Christian Dillingham isn’t the first jazz artist to translate feelings about social and political events into musical expression, with Charlie Haden, Max Roach, John Coltrane, and Charles Mingus but a sampling of others who’ve done the same. Whether it be “Alabama” or “Fables of Faubus,” the genre’s leading figures have consistently addressed critical moments through their art. Dillingham doesn’t hector the listener with shrill diatribes and take-downs; instead, the Chicago-based double bassist references them through an inner sleeve statement, track titles, and the heat of his trio’s instrumental performances.
In that statement, he describes the current climate in his home country as one marked by “social tension and moral uncertainty,…