The Secret Escapades of Velvet Anderson

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The Secret Escapades of Velvet Anderson is a jazz studio album by American flautist Nicole Mitchell. It was recorded January 11 and 13, 2013 at Shape Shop II in Hollywood and released in 2014 on the RogueArt label. The album, 69 minutes and 53 seconds long, is the second recording by Sonic Projections, a quartet featuring pianist Craig Taborn, saxophonist David Boykin, and drummer Chad Taylor. The title honors Chicago saxophonist Fred Anderson and his Velvet Lounge.

Critical reception highlighted its approach to melody and rhythm. All About Jazz’s John Sharpe praised the album for mixing melodic passages with explosive rhythms and varied settings for the cast, noting the CD launch at the 2014 Vision Festival in NYC as a high point. Point of Departure’s Brian Morton remarked on the work’s strong form and substance, with identifiable cells and intervals, some perhaps intuitive rather than pre-planned.