Guitarist Pat Martino leaps into the unexpected
June 10, 2011
"I don't usually do this," guitarist Pat Martino told a capacity audience Thursday night at the Jazz Showcase – before playing a note.
-
HBO's 'Treme' comes to the concert stage
June 9, 2011
How fitting: A music-driven TV show morphs into a concert.
-
Blues legend 'Honeyboy' Edwards cancels Blues Fest appearance
June 8, 2011
Chicago blues legend David "Honeyboy" Edwards, 95, has cancelled his Friday night appearance at the Chicago Blues Festival, inGrant Park.
-
Arts and the city: A conference looks to the future
June 8, 2011
A single word kept bubbling up all day: democratization.
-
'Memphis' concert cancelled at Symphony Center
June 8, 2011
The "Memphis" concert in Symphony Center's new United Sounds of America series has been cancelled due to slow ticket sales, according to a Symphony Center representative.
-
Road show
June 6, 2011
What is American music?
-
Brad Goode comes home to celebrate a Green Mill anniversary
June 4, 2011
Twenty-five years ago, trumpeter Brad Goode bowed at the Green Mill Jazz Club, marking the reopening of a historic room refurbished by its new owner, Dave Jemilo.
-
Freddy Cole does the family name proud
June 4, 2011
In Chicago, the name "Cole" carries heightened allure.
-
21st century blues
June 3, 2011
You can't find the blues on radio very easily these days, unless you hunt low down on the dial in the small hours of the morning.
-
Trumpeter Brad Goode kicks off a brisk jazz weekend
June 2, 2011
Back in the 1980s, Brad Goode was a rising young trumpeter in Chicago, his reputation built — in part — on a long Wednesday night stint at the Green Mill Jazz Club, in Uptown.
-
Cassandra Wilson and Roy Hargrove to headline Chicago Jazz Festival
June 1, 2011
Vocalist Cassandra Wilson, saxophonists Joe Lovano and David Sanchez, trumpeter Roy Hargrove and Chicago composer-bandleader Orbert Davis will headline the 33d annual Chicago Jazz Festival, running Sept. 1 through 4.
-
Jemilo's 25 years at the Mill won't be marked with fanfare
May 30, 2011
He's not making a big deal of it, and there won't be any public celebrations, but attention must be paid: Next month, it will be 25 years since Chicagoan Dave Jemilo rejuvenated the landmark Green Mill Jazz Club in Uptown.
-
With a little more voice, Alan Cumming could be a cabaret sensation
May 29, 2011
Can a superb actor with a gift for comedy put on a great cabaret show — in a cavernous theater — with a so-so set of pipes?
-
Miguel Zenon illuminates Puerto Rican jazz
May 27, 2011
If there has been a consistently deepening trend in jazz over the past 20 years – a period in which uncounted styles and languages have developed – surely it's the globalization of the music.
-
Spider Saloff prepares for her next big move
May 26, 2011
When the accomplished Chicago jazz singer Spider Saloff takes the stage at Katerina's on Saturday night, she'll be bidding the city farewell — but just for awhile.
-
Bringing Big Bill Broonzy back into the spotlight
May 23, 2011
He was one of the most celebrated blues artists of his era, a visionary Chicago singer-songwriter who mentored Muddy Waters, introduced the music to Europe and inspired no less than Eric Clapton, Ray Davies and Pete Townshend (as they've all acknowledged).
-
A flawed celebration of Mahalia Jackson's centennial
May 21, 2011
Fashioning a tribute to Mahalia Jackson poses at least one formidable challenge: Finding a vocalist who approaches the majesty of her voice.
-
The maturing pianism of Benny Green
May 20, 2011
Pianist Benny Green doesn't look much older than when he started out – "nearly a quarter century ago," as he told the crowd at the Jazz Showcase on Thursday night – but he sure sounds it.
-
From Mahalia tribute to Penn & Teller's pianist, a rich weekend in Chicago jazz
May 19, 2011
Prepare for an acutely busy weekend in Chicago jazz. Among the highlights:
-
A jazz nexus takes shape in San Francisco
May 16, 2011
SAN FRANCISCO – The auto repair shops at the corner of Franklin and Fell Streets, near the Civic Center district, don't look quite as glamorous as the symphony hall and opera house nearby.
-
2 in city cultural office resign
May 13, 2011
Two top officials in Mayor Richard M. Daley's cultural offices have stepped down in the wake of the incoming administration of mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel.
-
Just like old times for 2 jazz legends
May 12, 2011
Pianist Willie Pickens and multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan first played together more than half a century ago, two brilliant young jazzmen launching their careers on Chicago's combustive bebop scene.
-
Self-styled 'arts crusader'
May 9, 2011
Chicago's newly appointed Commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events happens to be one of the city's most influential jazz advocates.
-
Organ master Joey De Francesco launches new Chicago trio
May 8, 2011
Everyone knows that Joey DeFrancesco can raise Cain at the Hammond B-3 organ. But Friday night at the Green Mill Jazz Club, he did so in a most unusual way.
-
The next big move for singer Tammy McCann
May 5, 2011
Chicagoan Tammy McCann's career just kicked up a gear.
-
A rare find in Bix's hometown
May 2, 2011
DAVENPORT – This historic Mississippi River town gave jazz one of its more tragic icons, cornetist Leon "Bix" Beiderbecke, who died at 28, his life later mythologized in the Kirk Douglas film "Young Man With a Horn."
-
A Herculean pianist redefines a seasoned band
May 1, 2011
When an outside musician steps into a long-running band, the sonic balance of power shifts. In the case of the explosive Moutin Reunion Quartet, which opened a two-night run Friday at the Green Mill Jazz Club, the personnel change produced triumphs and disappointments.
-
The moment that never was
April 30, 2011
In 34 years of covering music for the Tribune — including the 22 years of Richard Daley's mayoralty — I have not once seen him at a jazz concert. Unless you count that tiny photo of him smiling in the Chicago Jazz Festival program book.
-
The warm glow of Bobby Lewis' trumpet
April 28, 2011
Veteran Chicago trumpeter Bobby Lewis may have hit on the ideal name for his newest recording: "Warm Cool."
-
Hyde Park Jazz Festival bulks up for the fall
April 25, 2011
Five years ago, it was a little fest with big dreams.
-
Roberts meets Basie: A dynamic debut at Symphony Center
April 24, 2011
Until Friday night, pianist Marcus Roberts and the Count Basie Orchestra never had performed together.
-
A New Orleans immersion
April 23, 2011
NEW ORLEANS — On a glorious, sun-drenched Louisiana morning, TV producer David Simon walks into his corner office, suffering.
-
The provocative pianism of Danilo Perez
April 22, 2011
Danilo Perez clearly holds his listeners in high regard. For only a pianist who believes in the musical intelligence of his audience would play a set as inquisitive, demanding and provocative as the performance Perez turned in Thursday night at the Jazz Showcase.
-
Marcus Roberts travels back in time
April 21, 2011
When the great jazz pianist Marcus Roberts takes the stage at Symphony Center on Friday night, he'll likely be thinking about the night he met Count Basie, nearly three decades ago.
-
Jazz at Symphony Center and Von Freeman's award
April 19, 2011
Two major developments in Chicago jazz:
-
Wild Hare: A Chicago reggae landmark prepares to close
April 18, 2011
Late last Friday night, Chicagoans were streaming into the Wild Hare, a landmark reggae club in Wrigleyville.
-
Highs and lows from a Polish jazz star
April 17, 2011
Ask American listeners to name a European country that embraces jazz, and they'll likely cite France, perhaps Italy, maybe the Netherlands (particularly for experimental genres).
-
Willie Pickens gets weekend started
April 15, 2011
Even by Chicago standards, this weekend stands out for the range and richness of jazz offerings.
-
Brad Mehldau's superb pianism needs a little more spark
April 12, 2011
Brad Mehldau stands as one of the most fiercely eclectic pianists touring today, his music ranging freely among jazz, classical and pop idioms.
-
From Havana to Chicago
April 11, 2011
They first played Chicago in 1933, during the Century of Progress International Exposition.
-
A great Chicago Latin jazz band faces a moment of truth
April 7, 2011
One of the most promising partnerships in Chicago jazz is about to split up — at least temporarily.
-
The beat goes on at Millennium Park
April 4, 2011
After all the recent drama surrounding organizational changes in the city's Department of Cultural Affairs and Chicago Tourism Fund, you'd think the summertime music lineup was going to be blown to smithereens.
-
Chicago's jazz artists play searing music for Japan
April 2, 2011
Moments of hope sometimes emerge from tragedy, which is what happened Friday night at the Chicago Cultural Center.
-
'Four Others' charging hard at Jazz Showcase
April 1, 2011
Fasten your seat belt.
-
Cutting-edge jazz in the post-Velvet era
March 31, 2011
Yes, we all miss the Velvet Lounge, the late Fred Anderson's landmark club on the Near South Side.
-
Revisiting Till tragedy — in jazz
March 28, 2011
Uncounted articles, books and documentaries have explored the murder of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Chicagoan who was beaten to death in Mississippi, in 1955, for reportedly whistling at a white woman.
-
Mixed results from Branford Marsalis and Terence Blanchard
March 26, 2011
New Orleans has given the world more than its fair share of jazz masters, and two of them drew a capacity audience to Symphony Center on Friday night. But anyone who expected to hear "When the Saints Go Marching In" or "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" was in for a disappointment.
-
With thoughts on Japan, musicians will help by doing what they do best
March 25, 2011
The day after the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, Chicago's Asian-American jazz community began to mobilize.
-
Pianist Robert Glasper revels in surprise
March 25, 2011
For pianist Robert Glasper, it's all about rhythm – how you stretch it, compress it, vary it, remake it. The man will go out of his way to avoid any hint of a backbeat, until he suddenly decides to dig deeply into one. Then he'll subvert it once again.
-
A celebration of Lena McLin's music
March 24, 2011
She has trained some of the most charismatic singers to come out of Chicago, from R&B star R. Kelly to jazz diva Tammy McCann to classical master Robert Sims.
-
Honoring a fallen jazz hero: Fred Anderson
March 23, 2011
Fred Anderson was in the room.
-
Delta blues piano legend won a Grammy at age 97
March 21, 2011
Pinetop Perkins lived the blues.
-
Can the Chi-Town Jazz Festival continue fighting hunger?
March 21, 2011
Last year, the exceptional Chicago guitarist John Moulder – who also happens to be a Catholic priest – dared to dream big.
-
A rocky premiere for Gailloreto's ambitious 'Sea Songs'
March 20, 2011
You have to admire a jazz musician who dares to write a suite for soprano saxophone, four stringed instruments and 24-voice chorale. Only a brave or foolhardy soul would undertake such a task, and Chicago saxophonist-composer Jim Gailloreto is no fool.
-
Trumpeter Sean Jones makes an intense splash at Showcase
March 18, 2011
Until Thursday night, trumpeter Sean Jones never had led his own band at the Jazz Showcase, and he seemed determined to make the most of the opportunity.
-
Celebrating the life and music of Fred Anderson
March 17, 2011
Fred Anderson died last June, yet he remains a defining presence in music in Chicago.
-
Coming home
March 15, 2011
The soldier returns from war, proud of his triumphs but tragically unprepared for the battlefield ahead: the home front.
-
Bringing a jazz pulse to e.e. cummings and friends
March 14, 2011
Can the poetry of Emily Dickenson be set to jazz?
-
Whitted's sextet blows hot and cold at the Jazz Showcase
January 7, 2011
Chicago trumpeter Pharez Whitted leads an exceptional sextet, as he established unequivocally last spring with his first CD in 14 years, "Transient Journey." The performances proved as strong as Whitted's compositions, the combination whetting one's appetite for the trumpeter's engagement this week at the Jazz Showcase.
-
The Bad Plus could do better
December 17, 2010
Seven years ago — when it was much less famous — The Bad Plus left a decidedly mixed impression during its Chicago debut.
-
'Louis': A 'silent' film that illuminates the great Satchmo
August 26, 2010
Silent films periodically have been revived with full orchestral accompaniment, Charlie Chaplin's "City Lights" and Abel Gance's "Napoleon" among noteworthy examples.
-
Chicago deejay Dick Buckley dies at 85
July 22, 2010
Deejay Dick Buckley – the resplendent voice of jazz in Chicago from the 1950s until 2008 – has died at age 85.
-
Only open since March, Club Blujazz closes
July 1, 2010
Club Blujazz, which opened last March at 1540 W. North Ave., has closed
-
Tenor saxophonist Fred Anderson nurtured generations of Chicago jazz
June 24, 2010
It may be impossible to fully measure saxophonist Fred Anderson's impact on music in Chicago--and around the world.
-
Filming 'DuSable to Obama' – with a jazz beat
June 1, 2010
The idea seems so obvious, it's a wonder no one thought of it until now: a feature-length documentary film telling the story of "DuSable to Obama: Chicago's Black Metropolis."
-
Ron Hawking finally offers songs from his own heart
February 3, 2010
It has taken a very long time, but veteran Chicago singer Ron Hawking finally has found his own voice.
-
A Chicago jazz wish list for 2010
January 5, 2010
In a perfect world, here's what would happen in Chicago jazz in 2010:
-
Coming soon: A renamed, revived Morse Theatre
January 4, 2010
The refurbished Morse Theatre -- shuttered in March in a dispute between its operators and its principal owner -- will reopen in spring as the Mayne Stage.
-
DownBeat magazine's 75-year history is one for the books
December 29, 2009
Seventy-five years ago, a new Chicago publication began chronicling a fast-growing music: the big bands.
-
Letters: Honoring Marian Catholic's marching band
November 19, 2009
Readers from across the country responded to "Marching to Glory," a three-part series by Tribune critic Howard Reich on the Marian Catholic High School marching band and its journey to the Grand National Championships, led by band director Greg Bimm.
-
Grand National championships: Victory defined
November 16, 2009
On the eve of war, leaders rouse their troops to vanquish the enemy, but not this time.
-
Marching to glory with the Marian Catholic High School marching band
November 12, 2009
The kids in the Marian Catholic band look as if they're about to collapse.
-
Michelle Obama subject of jazz ode
September 3, 2009
The Obama presidency may have sparked controversy in recent months, but the hope and promise it represents for many Americans were plain to hear Tuesday night at the Spertus Institute.
-
Lincoln, Obama linked in two jazz celebrations
July 28, 2009
For Chicago jazz listeners, Presidents' Day arrives Thursday.
-
Telling Michelle Obama's story -- in language of jazz
July 14, 2009
Jazz tributes to Barack Obama have been pouring in since well before the Inauguration, but later this summer Chicago will hear something different: An evening-length work honoring First Lady Michelle Obama.
-
'Fiddler' by design
June 21, 2009
The voice still can thunder.