Pianist Robert Glasper's storm of ideas play out at Jazz Showcase
October 14, 2011
We appear to be in a surprisingly rich era for jazz pianists. Innovative players such as Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Matthew Shipp and Craig Taborn are re-conceiving the way phrases are structured and improvisations are built.
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Chicago cabaret sings praises of Jimmy Damon
October 13, 2011
Listening to him gently swing a tune, you might never guess that Jimmy Damon grew up in Memphis in the shadow of a young Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, who frequented his father's restaurant.
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Chicago's Alligator Records celebrates its 40th at SPACE
October 11, 2011
When the accountants added up last year's figures, Alligator Records founder Bruce Iglauer couldn't believe the results: The Chicago blues label he founded four decades ago turned a profit in 2010.
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Esperanza Spalding draws young new audience to jazz
October 8, 2011
A very different kind of audience crowded into Symphony Center on Friday night.
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Wynton Marsalis going strong at 50
October 7, 2011
By jazz standards, 50 is young — at least when you consider that pioneers such as saxophonist Benny Carter and trumpeter Doc Cheatham were playing beautifully into their 90s.
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Grab an earful of Wynton
October 7, 2011
"Live From Lincoln Center" will broadcast "Wynton Marsalis at 50," a concert featuring Marsalis with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and guests. The concert will be streamed live on pbs.org at 7 p.m. Thursday and air Oct. 16 at 11 p.m. on WTTW-Ch. 11.
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Global sounds play the Chicago Guitar Festival
October 6, 2011
Chicago overflows with great guitarists, but they often operate in their own spheres: jazz, classical, world music, you-name-it.
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Can Esperanza Spalding lure new audiences to jazz?
October 4, 2011
No one was more surprised than Esperanza Spalding that she won the Best New Artist Grammy earlier this year.
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A rough beginning for a promising new cabaret
October 2, 2011
It takes a certain amount of gumption to launch a new cabaret space in these hard economic times, but the owners of Stage 773 did just that over the weekend.
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Eric Reed meets Thelonious Monk, to vivid effect
October 1, 2011
It wasn't billed as a Thelonious Monk Festival, but pianist Eric Reed's late set Thursday night at the Jazz Showcase may as well have been.
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From Eric Reed to Gary Burton, a weekend of stars
September 29, 2011
The fall season will offer several especially rich jazz weekends. This is one of them.
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Come to the cabaret – a new one, at Stage 773
September 27, 2011
It's the most fragile of art forms, a music designed to play to small audiences in intimate spaces.
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Hyde Park celebrates jazz in every corner
September 25, 2011
What makes a great jazz festival?
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Slow start, strong finish for trumpeter Jeremy Pelt
September 23, 2011
It took a while for trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and his quintet to get into gear Thursday night at the Jazz Showcase. But once they did, they brought back memories of what most of these musicians had achieved last year at the club.
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All ears head to Hyde Park for an enticing jazz festival
September 22, 2011
Five years ago, a new Chicago jazz festival emerged almost fully formed.
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A great jazz festival takes root in Hyde Park
September 20, 2011
Rarely has a Chicago musical institution grown as dramatically and impressively as the Hyde Park Jazz Festival.
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Chicago architect Jeanne Gang wins MacArthur Fellowship
September 20, 2011
At first glance, the sensuous curves of the 82-story Aqua building on North Columbus Drive and the sleekly horizontal lines of the Media Production Center of Columbia College Chicago, at 16th and State Streets, appear to have little in common.
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The new class of MacArthur 'geniuses'
September 19, 2011
A neurologist who studies dementia. A jazz drummer who celebrates Latin rhythm. A remedial-reading teacher who writes poetry.
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Paquito D'Rivera goes to jazz school in Evanston
September 18, 2011
How do you introduce an entire jazz faculty to the public – and make a splash doing it?
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World Music Fest gets Chicago dancing
September 16, 2011
A deep chill settled over the Spirit of Music Garden in Grant Park on Thursday night, but that didn't stop the brave souls who gathered there from dancing the night away.
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A bold vision for the Chicago Jazz Ensemble
September 16, 2011
In the two years since Kate Dumbleton became executive director of the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, the band dismissed its artistic director (Jon Faddis), engaged a new one (former music director Dana Hall) and saw its budget cut by Columbia College Chicago, where it's based.
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World Music Festival: A great soiree sweeps into Chicago
September 15, 2011
Now that we’ve endured the dreadful acoustics, poor production values, droning emcees and unacceptable sound-bleed among stages during the Grant Park portion of the Chicago Jazz Festival, it’s time to savor a professional event.
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A joyous festival thrives in Englewood
September 13, 2011
The past decade has been rough on Chicago's Englewood neighborhood.
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A great Polish pianist comes back to Chicago
September 9, 2011
The world has changed radically since the celebrated Polish pianist Adam Makowicz last played Chicago, in 1990. But Makowicz's pianism – ornate, lyrical, soulful – remains as attractive as ever, as he proved before a capacity audience Wednesday night at the Chopin Theatre.
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Honoring 9/11 in an unexpected way: via cabaret
September 9, 2011
Of all the 9/11 tributes that will be held this weekend, one of the more unusual will feature some of the best cabaret artists in the city.
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Re-invent the Chicago Jazz Festival -- ASAP
September 6, 2011
Since he was elected mayor, Rahm Emanuel has announced plans to lay off 625 city employees unless their unions agree to work-rule changes, and his handpicked school board has scrapped a scheduled 4 percent pay raise for Chicago teachers.
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David Sanchez caps a festival of hits and misses
September 5, 2011
If there's a mainstream tenor saxophonist under 50 who can create more thrilling, ingeniously constructed solos than David Sanchez, let him or her speak up now.
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Orbert Davis triumphs at Jazz Fest – despite distractions
September 4, 2011
It was Chicagoan Orbert Davis' night.
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Chicago Jazz Festival opens with a bang
September 2, 2011
If the rest of the 33d annual Chicago Jazz Festival proceeds as auspiciously as Thursday's opening night, we're going to have a memorable Labor Day weekend.
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Day-by-day at the Chicago Jazz Festival
September 2, 2011
It's the liveliest jazz weekend of the year: a marathon of performances under the banner of the 33d annual Chicago Jazz Festival, which continues Friday at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, near Randolph Drive and Michigan Avenue; and Saturday and Sunday on several stages in Grant Park, near Columbus Drive and Jackson Boulevard. Following is a guide to the most promising shows, all of which are free. For details, visit jazzinchicago.org or phone 312-744-3315.
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A rare return by a towering Polish pianist
August 30, 2011
The last time the great Polish pianist Adam Makowicz played Chicago, he recalls, personal computers were new, the Internet was marginal and his native country had just been liberated from Communism.
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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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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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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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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.