DONOVAN MIXON

 A self described citizen of the world, Mixon lives in Chicago performing in clubs concert halls and festivals with his World Jazz Quintet as well with the GBME - Great Black Music Ensemble of the AACM Chicago.
AVAILABLE AT https://donovanmixon1.bandcamp.com/releases
     ​It's Been Good, features odd bar phrases, lyrics with surprising rhyming structures, jazz harmonies, a South American feel and a rhythmic texture imbued with Turkish percussion. Mixon sometimes refers to his music as World Jazz and says that as a songwriter, he has always been influenced by composers such as Villa Lobos, Stevie Wonder, Leo Brouwer and Wayne Shorter. MORE...
"Jazz composer/guitarist Donovan Mixon has turned the haunting words of his son's mother into an ethereal paean to hope in a time of despair. His latest song creation, “It’s Been Good,” mellifluously sung by Sarah Marie Young, beautifully turns grief into gratitude — The accompanying quartet of guitar, piano, bass, and drums mixes Latin rhythms with Turkish percussion which offers up a dreamy balm for the soul."
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—Alexandra Ivanoff, arts contributor to the New York Times, Time Out Istanbul, Musical America, Hungarytoday.hu (Budapest), Harmonie (Prague), Andante (Istanbul).


"'It's Been Good' by master guitarist Donovan Mixon is obviously a song directly from the heart.  Sung to perfection by Chicago vocal stylist Sarah Marie Young, backed by some of the Windy City's finest musicians, the song pulls the listener into a parent's lament, from the (first) note.  Kudos to Mr. Mixon for giving us a glimpse into his personal search for his kidnapped son and shining a light on the important work done by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children."  
Margaret Murphy-Webb

South Side Jazz Coalition (Chicago)
Ernie Adams, professional percussionist and music academic:
“The song is heartfelt. It is grooving and appeals to the jazz musician because of the chords; there are some ten-bar phrases, nine-bar phrases, two-four measures. For me, it’s a complete song. I love it. Regardless of all the technical stuff, the message itself is beautiful.”
Culmination, “Mixon's sliding rapid picking is reminiscent of fellow Chicago world music traveler Fareed Haque. Culmination is a highly engaging release from a guitarist/composer with a distinct style who I hope to hear much more from in the future.”
​Brad Walseth: Jazz Critic at jazzchicago.net
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https://donovanmixon1.bandcamp.com/releases
“He recorded with the likes of Lee Konitz, George Garzone and Eddie Henderson, and distilled his experiences into a personal style of relaxed elegance, where notes are carefully placed in an uncluttered, transparent texture.”​
- Francesco Martinelli: Jazz Critic, Musica Jazz
Here is what Brad Walseth: Jazz Critic at jazzchicago.net said about Donovan’s Istanbul  recording, Culmination, “Mixon's sliding rapid picking is reminiscent of fellow Chicago world music traveler Fareed Haque. Culmination is a highly engaging release from a guitarist/composer with a distinct style who I hope to hear much more from in the future.”
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"Versatile guitarist, Donovan Mixon has an ongoing
​love affair with world harmonies"​
– Hrayr Attarian: Jazz Critic,  chicagojazz.com
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"Mixon's sliding rapid picking is
​reminiscent of fellowChicago world music traveler ​Fareed Haque. 
Culmination is a highly engaging release from a guitarist/composer with a distinct style who I hope to hear much more from in the future."​ - Brad Walseth: Jazz Critic, Jazzchicago.net
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“It’s not ambient fare at all, but jazz with the proviso that you never know what’s coming next and it will definitely not hurt you. It’s billed as “global jazz” but it’s not world music in the current sense -- it’s Mixon’s personal take on his own jazz journeys and how they’ve shaped him.” - Alexandra Ivanoff: Music Journalist, Time Out Istanbul
More...
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CONTACT

Donovan Mixon
[email protected]
[email protected]
​847 217 5044
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Donovan's Garage Facebook Page: 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/336139629320880
@Donovan's Garage, YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOk1fvkrI4kMZz5BqXNY3-Q

​YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/DMix22/videos

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Evanston Jazz—“Donovan’s Garage” presents:
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On guitar is Evanston’s Donovan Mixon, the founder of the “Donovan’s Garage Project” and a self-described citizen of the world. In 1988, then a Berklee College of Music professor, he was awarded an NEA grant for jazz composition. His artistic journey let to an 18-year residency in Europe, primarily in Italy and Turkey, where he performed at music festivals such as the Umbria and Istanbul jazz festivals and taught concepts from his unique method called Performance Ear Training at music schools and universities such as DAMS in Bologna Italy and at Istanbul’s Bilgi University.
Since 2010, Chicago has been his creative hub where he performs in clubs, concert halls and festivals with his World Jazz Quintet as well as with the GBME--Great Black Music Ensemble—of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) of which heis a recent inductee.

His latest recording, “Finding Center” is set for prerelease in May 2025. It features all original compositions, fellow AACM members Fred Jackson Jr, Leon Q Allen and other instrumentalists such as Robert Irving III, Charles Heath, Emmanuel Ngolle, Cory Biggerstaff and the splendid voice of Sarah Marie Young.




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