Heat On - 150 Swirl Heat On

"Heat On" is her "love letter to Chicago," where her intergenerational quartet makes notable noise. In addition to being a creative drummer, Finnegan is a strong composer, and her work is always interesting." - DownBeat, October 2025

If drummer Lily Finnegan's acclaimed 2025 debut album Heat On! was a love letter to Chicago's tight-knit jazz scene, her blazing follow up 150 Swirl is a musical manifesto from an artist who knows the value of consistency. Like her incendiary first project, 150 Swirl is a Cuneiform release. The project features the same prodigious cast of players, and is designed to fuel creative flights by legendary Chicago tenor saxophonist Ed Wilkerson Jr., Chi-town alto sax great Fred Jackson Jr., and the highly versatile Nick Macri on upright and electric bass.

An essential player working across several overlapping scenes, including left-field jazz, punk and improvised music, the 28-year-old Finnegan has thrived by seeking out veteran masters. She doesn't take her era-spanning relationships for granted, but was recently reminded by a friend visiting from New York that she's ensconced in a rarefied environment. "She said, 'It's so cool you have so many elders in your life. That intergenerational aspect is really lacking in New York,'" Finnegan recalls. "That's part of what makes me so excited about this band."