Chicago Jazz Ensemble takes on Mingus – boldly
January 21, 2012
The orchestral music of Charles Mingus can be notoriously difficult to play and challenging to hear. It erupts in great fits of dissonance and bursts of sound. It cloaks its craggy melodies within knotty instrumental textures.
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Eric Schneider and Chicago All-Stars hit hard at the Showcase
January 21, 2012
As the temperature plummeted on Thursday night, one of the hotter places in Chicago had to be the Jazz Showcase, which presented a band the club dubbed the Chicago All-Stars.
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Construction set to begin for NU's Bienen School of Music
January 20, 2012
Construction will begin in May on a $117 million, 150,000-square-foot building for Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music, in Evanston, according to university officials. The five-story edifice, to be located immediately south of the university's Pick-Staiger Concert Hall and attached to Regenstein Hall of Music facing the lakefront, will bring all the music school's activities into one location for the first time in over 35 years.
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Maggie Brown celebrates 20 years of 'LEGACY'
January 19, 2012
When the distinguished Chicago singer Maggie Brown drives her kids to school or picks them up, they usually switch on the car radio, at which point Brown winces at what she hears: song lyrics that would make a sailor blush.
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Patricia Barber still sounds like a dream at the Green Mill
January 17, 2012
For years, Monday nights at the Green Mill have been synonymous with one of the most original singer-pianists in jazz: Chicagoan Patricia Barber. The liquidity of her vocals and the bracing elegance of her pianism have won her an international audience, particularly among listeners with an ear for unconventional yet gently seductive music-making.
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A world premiere honoring Rev. King loses its star, Nicole Mitchell
January 16, 2012
Though everyone in jazz knows that Nicole Mitchell stands as one of the leading flutists in the world, in recent years she has emerged as a double threat, unveiling major compositions for ensembles large and small.
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Dee Dee Bridgewater taps new sounds in Billie Holiday
January 14, 2012
When singer Dee Dee Bridgewater pays homage to another great vocalist, she doesn't mimic the object of her attention – she subsumes it.
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Makaya McCraven step into Chicago Sessions spotlight
January 14, 2012
One of the joys of January at the Jazz Showcase comes with hearing groups that don't get to play the room during the rest of the year.
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Flutist Nicole Mitchell brings her newest, biggest work to town
January 12, 2012
Come this weekend, former Chicago flutist Nicole Mitchell will unveil her third orchestral work in less than a year.
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New deputy planned for Cultural Affairs
January 11, 2012
Angel Ysaguirre, director of global community investing at Boeing Co., has been selected to become deputy commissioner for arts programming for the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the office confirmed on Wednesday.
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From Urbana to Chicago: Dynamo Dana Hall heads back north, for good
January 10, 2012
Come fall, the dynamics of jazz in Chicago will shift a bit – or maybe more – thanks to a personnel change affecting two major universities.
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Trumpeter Tito Carrillo makes a powerful 'Opening Statement'
January 7, 2012
Friday was a big night for trumpeter Tito Carrillo.
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Trumpeter Bobby Lewis sweetly swings in the New Year
January 6, 2012
The art of Chicago trumpeter Bobby Lewis never grows old.
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Starting Sunday, Room 43 swings again!
January 5, 2012
Drive down East 43d Street on a Sunday night, and you'll be struck by the stillness outside, nary a soul in sight.
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High hopes for Chicago jazz in 2012
January 4, 2012
In the spirit of the New Year – and with unfettered optimism – here's a round of resolutions for Chicago jazz:
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Swinging in the New Year with jazz
December 29, 2011
Jazz listeners will not lack for options as 2011 becomes 2012. Among the highlights:
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Roy Hargrove hits hard at the Jazz Showcase
December 29, 2011
Trumpeter Roy Hargrove's end-of-year residency at the Jazz Showcase has become something of a tradition in Chicago, with a turn-away audience jamming the place for Tuesday night's opener.
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Winter jazz preview: Quick start to a lively season
December 29, 2011
Chicago's jazz season gets off to a brisk beginning:
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Is this the twilight of blues music?
December 28, 2011
They buried Hubert Sumlin two weeks ago at Washington Memory Gardens Cemetery in Homewood, laying to rest the man whose ferocious guitar riffs galvanized Howlin' Wolf's classic recordings of the 1950s and '60s.
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Stoking Chicago jazz, behind the scenes
December 25, 2011
Chances are you've never heard of Alyce Claerbaut.
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Maurice Brown brings his new tunes back home to Chicago
December 23, 2011
During the past several years, former Chicagoan Maurice Brown has been building a reputation as a fast-rising young trumpeter.
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Home for the holidays: Trumpeter Maurice Brown blows into town
December 22, 2011
Here's a sobering thought: Maurice Brown, who was one of the most talked-about young trumpeters in Chicago more than a decade ago, turned 30 this year.
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MacArthur Foundation gives $504,000 to Chicago arts groups
December 22, 2011
The Chicago Humanities Festival, Chicago Shakespeare Theater and Chicago Jazz Philharmonic are among 12 Chicago arts organizations that will share in $504,000 awarded Wednesday by the Chicago-based MacArthur Foundation.
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The best jazz shows of 2011
December 20, 2011
The year was rich in great jazz performances in Chicago.
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A jazzy Hanukkah: Mizrahi meets Levy
December 20, 2011
Can a cantor swing?
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Jazz meets Jewish music in a Hanukkah jam
December 15, 2011
Holiday concerts are plentiful at this time of year, but few resemble the one that will unfold Sunday afternoon at Spertus.
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CJO swings hard, but singer struggles
December 13, 2011
There's nothing quite like hearing a big band in small club, and few ensembles make the point as forcefully as the Chicago Jazz Orchestra.
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At 86, Roy Haynes brings Fountain of Youth to Chicago
December 10, 2011
No wonder he calls it the Fountain of Youth band. The name surely refers not to the ages of its sidemen but the spirit of its leader, the eternally young drummer Roy Haynes.
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Saxophonist Benny Golson warms up the night
December 10, 2011
Saxophonist Benny Golson commands an honored place in jazz history, due largely to his deep well of admired compositions.
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Blowin' in from Chicago: Two tenors revive a classic album in concert
December 8, 2011
It's an album that's loved by everyone who loves the tenor saxophone — or at least every tenor fan from this corner of the world.
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It's beginning to swing a lot like Christmas
December 6, 2011
It's a Christmas miracle: Holiday music that's actually worth hearing.
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Guitarist Hubert Sumlin energized Howlin' Wolf's hits
December 6, 2011
When Howlin' Wolf romped through "Wang Dang Doodle" or thundered in "Three Hundred Pounds of Joy," the snarling guitar that accompanied him belonged to one of the greatest bluesmen to pick up the instrument: Hubert Sumlin.
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Guitarist Jeff Parker defies convention at Green Mill
December 3, 2011
The Chicago guitarist Jeff Parker tours so prolifically, and with so many far-flung ensembles, that it's a pleasure to encounter him back home leading a group of his own.
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Iconic sets from Bennett to Davis
December 3, 2011
It has been a rich year in boxed sets. Following are several of the best:
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Zenon, Adasiewicz, Lage top best jazz list
December 3, 2011
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Pianist Benny Green has ups and downs at Jazz Showcase
December 3, 2011
Pianist Benny Green appears to be going through a transition, re-conceiving how he addresses the instrument and going on a tear as a composer, as well. At present, the composer is winning out over the pianist.
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Remembering Ella: Three top singers pay homage to Fitzgerald
November 29, 2011
Fifteen years after her death, Ella Fitzgerald still towers over the art of jazz singing. No one has yet matched the brilliance of her scat technique, nor is anyone ever likely to.
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Playing the blues in black AND white
November 26, 2011
On a recent Wednesday night at Blue Chicago, a long-running club downtown, you had to elbow your way forward just to get past the doorman. Men and women in business suits — collars loosened, beers in hand — packed the place, barely leaving room for the waitress to make her way to the bar and back.
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Singer Gambarini achieves a new personal best
November 24, 2011
It takes a certain amount of audacity for a jazz vocalist to open her set with an a cappella version of "Over the Rainbow," of all things. When the singer, who happens to be Italian, later offers a medley of tunes from "Porgy and Bess," you know that she enjoys the unexpected.
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Chicago gospel history comes alive on 'Jubilee Showcase' DVD
November 22, 2011
One by one, the gospel groups step before the cameras and bring forth a joyful sound.
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Singer Tammy McCann reaches a new high note at the Green Mill
November 19, 2011
Five years ago, singer Tammy McCann jump-started her American career back in her hometown, Chicago, after a decade working mostly in Europe. Her solo show at the now-defunct HotHouse instantly announced her as a formidable vocalist who clearly was going to make an impact.
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A splendid new voice blossoms in Philly
November 15, 2011
PHILADELPHIA – The band was going strong on a recent Monday night when the pianist brought the music to a pause to say a few words.
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Smoke but no fire: Ravi Coltrane and John Scofield at Symphony Center
November 12, 2011
Last December, tenor saxophonist Ravi Coltrane played the Jazz Showcase and turned in the most incendiary performance he had yet given Chicago. By far.
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Tia Fuller: Rough journey from Beyonce's band to her own club date
November 11, 2011
There's a lot of talent in alto saxophonist Tia Fuller's band, though Fuller didn't always know what to do with it Thursday night at the Jazz Showcase.
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Exuberant, swing-era jazz from guitarists Brown and Alden
November 10, 2011
It was one of the more joyous enagements of last year: Chicago guitarist Andy Brown collaborating with New York guitarist Howard Alden at the Green Mill, in Uptown.
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Former Chicago piano whiz Jon Weber gets his big break – on radio
November 8, 2011
Until a few years ago, you could hear the great Chicago jazz pianist Jon Weber simply by strolling to the Four Seasons Hotel on East Delaware Place, riding an elevator up to the lounge and pulling up a chair.
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Kind of new: Orbert Davis tribute to Miles Davis
November 3, 2011
Though every jazz trumpeter must come to terms with the vast musical legacy of Miles Davis, one Chicagoan has been particularly rigorous in doing so.
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Umbrella opens with a shower of new sounds
November 3, 2011
For a few brief hours on Wednesday night, the prevailing rules for jazz improvisation were tossed to the wind.
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Umbrella: The most daring Chicago jazz fest of them all
November 1, 2011
Practically every weekend this fall has seen another jazz festival – or closely related event – blossoming in Chicago's neighborhoods.
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Man vs. machine
October 30, 2011
You have to admire an artist of Herbie Hancock's stature taking as bold a risk as he did Saturday night at Wentz Concert Hall in Naperville.
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The whisper-soft guitar work of Russell Malone
October 28, 2011
In an era when jazz guitarists tend to fire off ferociously fast lines often streaked in blue or tinged by rock, Russell Malone takes a strikingly different, softer approach.
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Will the jazz world ever discover singer Brienn Perry?
October 27, 2011
What the jazz world needs now — desperately — is a great bass-baritone. A singer who evokes the tradition of Billy Eckstine and and Johnny Hartman but builds on it, too.
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Herbie Hancock goes out on a limb with a solo show
October 25, 2011
At this point in life, Herbie Hancock does not need to be sticking his neck out anymore. The 71-year-old pianist – a classical-piano prodigy who grew up in Chicago and became one of the most consistently inventive musicians in jazz – holds a valued spot in American music.
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Bountiful weekend: Keith Jarrett, Asian-American jazz, Kurt Elling
October 23, 2011
On any given weekend, Chicago overflows with spirited jazz performances, but the past few nights were particularly rich in possibility. The highlights:
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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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'He's the last of the bluesmen'
August 29, 2011
He was the son of a sharecropper, the grandson of a slave and -- for an extraordinary 80-plus years -- the voice of the Delta blues.
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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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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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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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21st century blues -- can an ancestral art form survive?
June 5, 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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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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Delta blues legend won a Grammy at age 97
March 22, 2011
Pinetop Perkins lived the blues.
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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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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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'Fiddler' by design
June 21, 2009
The voice still can thunder.