Personnel
Donovan Mixon - Guitars
Robert Irving III - Piano
Sarah Marie Young - Voice
Leon Q. Allen - Trumpet/Flugel Horn
Fred Jackson Jr - Saxophone/Flute
Cory Biggerstaff - Bass
Charles Heath - Drums
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Endorsements

As Chair of the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians), I encounter many works of artistic significance. Yet few resonate with the emotional clarity and compositional depth found in Donovan Mixon’s
Finding Center: A Sonic Memoir. This is more than an album—it is an intimate, sonic memoir that speaks to the human condition with courage, restraint, and power. This album is fearless. In its restraint and vulnerability, Donovan Mixon creates a deeply personal soundscape that invites universal connection. Finding Center embodies the core values of the AACM: innovation rooted in authenticity, storytelling as a form of liberation, and sound as the deepest expression of human truth.  I wholeheartedly endorse Finding Center and encourage its inclusion in conversations about vital, contemporary music. Donovan Mixon has composed a life in sound—and we are fortunate to hear it.
Renee’ C. Baker Chair, AACMComposer | Conductor | Interdisciplinary Artist

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     “The music on Donovan Mixon’s Finding Center, A Sonic Memoir, is fresh and engaging. One is quickly aware that the musicians are highly skilled, but their individual talents have merged in forming a unified presence. The compositions feature changing landscapes as they are performed, and group interplay is ongoing; the solos are tasty and inventive. There is a finesse and refinement in the music that makes it very listenable, and certainly the more one listens, the more one finds to appreciate.”   Adegoke Steve Colson

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      “As a pianist and collaborator on Finding Center, A Sonic Memoir, I’ve had the privilege of performing Donovan Mixon’s music firsthand. His compositions unfold in asymmetric forms and odd meters, blending a chamber-like intimacy with the fluidity of improvisation—and his guitar voice carries it all with striking virtuosity.”   Robert Irving III

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“Donovan Mixon makes a number of highly personal stops on the way to Finding Center, from colorful modern cool to boundary-busting bop, moody tone poetry to sprightly jazz-pop. But the winding route is anything but directionless, and this is no mere exercise in eclecticism. Instead, Mixon's authoritative voice — as a guitarist, a collector of rhythms, and especially as a composer — offers the listener a vivid, provocative road map to his restless creativity.” Neil Tesser

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     "All aspects of Donovan Mixon's music - melody, harmony and rhythm - are fresh and creative. His new album, Finding Center, A Sonic Memoir, is full of his engaging compositions played by an all-star assemblage of Chicago jazz professionals.
This music comes straight from Mixon's heart."  Christopher Gillock Music Reporter  Evanston Roundtable

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“Finding Center was the perfect project for my eclectic musical taste. It quenched all of my musical sensibilities. I was honored to be apart of this project”. Thanks Donovan.  Fredrick Jackson Jr.

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     “Finding Center is an auditorial journey into the mind and soul of Donovan Mixon.  His compositional wizardry whisks you around the world with his perfect blend of Eastern influences and American soul.  
This project will take your mind from Brick City to the Bosporus, and everywhere in between”.  Leon Q. Allen

Recorded at the Dobson/Lucas Soundstage at Northwestern University, May - June 2025
Recording & mixing engineer: Troy Cruz. Mixing & Mastering Brian Schwab. Photography, Graphic Design: Todd Anderson
All compositions composed by Donovan Mixon © 2025  Dibim Music BMI