Tony Bennett soars at 85
August 27, 2011
There wasn't a blade of grass to be seen Friday night at the Ravinia Festival, where a capacity audience covered the lawn and packed the pavilion to watch Tony Bennett mark his recent 85th birthday.
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Ira Sullivan celebrates his 80th at the Jazz Showcase
August 26, 2011
You don't have to be an octogenarian to be a great jazz musician, but it sure seems to help.
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Insider's guide to Jazz Fest
August 26, 2011
Pace yourself. That's the best way to handle the 33rd annual Chicago Jazz Festival, which packs a tremendous amount of music into a few short days.
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A night of jazz stars and star pupils
August 24, 2011
For young jazz musicians, there's no greater honor — or challenge — than sharing the stage with the masters.
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Tony Bennett swings into an 85th birthday celebration
August 23, 2011
Frank Sinatra never made it that far. Neither did Nat "King" Cole or Johnny Hartman, Billy Eckstine or Joe Williams — or most of America's other great male singers.
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Chicago camp teaches kids Blues 101
August 20, 2011
If you didn’t know better, you’d think Lady Gaga was in the house and the kids were piling in to catch a glance.
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The joyous jazz of Sheila Jordan
August 20, 2011
She has to be the hippest 82-year-old in America.
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Heath Brothers take a gentle approach to the art of bebop
August 19, 2011
At this late date, precious few working musicians can claim – truthfully – to have shared a stage with Charlie "Bird" Parker.
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Gifted students will riff with the stars
August 19, 2011
On Tuesday evening, Donald Harrison, Jr. — one of New Orleans' most accomplished saxophonists and a musican-actor on the HBO series "Treme" — will headline the 9th Annual Gala of the Jazz Institute of Chicago.
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'Groove Interrupted' goes inside New Orleans music -- after the storm
August 16, 2011
Years from now, it's easy to imagine the history books dividing New Orleans music into two categories: Before Hurricane Katrina and after.
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Rare Piazzolla revival sounds better than it looks
August 13, 2011
By now, anyone even vaguely familiar with tango music must know the name of Astor Piazzolla. The Argentine composer and bandoneon master, who died in 1992 at age 71, proved definitively that tango music can flourish not only as accompaniment to dance but as a concert art form unto itself.
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A love letter to Charlie Parker from saxophonist Donald Harrison, Jr.
August 13, 2011
Most jazz clubs don't last as long — or even half as a long — as the Jazz Showcase has been celebrating the music of Charlie Parker.
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A rare revival of Astor Piazzolla's tango opera
August 12, 2011
The tango music of Astor Piazzolla sways to a seductive beat, its rhythms unhurried but relentless, its harmonies yearning for resolution.
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Putting rags to paper, finally
August 10, 2011
Wherever he travels across the country, Chicago ragtime-piano genius Reginald Robinson hears the same refrain: When are you going to publish your music?
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Stormy weather
August 8, 2011
When a torrent of rain and gusts of wind ripped through the South Shore JazzFest late Sunday afternoon, it looked as if the event was doomed.
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Andrea Marcovicci: bringing a sharp edge to 'Torch'
August 5, 2011
You'd think a cabaret show about torch songs would practically ooze emotion.
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South Shore JazzFest flexes its muscle
August 4, 2011
Two years ago, Chicago impresario-vocalist Geraldine de Haas believed her days of staging the annual South Shore JazzFest might be over.
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Torch songs: Singer Andrea Marcovicci embraces ballads of romantic pain
August 3, 2011
What is a torch song?
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Typhanie Monique takes a break from school
July 29, 2011
If you're wondering why you haven't seen <runtime:topic id="PLGEO0100100501250000">Chicago</runtime:topic> singer Typhanie Monique in clubs or concert halls lately, there's a good reason: She's back in school.
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Celebrating 'Vonski'
July 29, 2011
Chicago saxophone legend Von Freeman probably would have been delighted to hear the city's mayor sing his praises Thursday night at Millennium Park.
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Emanuel makes surprise visit at jazz series
July 28, 2011
"We are the center of the world for jazz," Mayor Rahm Emanuel told a cheering crowd Thursday night at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.
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Chicago prepares to honor one of its own: saxophone legend Von Freeman
July 27, 2011
It has taken the National Endowment for the Arts three decades to recognize Chicago tenor saxophone legend Von Freeman with the country's highest jazz honor: the NEA's Jazz Masters Award.
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Celebrating America's greatest composer: George Gershwin
July 22, 2011
Seventy-five years ago, George Gershwin played the Ravinia Festival, drawing capacity crowds for a program that included his "Rhapsody in Blue," "Cuban Overture" and "An American in Paris."
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Joel Paterson gives new meaning to Modern Sounds
July 15, 2011
Guitarist Joel Paterson makes no apologies for playing music conceived long before he was born.
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Polish jazz – with a Brazilian beat
July 13, 2011
Fifteen years ago, a superb Polish jazz singer walked into a Chicago club and marveled over what she heard: the seductive sounds of a uniquely accomplished Brazilian vocalist-guitarist.
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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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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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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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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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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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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.