Ramsey Lewis unveils a few bright 'Colors'
July 11, 2011
The last several years have been signficant for Chicago pianist Ramsey Lewis, who has enjoyed a burst of creativity at an age when many musicians are content to relive past triumphs.
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Ramsey Lewis lifts the curtain on his newest work: 'Colors'
July 8, 2011
In recent years, Chicago pianist-composer Ramsey Lewis has penned ambitious works exploring epic themes such as love ("To Know Her …") and American racial history ("Proclamation of Hope").
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Judy Roberts proves you can go home again
July 8, 2011
As homecomings go, this was about as good as it gets. The house was packed, the audience engaged, the musicians primed.
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Judy Roberts keeps coming back like a song
July 5, 2011
Four years ago, fans grieved when singer-pianist Judy Roberts left Chicago in a huff.
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Guitarist Larry Coryell ranges freely at the Jazz Showcase
July 1, 2011
Some musicians play smarter, better, sharper as they age.
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Setting off holiday fireworks – in jazz
July 1, 2011
Much of the city shuts down for the Fourth of July holiday weekend, but the jazz scene never quits.
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New boss changing the beat for Chicago Jazz Ensemble
June 28, 2011
So the journey begins:Chicago drummer-composer Dana Hall has been named artistic director of the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, one of the most storied big bands in the country.
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Michael J. Miles makes the banjo sing
June 25, 2011
"Being a banjo player is a risky business," Michael J. Miles told the crowd Friday night at theOld Town School of Folk Music.
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Claudio Roditi channels the sweet sounds of Brazil
June 24, 2011
Not every jazz soloist chooses to bowl over listeners with acrobatic technical feats and other displays of instrumental prowess.
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Can blues-boogie pianist Erwin Helfer really be 75?
June 23, 2011
No one's making a fuss over it, but someone ought to: Earlier this year, the venerable Chicago pianist Erwin Helfer turned 75.
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Michael J. Miles: Giving voice to the banjo
June 21, 2011
Can the humble banjo capture the jazz pulse of Dave Brubeck? The classical majesty of Johann Sebastian Bach? The blues sorrows of Robert Johnson?
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Dave Brubeck riffs with his sons on Father's Day
June 20, 2011
It was a Father's Day celebration like none other.
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Austin thrives, Detroit dies in United Sounds of America finale
June 19, 2011
It was conceived as a musical road trip, but it turned out to be a roller coaster ride.
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Arts leaders speak up -- is Rahm listening?
June 17, 2011
Chicago may be a famously spectacular setting for arts and entertainment, but the city needs to bulk up for the future -- according to those who make culture happen here.
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Reshaping the arts in Chicago
June 17, 2011
Chicago may be a famously spectacular setting for arts and entertainment, but the city needs to bulk up for the future — according to those who make culture happen here.
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The mighty Chicago Jazz Orchestra settles in at Andy's
June 16, 2011
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 Club, on East Hubbard Street.
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How the Jazz Record Mart keeps swinging in the age of downloads
June 14, 2011
The traditional record store soon will be a distant memory, its stacks of CDs and LPs rendered obsolete by the Internet, downloading and file-sharing, right?
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A weekend of roots music at Symphony Center
June 13, 2011
Opened umbrellas don't usually bob and sway to the beat at Symphony Center, the temple of Beethoven and Brahms. Nor do symphonygoers typically spend most of a concert on their feet, listeners pulling handkerchiefs from their pockets and waving them high above their heads.
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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.
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HBO's 'Treme' comes to the concert stage
June 9, 2011
How fitting: A music-driven TV show morphs into a concert.
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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.
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Arts and the city: A conference looks to the future
June 8, 2011
A single word kept bubbling up all day: democratization.
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'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.
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Road show
June 6, 2011
What is American music?
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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.
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Freddy Cole does the family name proud
June 4, 2011
In Chicago, the name "Cole" carries heightened allure.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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.
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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:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The next big move for singer Tammy McCann
May 5, 2011
Chicagoan Tammy McCann's career just kicked up a gear.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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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."
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Hyde Park Jazz Festival bulks up for the fall
April 25, 2011
Five years ago, it was a little fest with big dreams.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Jazz at Symphony Center and Von Freeman's award
April 19, 2011
Two major developments in Chicago jazz:
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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.
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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).
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Willie Pickens gets weekend started
April 15, 2011
Even by Chicago standards, this weekend stands out for the range and richness of jazz offerings.
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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.
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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.
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'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.
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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.
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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."
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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.
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A Chicago jazz wish list for 2010
January 5, 2010
In a perfect world, here's what would happen in Chicago jazz in 2010:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Lincoln, Obama linked in two jazz celebrations
July 28, 2009
For Chicago jazz listeners, Presidents' Day arrives Thursday.
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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.
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'Fiddler' by design
June 21, 2009
The voice still can thunder.