By Chrissie Dickinson, Special to the Tribune
As our true American music legends grow fewer and fewer, the surviving road warriors among them become more precious with each passing year....
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By Jessica Hopper, Special to the Tribune
This weekend, Tristen Gaspadarek is coming home. Four years ago the singer-songwriter uprooted herself from south suburban Lansing, where...
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Howard Reich
Much of the city shuts down for the Fourth of July holiday weekend, but the jazz scene never quits.
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By Bob Gendron, Special to the Tribune
If you've lived in Chicago for any period of time during the past decade, chances are you've at least heard of Robbie Fulks. The...
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What did you do on your lunch hour yesterday? You probably rushed out, grabbed something and took it back to your desk. We'd like to suggest...
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Indiana University Summer Festival Orchestra: The commanding violinist Joshua Bell pays tribute to his alma mater, the university's...
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By Allison Stewart
You know how the Flaming Lips are always doing weird things? Like floating around in humongous bubbles, or conducting strange sonic...
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Howard Reich
"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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Howard Reich
So the journey begins:Chicago drummer-composer Dana Hall has been named artistic director of the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, one of the most...
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John von Rhein
SAN FRANCISCO – The everlasting work is done, to quote Wotan, the power-hungry king of the gods, in Richard Wagner's "Der Ring des...
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Greg Kot
Damian "Pink Eyes" Abraham, the roly-poly singer in Toronto's F----- Up, spends a lot of his time at the band's concerts in the audience,...
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Wilco announced today via Twitter that they will release their new studio album  ...
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By Kevin McKeough, Special to the Tribune
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...
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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...
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By Mark Caro, Tribune reporter
Although they won't technically be back in the USSR, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra will mark a cultural milestone next April as the first...
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John von Rhein
The Grant Park Chorus next year will celebrate its 50th anniversary, a major milestone for a choral organization that has proved such a...
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Greg Kot
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...
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By Alan G. Artner, Special to the Tribune
Many programs of Latin orchestral works cover well-traveled ground by presenting the same handful of popular pieces by the same celebrated...
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Howard Reich
Not every jazz soloist chooses to bowl over listeners with acrobatic technical feats and other displays of instrumental prowess.
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By Greg Kot
Derrick Carter: The house DJ found fame in the ‘90s by mixing his respect for the club classics with contemporary...
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By Jessica Hopper, Special to the Tribune
A decade ago, Chicago played home to some of the most exciting bands to break out of the insurgent "emo" scene — including Fall Out...
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Derrick Carter: The house DJ found fame in the '90s by mixing his respect for the club classics with contemporary beats, an...
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By Greg Kot
The ukulele is not built to rock. Eddie Vedder knows this, but it didn’t stop him from trying to get the biggest sound possible out of...
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By Greg Kot
Tickets for Paul McCartney’s July 31 show at Wrigley Field went on sale Monday morning and sold out within minutes, so a second...
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By Bob Gendron, Special to the Tribune
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...
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Howard Reich
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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By Mark Caro, Tribune reporter
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...
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By Jessica Hopper, Special to the Tribune
This weekend, Old Town School of Folk Music will be paying tribute to a Chicago blues legend, the late singer and guitarist "Big Bill"...
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By Bob Gendron, Special to the Tribune
Peter Gabriel has made bolder career moves than he did Monday at a two-thirds capacity United Center, where the singer eschewed rock...
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Howard Reich
Can the humble banjo capture the jazz pulse of Dave Brubeck? The classical majesty of Johann Sebastian Bach? The blues sorrows of Robert...
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What a topsy-turvy winter it has been for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra! It began in early February with Riccardo Muti's podium tumble...
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Howard Reich
It was conceived as a musical road trip, but it turned out to be a roller coaster ride.
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John von Rhein
ST. LOUIS – Year after year, the Opera Theatre of St. Louis attracts opera fans from all over North America to its spring festival...
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By Allison Stewart, Special to the Tribune
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,...
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Grant Park Music Festival: Carlos Kalmar leads the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus, and vocal soloists, in Mendelssohn's rarely heard...
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By Steve Knopper, Special to the Tribune
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...
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By Althea Legaspi, Special to the Tribune
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...
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Rapper and actor LL Cool J (whose real name is James Todd Smith) has got Something. It's that Something that has...
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By Jessica Hopper, Special to the Tribune
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...
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By Joshua Klein, Special to the Tribune
At its best, Oasis earned its accolades, with Liam Gallagher a bona fide frontman cut from a since-broken mold, and Noel Gallagher a...
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By Christopher Borrelli
For several decades, seeing Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in concert involved a number of rituals – finding comfortable...
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Greg Kot
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...
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By Greg Kot
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...
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