Beyonce gets experimental in latest studio release
Beyonce, '4': 2.5 stars (out of 4)
Get the full story >>Jimmie Dale Gilmore takes another unusual turn
It could have been a group of talented friends playing together on a back porch, except for the extraordinary voice at the center of the...
Get the full story >>Kalmar takes a different path with Latin works
Many programs of Latin orchestral works cover well-traveled ground by presenting the same handful of popular pieces by the same celebrated...
Get the full story >>Michael J. Miles makes the banjo sing
"Being a banjo player is a risky business," Michael J. Miles told the crowd Friday night at theOld Town School of Folk Music.
Get the full story >>Best of the year to date: Jazz
If the second half of the year proves as viscerally exciting as the first, there will be some remarkable listening ahead. The sheer range of...
Get the full story >>Top weekend shows: Derrick Carter, Skysaw
Derrick Carter: The house DJ found fame in the ‘90s by mixing his respect for the club classics with contemporary...
Get the full story >>Best of the year to date: Pop and rock music
Here are my five favorite concerts of the year so far: Greg Kot
Get the full story >>Claudio Roditi channels the sweet sounds of Brazil
Not every jazz soloist chooses to bowl over listeners with acrobatic technical feats and other displays of instrumental prowess.
Get the full story >>Best of the year to date: Classical music
What a topsy-turvy winter it has been for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra! It began in early February with Riccardo Muti's podium tumble...
Get the full story >>CSO to tour Russia as part of cultural festival
Although they won't technically be back in the USSR, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra will mark a cultural milestone next April as the first...
Get the full story >>Bloodiest a band of multi-taskers
It’s not a requirement, but it helps to multi-task if you’re part of Chicago’s music scene. Just about everybody is in...
Get the full story >>What happened to Michael McDermott?
He kept hearing he'd have to hit rock bottom before he could bounce back, but every time he thought he was there, the ground would give, and...
Get the full story >>California Wives: Not from California, and not wives
A decade ago, Chicago played home to some of the most exciting bands to break out of the insurgent "emo" scene — including Fall Out...
Get the full story >>Hall & Oates: Together in their own separate ways
Unless they're on tour together, Daryl Hall and John Oates don't see each other much these days. Both are busy with solo projects: Oates,...
Get the full story >>McCartney tickets on sale for second Wrigley Field show on Aug. 1
Tickets for Paul McCartney’s July 31 show at Wrigley Field went on sale Monday morning and sold out within minutes, so a second...
Get the full story >>Top rock shows
Derrick Carter: The house DJ found fame in the '90s by mixing his respect for the club classics with contemporary beats, an...
Get the full story >>Rascal Flatts happy to have firm grip on the wheel
After five years of making hit albums, in 2004 Rascal Flatts' Joe Don Rooney was frustrated. He was a rising country star with songs all...
Get the full story >>Bruce Springsteen's 20 best nicknames for 'Big Man' Clarence Clemons
For several decades, seeing Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in concert involved a number of rituals – finding comfortable...
Get the full story >>St. Louis brilliantly reaffirms 'Klinghoffer' as a landmark American opera
ST. LOUIS – Year after year, the Opera Theatre of St. Louis attracts opera fans from all over North America to its spring festival...
Get the full story >>Michael J. Miles: Giving voice to the banjo
Can the humble banjo capture the jazz pulse of Dave Brubeck? The classical majesty of Johann Sebastian Bach? The blues sorrows of Robert...
Get the full story >>For Peter Gabriel, an experiment with strings attached
Peter Gabriel has made bolder career moves than he did Monday at a two-thirds capacity United Center, where the singer eschewed rock...
Get the full story >>Lollapalooza after-shows announced
Lollapalooza weekend will once again be bustling with club activity before and after the big outdoor shows Aug. 5-7 in Grant Park, this year...
Get the full story >>R. Kelly's smooth moves from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde
R. Kelly began his spectacle Thursday at a fairly full Allstate Arena with a brief black-and-white film modeled off a bar scene in...
Get the full story >>Pick of the week
Vladimir Feltsman: The Russian-born American virtuoso kicks off Ravinia's summerlong salute to the Franz Liszt bicentennial with a...
Get the full story >>Florence + the Machine takes a dark turn at the Aragon
In the three years since Florence + the Machine singer Florence Welch first made waves in the UK with the punkish-pop catch of "Kiss with...
Get the full story >>Pick of the week
Grant Park Music Festival: Carlos Kalmar leads the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus, and vocal soloists, in Mendelssohn's rarely heard...
Get the full story >>Honoring Big Bill, with music, book
This weekend, Old Town School of Folk Music will be paying tribute to a Chicago blues legend, the late singer and guitarist "Big Bill"...
Get the full story >>Rihanna the best of all worlds
It's rare that pop superstars can successfully flaunt their sexuality, retain autonomy, push boundaries and provide creative substance....
Get the full story >>A sampling of some of rock's greatest foils
Clarence Clemons, who died Saturday at age 69, was one of rock's greatest sidemen. He was a hired gun as part of the E Street Band but he...
Get the full story >>Austin thrives, Detroit dies in United Sounds of America finale
It was conceived as a musical road trip, but it turned out to be a roller coaster ride.
Get the full story >>Classical Corner
Anaphora: The Chicago-based ensemble bids farewell to member Matt Bronstein, a horn player, with works by Mozart and Dohnanyi...
Get the full story >>Gardens and parks filled with music
Your local parks and gardens are offering more than horticulture and recreation. Here are some summer music series to check out.
Get the full story >>The mighty Chicago Jazz Orchestra settles in at Andy's
One of the great rituals of summertime jazz in Chicago has begun again: the Chicago Jazz Orchestra's Monday-night residency at Andy's Jazz...
Get the full story >>The Go-Go's still got the beat
There was a time, an almost-long-time ago, when the Go-Go's were scrappy punk upstarts with something to prove. Though they may have joked...
Get the full story >>My Morning Jacket builds its alternative universe of southern surrealism
Jim James was in awe of his surroundings Friday. At My Morning Jacket's sold-out concert at the Auditorium Theatre, the singer gazed at...
Get the full story >>Beady Eye focuses on Oasis' legacy
At its best, Oasis earned its accolades, with Liam Gallagher a bona fide frontman cut from a since-broken mold, and Noel Gallagher a...
Get the full story >>Head west for more blues on the Fox River
While the sounds of guitars are still reverberating in your head from the Chicago Blues Festival in Grant Park, head west to the ...
Get the full story >>Dave Brubeck riffs with his sons on Father's Day
It was a Father's Day celebration like none other.
Get the full story >>Kings Go Forth transcends trends
Andy Noble hates fads, least of all when they involve his band: Milwaukee's Kings Go Forth.
Get the full story >>Babyface has something special for dads
May is for moms, but this month the dudes get a bow with "A Tribute 2 Men," featuring a performance by Grammy Award-winning singer and...
Get the full story >>For New Kids and Backstreet Boys, hits, fun and a big serving of cheesiness
Judging from New Kids on the Block/Backstreet Boys' sold-out show at United Center on Friday, there are some things one can expect during...
Get the full story >>Peter Gabriel's in orchestra mode
What do we think about an orchestral arrangement of "Shock the Monkey"? We think it might work, especially since the man himself, ...
Get the full story >>Festival a big dose of Colombian culture
The monthlong Chicago Colombian Music Festival features some of the best singers, DJs and dancers in concerts, workshops,...
Get the full story >>25 years later, LL still knocking us out
Rapper and actor LL Cool J (whose real name is James Todd Smith) has got Something. It's that Something that has...
Get the full story >>Fete de la Musique with a Chicago beat
Chicago has always been a city of global culture, so why not have our own Fete de la Musique (France is celebrating the 30th anniversary...
Get the full story >>