Artifacts Trio: Nicole Mitchell Tomeka Reid and Mike Reed

The members of the Artifacts Trio - flutist Nicole Mitchell, cellist Tomeka Reid and drummer Mike Reed - have long been recognized as torchbearers of Chicago's innovative jazz scene. The trio served on the AACM Board of Directors from 2009 to 2011, and their music promotes its motto "Ancient to the Future" by celebrating African-American culture while integrating new, progressive ideas into the heritage of jazz and composition across genres. The Artifacts Trio's first release, the 2015 album Artifacts, featured classic compositions by AACM composers such as Henry Threadgill, Roscoe Mitchell, Fred Hopkins, Leroy Jenkins, Amina Claudie Meyers, Steve McCall, Anthony Braxton and Muhal Richard Abrams.

The album placed on NPR's Top Albums of 2015 lists as well as in the New York Times and All About Jazz.