + Chan/Monteverde/Pennepalli Trio

The Hideout
1354 West Wabansia Ave
Chicago, Illinois 60642

Taalib-Din Ziyad

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 school instructor; AACM finance officer and most recently as Vice President from 2016 to 2020.

Chan/Monteverde/Pennepalli Trio

Chicago multi-instrumentalist and composer Jeff Chan works to create music expressive of the Asian American experience. He has performed across the US and in Europe. Critics have said that Chan is “… a voice to be reckoned with… (Brian Gilmore, JazzTimes)” and that his work is “music of uncommon majesty, spirituality and emotional depth (Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune).”

Jon Monteverde is a musician based in Chicago. He plays keyboards in Boundary Waters and bass in Hey Hey Think Think, and makes electronic music as XYZR_KX. His recent improvisational work focuses on disorientation and the challenge of staying present.

Dheeru Pennepalli is a Chicago-based guitarist, composer, and improviser known mostly for his work with the long-running experimental ensemble a Light Sleeper. Pennepalli approaches his instrument with the aim of finding new ways to express emotion through melodic and rhythmic interplay, with an ear for unusual phrasings and non-traditional structures.