Biography
My Role
Arts critic/jazz critic of the Chicago Tribune, where I cover jazz, gospel, blues, cabaret, world music and various cultural issues. ...
'The Chicago River' gets jazzed
May 25, 2013
The reversal of the Chicago River more than a century ago helped transform a polluted, disease ridden city into a sprawling, modern metropolis.
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Ideas flow freely from Gerald Clayton's piano
May 24, 2013
To pianist Gerald Clayton, the musical idea is paramount, the tune secondary.
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A rich holiday weekend for jazz in Chicago
May 23, 2013
Though Memorial Day obviously stands as a solemn occasion, the holiday weekend surely offer listeners a chance to catch up on concert-going. Among the highlights:
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Jazz, Israeli style, sweeps into Chicago
May 21, 2013
What does Israeli jazz sound like?
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Orbert Davis' jazz symphony looks at Chicago River's momentous reversal
May 19, 2013
It was called the “seventh engineering wonder of the world,” a herculean effort to reverse the flow of the Chicago River.
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Dana Hall Quintet unveils new music steeped in the culture of Africa
May 18, 2013
Four years ago, Chicago drummer Dana Hall made a stunning recording debut as bandleader, earning wide critical acclaim for his album "Into the Light" (Origin Records). Though jazz listeners already knew that Hall was a powerhouse drummer with intellect to match, "Into the Light" surprised even Hall's admirers with the ingenuity of his compositions and the taut sonic focus of his quintet.
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Jimmy Heath and DePaul students set off sparks
May 17, 2013
One hundred years ago (plus a few months) some visionary educators founded DePaul University's School of Music.
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Israeli Jazz Festival brings Middle Eastern sounds to Chicago
May 16, 2013
Though its population hovers at just 8 million, Israel has become a powerhouse in nurturing high-caliber jazz talent.
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Bob Koester's six decades of jazz and blues, Chicago style
May 14, 2013
Let's raise a glass to Bob Koester, the single-minded Chicagoan who this weekend celebrates a remarkable anniversary: 60 years of producing jazz and blues recordings.
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Singer Karrin Allyson fares better at the microphone than the piano
May 11, 2013
The pleasant, thoroughly intelligent, often-engaging, sometimes frustrating show set that Karrin Allyson played Friday night at the Green Mill Jazz Club started out strongly and ended that way, too.
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Pianist Cyrus Chestnut: The art of surprise
May 10, 2013
What's the difference between gleaming, ultra-polished pianism and its earthier, grittier, more freewheeling counterpart?
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Miguel de la Cerna tells a tragic story with 'Almas Perdidas' ('Lost Souls')
May 9, 2013
Chicago jazz musician Miguel de la Cerna likes to refer to himself as "your basic piano player, commercial musician," but that modest self-assessment greatly understates the case.
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Blues legend James Cotton tells his story, in song
May 7, 2013
Bluesman James Cotton has lived the kind of life they make movies about.
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Jazz fiddler Zach Brock plays it smart and subtle
May 4, 2013
If there were ever any doubt that violinist Zach Brock stands poised for a major career, it was obliterated Friday night at the Green Mill Jazz Club.
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New tunes and a few surprises from pianist Benny Green
May 3, 2013
Pianist Benny Green took a few chances Thursday night at the Jazz Showcase, and the risks paid off handsomely – for both him and his listeners.
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Chicago Jazz Festival 2013 lineup announced
May 1, 2013
Drummer Jack DeJohnette, trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, pianists Jason Moran and Robert Glasper and saxophonists Donald Harrison, Charles Lloyd, Jimmy Heath and Rudresh Mahanthappa will headline the 35th annual Chicago Jazz Festival, running Aug. 29 through Sept. 1.
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Music lovers mourn Jimmy Damon, classic Chicago lounge singer
April 29, 2013
For roughly half a century, cabaret singer Jimmy Damon was practically ubiquitous in Chicago.
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The sleekly sophisticated art of singer-pianist Freddy Cole
April 26, 2013
There once was a time when elegantly suited men serenaded late-night listeners with suavely sung love songs, their fingers gliding easily across the keyboard, their sideman swinging gently behind them.
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Chicago saxophonist Pat Mallinger gets ready for his close-up
April 25, 2013
When singer-pianist Diane Schuur headlined at the Jazz Showcase last week, she wasn't the most commanding player on stage.
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Building a bridge between Chicago and France, through jazz
April 23, 2013
Imagine what might happen if some of Chicago's most inventive jazz musicians embarked on a multi-year collaboration with their counterparts in France.
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Bobby McFerrin, Chris Thile and Brad Mehldau break barriers at Symphony Center
April 21, 2013
Is there any kind of music that Bobby McFerrin does not sing?
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Diane Schuur's brassy style yields mixed results
April 19, 2013
It has been years since singer Diane Schuur played Chicago, but her performance Thursday night at the Jazz Showcase confirmed earlier impressions: Schuur has plenty of voice and sometimes uses it effectively.
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Is it jazz, classical, Western, Eastern? Simon Shaheen defies labels
April 19, 2013
For more than three decades, the Palestinian oud virtuoso Simon Shaheen has relentlessly championed his soft-spoken instrument across America and beyond.
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The real stories behind 'No Place on Earth'
April 18, 2013
For 511 days, they hid underground in Ukrainian caves while fellow Jews were being executed by machine gun up above.
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Symphony Center jazz season: Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis and Mavis Staples
April 16, 2013
In 1994, Orchestra Hall — home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra — took a gamble. The grand old institution for the first time launched a jazz subscription series, betting that Chicagoans would commit to a season of such events, albeit a short one (four concerts).
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Pulitzer finalist Wadada Leo Smith symbolizes Chicago jazz power
April 16, 2013
Ever since the late 1990s, the forces behind the Pulitzer Prize in music have tried to push the award outside the narrow precincts of classical composition.
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A tender look at Cuba in Chaves and Davis' 'Havana Blue'
April 14, 2013
Last October, choreographer Frank Chaves and jazz trumpeter Orbert Davis traveled to Cuba to research a suite they hoped to create together. By immersing themselves in the movement and music of the island nation, they sought to bring something of the spirit of the place back home to Chicago.
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Saxophonist Kenny Garrett was sound, fury and ...
April 12, 2013
Everyone in jazz knows that alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett can play. The question is what he decides to play – and how.
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Jazz meets tango in Pablo Aslan's grand experiment
April 11, 2013
In 1959, Astor Piazzolla – a genius of tango composition and performance – released "Take Me Dancing," an album he later deemed an artistic "sin."
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Can six clarinets make beautiful jazz together?
April 9, 2013
If Chicagoan James Falzone isn't the hardest working clarinet player in jazz, he's pretty close to it.
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'Havana Blue': Finding inspiration in Cuba
April 8, 2013
As Afro-Cuban rhythms pulse on the sound system, the couples intertwine on the dance floor, swaying gently to the music.
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Constellation bursts on Chicago's arts scene
April 7, 2013
Ever since the Velvet Lounge closed in 2010 and HotHouse in 2007, Chicago has sorely lacked a major venue that could serve as a nexus for experimental jazz.
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The exuberant spirit of pianist Eric Reed
April 5, 2013
In the world of jazz, there aren't many things you can count on, but one of them is that Eric Reed will swing. Hard.
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Jampacked weekend will run gamut from avant-garde to boogie-woogie
April 4, 2013
We're about to begin a remarkably lively jazz weekend, even by Chicago standards. Among the highlights:
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Cole Porter tribute offers triumphs and missed opportunities
April 4, 2013
Why do Cole Porter's songs still get under our skin?
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Chicago Blues Festival: Shemekia Copeland, James Cotton to headline
April 3, 2013
Shemekia Copeland, Irma Thomas, Otis Clay, James Cotton and Billy Branch will be among the headliners at the 30th annual Chicago Blues Festival, running June 6 through 9.
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Remembering the 'Little Giant,' jazz saxophonist Johnny Griffin
April 2, 2013
Ask anyone who loves jazz to the name the top tenor saxophonist of all time, and he or she probably will answer in a flash.
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Millennium Park jazz season announced
April 2, 2013
Drummer Jack DeJohnette, singer Dee Alexander and drummer Dana Hall will headline the annual “Made in Chicago: World Class Jazz” series this summer at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, near Randolph Drive and Michigan Avenue.
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50 years of Chicago's WVON: A Chicago voice that echoes nationwide
March 29, 2013
In the volatile world of radio, almost nothing lasts half a century.
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Dynamic Duos play it fast and loose at Jazz Showcase
March 29, 2013
The very loose, somewhat rough, thoroughly enjoyable show that unfolded at the Jazz Showcase on Thursday night did not follow the club's usual format.
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Great expectations for Constellation
March 28, 2013
For anyone who values innovation in music, the next few days could mark the beginning of a significant era in Chicago.
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A rosy new stage for Sugar Blue
March 26, 2013
These are very sweet days for Sugar Blue.
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Geography lesson: Vandermark's Midwest School and Monterey's 55th
March 25, 2013
The brawny, brainy music that Ken Vandermark presented over the weekend at the Green Mill Jazz Club appealed to many sensibilities.
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Ken Vandermark celebrates the sounds of the Midwest
March 21, 2013
Last June, Chicago reedist-bandleader Ken Vandermark convened a high-powered band for a specific and daunting purpose.
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'Sweet Sisters of Zion' doc celebrates the Barrett Sisters
March 19, 2013
Five years ago, the greatest trio in the history of gospel music – the Barrett Sisters – told me they had one last wish: That someone would make a documentary film about their lives and careers.
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Suzanne Petri brings a fresh eye, and ear, to songs of Noel Coward
March 17, 2013
Some years ago, Davenport's cabaret hosted evening-length shows devoted to the work of distinctive songwriters such as Leonard Cohen, Dusty Springfield and Laura Nyro.
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Jeremy Pelt trumpets young talent at the Showcase
March 15, 2013
Major soloists play the Jazz Showcase all the time, but something special often happens when the star shares the stage with students.
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Victor Garcia: A chameleon on trumpet
March 14, 2013
During the past year, Chicago listeners have heard trumpeter Victor Garcia in more musical contexts than any single player could be expected to master.
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Monday Night Live: A tiny cabaret with big surprises
March 12, 2013
Monday nights in the Loop would be a lot less lively if it weren't for "Monday Night Live."
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New Constellation in city's entertainment galaxy
March 11, 2013
In less than a month, a new performing arts center will open its doors in Chicago.
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Trumpeter Brad Goode makes an impressive homecoming
March 9, 2013
Though trumpeter Brad Goode left Chicago in 1997 for Cincinnati and then Boulder, where he now teaches at the University of Colorado, his identity remains tied to this city.
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A grand weekend for jazz singing
March 7, 2013
This weekend could be one for the record books, with an extraordinary confluence of major vocalists converging on our stages.
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Ravinia jazz highlights include Tony Bennett, Ramsey Lewis
March 7, 2013
A tribute to Benny Goodman, a double-bill featuring pianist Ramsey Lewis and singer Dee Dee Bridgewater, and a return by singer Tony Bennett will highlight the Ravinia Festival's summer jazz offerings.
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Sonny Rollins postpones Symphony Center concert
March 6, 2013
Tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins has postponed his March 29 concert at Symphony Center.
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Johnny Griffin: 'Little Giant' saxophone tenor honored
March 5, 2013
Short of stature but huge in talent, Chicago tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin was known around the world as the “Little Giant.”
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A Chicago jazz festival that fights hunger
March 5, 2013
Imagine a jazz festival in which all the musicians and venues donate their services, and all the proceeds go to feed the hungry.
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The real value of Van Cliburn's art
March 1, 2013
When it came to Van Cliburn, the remarkable pianist who died Wednesday at age 78 of bone cancer, I always thought the critics got it wrong.
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Accompanist extraordinaire puts on a show all her own
February 28, 2013
Twenty-five years ago, a talented young musician ventured here from Fort Wayne, Ind., to try her luck in the big city.
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Remembering Fred Anderson: Chicago salutes a fallen jazz giant
February 26, 2013
On stage, he was a volcano, torrents of sound pouring from the bell of his tenor saxophone.
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Dana Hall's spring blows gusts of fresh air into the Green Mill
February 23, 2013
Chicago drummer Dana Hall calls his jazz quartet "spring," but Friday night at the Green Mill it turned out to be more than a single ensemble.
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Marquis Hill Quintet: Fresh new voices in jazz
February 22, 2013
No matter what happens in the economy or in the arts, new waves of young musicians keep pursuing the elusive art of jazz.
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Chicago bluesman Magic Slim dead at 75
February 22, 2013
When Magic Slim thundered at the microphone — his voice rough and ragged, his guitar riffs tough and punchy — listeners heard classic Chicago blues as it was conceived in the 1950s.
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Dana Hall re-emerges with a new band and a fresh approach
February 21, 2013
Last year was a volatile one for the inimitable Chicago drummer-bandleader-composer Dana Hall.
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Chicago Blues Festival expands to four days
February 19, 2013
The 30th annual Chicago Blues Festival will expand to four days, with opening night June 6 at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.
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A great jazz soiree takes root in Elmhurst
February 19, 2013
As everyone knows, America's jazz hotspots are Chicago, New York, New Orleans and … Elmhurst?
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Who says the Big Band era ended? 2 local ensembles argue otherwise
February 17, 2013
Anyone who doubted the vitality of big-band jazz in the 21st century should have cruised the Chicago area on Saturday, when two of the city's finest ensembles offered distinctive ways of re-evaluating tradition.
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Ava Logan: A demure approach to love songs
February 15, 2013
Valentine's Day was a little bland this year, at least for one listener who ventured to the Jazz Showcase, where Chicago singer Ava Logan opened a four-night engagement.
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Remembering Ken Chaney with a major tribute
February 14, 2013
The death of esteemed Chicago pianist Ken Chaney in December, at age 73, caught his fans by surprise and left a hole in the city's musical life.
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Chi-Town Jazz Fest lineup out
February 12, 2013
Trumpeter Bobby Lewis, singer Tammy McCann, saxophonist Eric Schneider and guitarist John Moulder will headline the Fourth Annual Chi-Town Jazz Festival, running March 12-22.
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Wynton Marsalis' Pulitzer-winning 'Blood on the Fields' returns
February 12, 2013
Sixteen years ago, newspapers across America riffed on an unexpected theme: For the first time, a jazz composition had won the country's highest musical honor.
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Joan Curto celebrates the genius of Cole Porter
February 7, 2013
Cole Porter died nearly half a century ago – in 1964 at age 73 – yet his songs remain as ubiquitous today as they were then.
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Music + Movement Festival to bow at city's stages
February 5, 2013
A new festival celebrating music and dance will launch Feb. 28 under the auspices of the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University and run into June in venues downtown and across the city.
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'It's About Time': A powerful new song takes on marriage equality
February 5, 2013
When cabaret star Karen Mason played here last December, at Davenport's, one song drew the evening's noisiest ovations by far.
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Northwestern music building gets $6M gift
February 4, 2013
A $6 million gift to Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music will go toward the school's $117 million, 152,000-square foot Music and Communication Building, which is under construction on the Evanston lakefront and scheduled to open in fall 2015.
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Corky Siegel still building bridges with his Chamber Blues
January 31, 2013
Twenty-five years ago, Chicago bluesman Corky Siegel unveiled a project that continues to obsess him.
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Jazz bass legend Charlie Haden yearns to perform again
January 29, 2013
The revered jazz bassist Charlie Haden hopes he can give a brief speech when he picks up his Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy the day before the Grammys are broadcast on Feb. 10.
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Patricia Barber delivers a most delicate 'Smash'
January 26, 2013
Very few musicians can bring the rambunctious Green Mill Jazz Club to a near hush, but Patricia Barber did it through most of her first set Friday night.
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The lithe and nimble art of guitarist Bobby Broom
January 25, 2013
Chicago enjoys an embarrassment of riches when it comes to jazz guitarists, and one of the most distinctive of them brought home the point Thursday evening at the Jazz Showcase.
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Guitarist Bobby Broom turns a page in life and music
January 24, 2013
The past year was a momentous one for the widely admired Chicago guitarist Bobby Broom.
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Why the Chicago Jazz Festival left Grant Park
January 22, 2013
For decades, the defenders of the status quo have insisted that the Chicago Jazz Festival must remain anchored in Grant Park.
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Lizz Wright glows in concert with Dianne Reeves
January 19, 2013
The most truthful moment in Friday night's "Sing the Truth!" concert at Symphony Center came toward the end.
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Patricia Barber: A reluctant star
January 18, 2013
At exactly two minutes before show time, Patricia Barber whisks into the Green Mill Jazz Club, says a quick hello to the guys on the bandstand, stretches the joints in her hands, places her iPad inside the grand piano, noodles on the keyboard for a minute, tosses off a couple vocal scales and plunges into her set.
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Chicago Jazz Festival moving to Millennium Park
January 18, 2013
After more than three decades at the Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park, the Chicago Jazz Festival will be leaving the venue for Millennium Park, according to the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE).
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Pharez Whitted plays beautifully 'For the People'
January 18, 2013
Chicago trumpeter Pharez Whitted owns a richly deserved reputation as a powerhouse soloist with decibels to burn.
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Jazz 'Messiah' swings back to town
January 17, 2013
More than a decade ago, vocalist Rodrick Dixon traveled to Lincoln Center in New York to sing a piece of music he couldn't get out of his head. He then decided he had to persuade someone to stage it in Chicago.
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Reawakening the ghosts of Skokie
January 16, 2013
To me, a kid growing up in the 1960s and '70s, Skokie seemed like any other suburb, its tidy houses sitting on impeccably manicured lawns.
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Fat Babies rekindle the Jazz Age in Chicago
January 15, 2013
Out on the dance floor, young couples are throwing off dance steps right out of the Roaring Twenties: the Charleston, the fox trot, the shimmy.
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Pianist Bob Dogan lets the tunes do the talking
January 11, 2013
The art of veteran Chicago pianist Bob Dogan is so subtle, sly and substantial that you can miss its full beauty if you don't pay close attention.
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Frank Catalano going strong
January 10, 2013
When it comes to playing through pain, Chicago tenor saxophonist Frank Catalano has more experience than most of his colleagues.
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Logan Center at U. of C. looks, sounds, feels like nothing else in town
January 10, 2013
On a recent wintry evening, a crowd of sleekly dressed dance lovers filtered into an elegant new auditorium to catch a robust performance by the Deeply Rooted Dance Theater.
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George Lewis meets Franz Schubert, and ears open wide
January 8, 2013
The walls separating jazz, classical and contemporary music have been porous for some time now, but they were blown down once and for all at the Chicago Cultural Center.
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An interplanetary journey with Rob Mazurek's Pulsar Quartet
January 5, 2013
The Chicago cornetist Rob Mazurek has been producing unconventional, conceptually arresting work for years, most notably in his aptly named Exploding Star Orchestra.
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Winter jazz preview: From Dianne Reeves to Sonny Rollins, a hot lineup
January 4, 2013
A buoyant winter season ahead includes:
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The gentle art of trumpeter Bobby Lewis
January 4, 2013
Each January, the Jazz Showcase turns its spotlight toward Chicago artists, enabling the club to bypass costlier touring attractions at a time of year when audiences typically are small.
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Jazz roaring ahead for the New Year
January 3, 2013
The New Year has just begun, but the jazz scene never settles down. Among the weekend's highlights:
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Jazz resolutions for a New Year
January 2, 2013
A new year brings new hopes for music in Chicago. Here are key resolutions for 2013:
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CJO plays a lively, imperfect tribute to Frank Zappa
December 30, 2012
Frank Zappa probably would have been intrigued.
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Singer Frank D'Rone hits a high note late in his career
December 27, 2012
As his old friend Frank Sinatra might have put it, it was a very good year for Chicago singer Frank D'Rone.
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'Battle of the Saxes' raises the curtain
December 27, 2012
For years, the "Battle of the Saxes" that played the Green Mill Jazz Club each New Year's Eve was less a contest than a lively exchange of ideas between Chicago tenor saxophone icon Von Freeman and former Chicago tenorist Edward Petersen.
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A muted show from trumpet star Roy Hargrove
December 27, 2012
Roy Hargrove, one of the great trumpeters of the under-50 generation, has made a tradition of closing each year with a residency at the Jazz Showcase.
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The best jazz concerts of 2012
December 24, 2012
2012 was a characteristically plentiful year in jazz performance, Chicagoans hearing a tremendous range of music.
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Best jazz concerts of 2012
December 24, 2012
2012 was a characteristically plentiful year in jazz performance, Chicagoans hearing a tremendous range of music.
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Jazz pianist, educator Ken Chaney dead at 73
December 23, 2012
Pianist Ken Chaney wasn't as famous as many of his Chicago colleagues, but the high caliber of his playing, the originality of his composing-arranging and the extent of his advocacy efforts for jazz made him an important figure in Chicago music.
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Christopher McBride and Isaiah Spencer light up Andy's
December 22, 2012
First the disappointing news: Jimmy Ellis, the veteran alto saxophonist who had been listed as guest soloist with drummer Isaiah Spencer's band at Andy's Jazz Club, wasn't there on Friday night.
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Bassist Matt Ulery's 'By a Little Light' breakthrough album is triumph of '12
December 20, 2012
What a year this has been for Chicago bassist-composer Matt Ulery.
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Inez Andrews, towering gospel artist, dead at 83
December 19, 2012
Chicago gospel icon Inez Andrews was the last of her kind, a towering figure from a golden age when giants such as Mahalia Jackson, Albertina Walker and DeLois Barrett Campbell still toured the world.
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DuSable High School a landmark with jazz as catalyst
December 18, 2012
No high school in America did more to shape the sound of jazz than a magnificent edifice at 49th Street and Wabash Avenue, on the South Side of Chicago.
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Dave Douglas' 'Be Still' sounds weak at Green Mill
December 15, 2012
No doubt there's a certain spiritual appeal to "Be Still," the most recent recording of trumpeter Dave Douglas.
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Cedar Walton's low-key, less-is-more brand of pianism
December 14, 2012
Pianist Cedar Walton always plays it straight – no flash, lots of substance.
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Celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah, through jazz
December 13, 2012
For those who prefer holiday music that's performed at a high artistic level, this will be a noteworthy weekend – as well as an historic one.
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Karen Mason's wickedly wise 'Christmas, Christmas, Christmas!'
December 13, 2012
Christmas never sounded smarter.
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Obama's next four years: Tune in to jazz
December 11, 2012
Any president's second term offers another shot at fulfilling dreams that got away the first time around.
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All styles, all of them great
December 9, 2012
Miguel Zenon and Laurent Coq: "Rayuela" (Sunnyside Records). Puerto Rican saxophonist Zenon and French pianist Coq drew inspiration for "Rayuela" from Argentine writer Julio Cortazar's book of the same name, but this sublimely expressive recording achieves a poetry of its own. Zenon's searching, questing phrases on alto receive sometimes pensive, sometimes driving accompaniment from Coq, plus atmospheric contributions from Dana Leong on cello and trombone and Dan Weiss on percussion. A profound recording.
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Mingus leads best boxed sets
December 9, 2012
This year's best boxed sets look deeply into jazz and blues history:
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Larry Coryell storms the heavens at Jazz Showcase
December 7, 2012
Guitarist Larry Coryell has performed with drummer Paul Wertico and bassist Larry Gray so often that when they reunited Thursday night at the Jazz Showcase, they sounded as if they were resuming a conversation in midstream.
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Jeb Bishop's 50th birthday celebration could feel like a mini-fest
December 6, 2012
Trombonist Jeb Bishop has been a key player on Chicago's avant-garde jazz scene for the past two decades, working prolifically with such similarly indispensable figures as reedists Ken Vandermark and Dave Rempis, guitarist Jeff Parker and bassist Kent Kessler.
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Dave Brubeck: A jazz icon who reached a massive audience
December 5, 2012
Dave Brubeck changed the sound of jazz in profound ways, unexpectedly becoming something of a pop star in the process.
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Chicago singer Tony Adriacchi loved performing
December 5, 2012
In the 1980s, Tony Andriacchi was almost as famous in Chicago as his heroes Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra were around the world.
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'Funkin' With Electric Soul' takes on legends Jimi Hendrix, James Brown
December 4, 2012
You usually don't hear jazz singers taking on James Brown's "Sex Machine" or Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze."
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Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Ninety Miles ignite Cuban jazz
December 1, 2012
The music of Cuba stands at the very root of jazz, its rhythms and song forms intermingling with sounds that emerged in New Orleans as the 19th century slipped into the 20th.
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Trumpeter Tom Harrell's quintet hits hard from the outset
November 30, 2012
Tom Harrell always has been a singular voice on trumpet, a fervently lyrical player with an uncommonly sensitive ear as composer-arranger, as well.
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Asian-American jazz takes a moment in the spotlight
November 29, 2012
Jazz in Chicago encompasses many overlapping scenes, and one of the most distinctive of them will launch its yearly celebration this weekend.
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City unveils dates for 2013 festivals
November 28, 2012
Chicago’s festival season will begin in May, with the lineup of music and food soirees released by the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events on Wednesday. Following is the schedule, with dates subject to change:
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Richard Lewis: The soul of a jazzman
November 27, 2012
The performer bounds onto the stage, and even before the applause has died down he's standing in front of the microphone, riffing freely.
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Roberta Gambarini eventually gets her groove
November 22, 2012
It took a while for singer Roberta Gambarini to find her footing – and reach her audience – Wednesday night at the Jazz Showcase, where she's in residence through Sunday.
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Jazz lovers, it's time to give thanks
November 22, 2012
Chicago jazz listeners have a great deal to be thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend:
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Chicago jazz jets to Poland for the holidays
November 20, 2012
Several of Chicago's most admired jazz musicians won't be spending Thanksgiving at home – they'll be converging in Poland, instead.
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'Songs of a Dream' needs a reality check
November 19, 2012
Chicagoans know the husband-wife vocal duo of Alfreda Burke and Rodrick Dixon from their exemplary work in "Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah," which plays annually at the Auditorium Theatre.
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Grazyna Auguscik takes on music of Nick Drake, to mixed effect
November 17, 2012
Jazz artists love to take chances, and Chicago singer Grazyna Auguscik has taken a big one with her plunge into the music of Nick Drake.
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New Orleans saxophonist Donald Harrison takes a 'Quantum Leap'
November 17, 2012
When New Orleans alto saxophonist Donald Harrison plays the Jazz Showcase, he typically pairs a deep mastery of bebop language with a musical sensibility forged in the Crescent City.
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New Orleans saxophonist Donald Harrison takes a 'Quantum Leap'
November 16, 2012
When New Orleans alto saxophonist Donald Harrison plays the Jazz Showcase, he typically pairs a deep mastery of bebop language with a musical sensibility forged in the Crescent City.
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Grazyna Auguscik jazzes music of Nick Drake
November 15, 2012
The songs of Nick Drake get under your skin, insinuating their way into your consciousness through the gentle contours of their melody lines and the expressive urgency of their lyrics.
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MacArthur grants go to Chicago arts groups
November 14, 2012
More than $500,000 will go to 13 Chicago non-profit cultural organizations from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s International Connections Fund.
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Polish jazz blossoms at the Chopin Theatre
November 13, 2012
Jazz took root in Poland long ago – even before World War II – and the country has prized it ever since.
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Breaking the silence
November 9, 2012
My father told me little about his agonies in the Holocaust. He never mentioned the beatings he suffered in various concentration camps starting in 1942, nor the death march he survived in January 1945, en route to Buchenwald.
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Anat Cohen brings new -- and old -- sounds to the clarinet
November 9, 2012
Only one clarinetist on earth could have come up with the album "Claroscuro," its stylistic breadth expressing the singular esthetic of soloist Anat Cohen.
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Joey DeFrancesco thunders at the Hammond B-3
November 9, 2012
Even when he's bone tired, after traveling halfway around the world, Joey DeFrancesco lights fires at the keyboards.
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Umbrella Fest welcomes a downpour of novel sounds
November 8, 2012
The music of two continents converged Wednesday night at the Chicago Cultural Center, launching one of the prime gatherings of the fall season: the seventh annual Umbrella Music Festival.
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Bears score one for veterans -- via jazz
November 6, 2012
When the Chicago Bears and the Houston Texans step off the grass at Soldier Field for halftime on Sunday evening, 60,000-plus fans — and possibly a national TV audience — will see and hear something they've never encountered before.
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All-American music from the Gunns and DeJohnette
November 4, 2012
American song comes in many forms, and two brave artists took on several of them over the weekend during the 23rd annual Chicago Humanities Festival.
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Elie Wiesel's story endures, empowers
November 2, 2012
NEW YORK — A slender, silver-haired gentleman steps onto a nearly bare stage, the instantaneous applause continuing long after he reaches the spare wooden table awaiting him.
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Barry Harris shares spotlight with Columbia College students
November 2, 2012
For many years, one of the highlights of each season at the Jazz Showcase has been the residency of the DePaul Jazz Ensemble with a star soloist under the direction of Bob Lark.
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Jazz Scene: Jack DeJohnette in hometown to mark hitting 70
November 1, 2012
Drummer Jack DeJohnette is having a very good year.
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Farewell to a distinctive Chicago voice: Terry Callier
October 31, 2012
Chicago singer-songwriter Terry Callier never received a fraction of the acclaim he deserved, but no one who heard him ever forgot him.
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Terry Callier: Farewell to a distinctive Chicago voice
October 30, 2012
Chicago singer-songwriter Terry Callier never received a fraction of the acclaim he deserved, but nobody who heard him ever forgot him.
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Barbra Streisand at 70
October 28, 2012
Whether or not you consider Barbra Streisand the last reigning diva of a more lyrical period in American pop music, she certainly stands as a symbol of the era that gave us Judy Garland, Ethel Merman, Lena Horne, Dinah Washington, Doris Day, Sarah Vaughan and other inimitable melody-makers.
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Barbra Streisand's compelling show at United Center
October 27, 2012
Whether or not you consider Barbra Streisand the last reigning diva of a more lyrical period in American pop music, she certainly stands as a symbol of the era that gave us Judy Garland, Ethel Merman, Lena Horne, Dinah Washington, Doris Day, Sarah Vaughan and other inimitable melody-makers.
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Chicago Humanities Festival: Let freedom swing
October 26, 2012
How fitting that a festival exploring a theme as vast as "America" should be playing stages across Chicago next month.
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Celebrating Billy Strayhorn with a three-day soiree
October 25, 2012
The centennial of the inimitable jazz composer Billy Strayhorn doesn't come around until 2015, but, in a way, the festivities will begin this weekend in the Chicago area.
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Sugar Blue a soaring voice for the blues
October 23, 2012
Last May, during a conference on "Race, Gender & the Blues" at Dominican University, the master harmonica player Sugar Blue addressed the theme in an impassioned, unforgettable soliloquy.
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Kurt Elling rejuvenates his muse with adventurous set at City Winery
October 22, 2012
Singer Kurt Elling sounded as if he had awoken from a long, deep slumber Sunday evening at City Winery Chicago.
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An illuminating start to Chicago Jazz Philharmonic's season
October 21, 2012
Trumpeter Orbert Davis has worked for years to train his Chicago Jazz Philharmonic in Third Stream techniques – that is, playing music that embraces both jazz and classical traditions.
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New Cultural Plan a nice wish list, but city should focus on must-haves
October 19, 2012
Give the city's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events this much: It listened to what Chicagoans said they wanted in a Cultural Plan and wrote it down.
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Orbert Davis, Chicago Jazz Philharmonic swing into a new season
October 18, 2012
No other orchestra in America looks, sounds or acts quite like Orbert Davis' Chicago Jazz Philharmonic.
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Marcus Roberts and Bela Fleck transcend an 'Imaginary Divide'
October 16, 2012
What happens when two formidable soloists from seemingly remote worlds of music decide to share a spotlight?
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Chicago premiere of 'The Great Flood' overwhelmed by its subject
October 13, 2012
In the spring of 1927, the waters of Mississippi River overflowed in spots from New Orleans right up to Cairo, Ill.
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McNair and Cole set the stage for Chicago Humanities Festival
October 12, 2012
The Chicago Humanities Festival will explore the theme of "America" this year, so it was wholly appropriate that its Gala Benefit Evening featured two musicians well equipped to take on distinctly American music.
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Shemekia Copeland sings real Chicago blues
October 11, 2012
So much of what's sold as blues these days has so little relation to the real thing that one sometimes wonders whether the term carries much meaning anymore.
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Revisiting the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927, through film and jazz
October 9, 2012
Long before flood waters spilled into New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, an even greater deluge engulfed the region (and beyond).
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Pianist Benny Green runs hot and cold with original tunes
October 6, 2012
Pianist Benny Green tried something different Thursday night at the Jazz Showcase, devoting an extended first set entirely to original compositions.
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A young survivor of genocide takes her message around the world
October 5, 2012
At 24, Clemantine Wamariya knows more about trauma and survival than most of us ever will. If we're lucky.
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A buoyant, stylistically wide-ranging weekend in Chicago jazz
October 4, 2012
Any doubts that the fall season has gotten fully underway should be swept aside by this weekend's nearly brisk lineup of jazz offerings:
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Esperanza Spalding gets intimate, with revelatory show at City Winery
October 2, 2012
Artists of Esperanza Spalding's fame and stature don't typically play small music rooms, but no one is going to call Spalding typical.
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Dylan C. Penningroth sheds light on slavery in America
October 1, 2012
Conventional wisdom suggests that slaves in America were deemed property and, therefore, couldn't have possessed property of their own.
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Hyde Park Jazz Festival transforms a neighborhood – with music
September 30, 2012
What does a great Chicago jazz festival look like? Sound like? Feel like?
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Ravi Coltrane leaves his band in the dust at Jazz Showcase
September 28, 2012
Saxophonist Ravi Coltrane has developed into such a distinctive voice that expectations ran high for his return to the Jazz Showcase. All the more because of his important work on his recent Blue Note Records debut, "Spirit Fiction," which showed Coltrane pushing into unconventional, nearly experimental fare.
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Hyde Park Jazz Festival roars into its sixth season
September 27, 2012
Of all the jazz soirees that crowd the calendar in Chicago each year, none uses the urban environment as creatively as the Hyde Park Jazz Festival, which runs Saturday and Sunday in multiple locations.
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Michael Feinstein: Championing classic American songs
September 25, 2012
In our time, few musicians have addressed the classic American pop song with the scholarly attention of Michael Feinstein – and few scholars have performed this repertory with Feinstein's panache.
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World Music Festival nurtures exotic sounds in kick-off weekend
September 23, 2012
The 14th annual World Music Festival made a bit of history over the weekend, presenting all its shows for free and, better still, tapping unconventional venues deep inside the neighborhoods.
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Fred Hersch's glisteningly beautiful pianism
September 21, 2012
One hesitates to leap to too many conclusions based on the work that pianist Fred Hersch turned in on his newest recording, "Alive at the Vanguard," and his performance Thursday night at the Jazz Showcase.
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World Music Festival returns -- free but smaller
September 20, 2012
The good news: All events at the 14th annual World Music Festival will be free.
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Fred Hersch: Despite struggles, a great pianist flourishes
September 19, 2012
The formidable jazz pianist Fred Hersch was diagnosed with H.I.V. in 1986, developed AIDS and openly discussed it in the early 1990s and suffered a two-month coma in 2008 as a result of pneumonia (though that was not due to his disease).
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Victor Garcia trumpets the U. of C.'s sharp new Logan Center hall
September 15, 2012
The University of Chicago's Logan Center for the Arts doesn't officially launch until next month, but jazz listeners got to check out its sleek new Performance Hall over the weekend.
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Pianist Mulgrew Miller digs a little deeper
September 14, 2012
When pianist Mulgrew Miller led his trio at the Jazz Showcase a couple of years ago, he sounded effective but a bit too reserved to give full voice to his art.
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Victor Garcia trumpets a new septet at emerging Logan Center
September 13, 2012
When Chicago trumpeter Victor Garcia picks up his horn on Friday night, he'll be making news in at least two ways.
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Englewood turns its hopes to jazz
September 11, 2012
This has been a bloody summer in Englewood, on the city's South Side.
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Attractive new scores from Geof Bradfield and Marquis Hill
September 9, 2012
It was a great weekend for jazz composition, as two noteworthy Chicago musicians showed their skills with a pen, as well as a horn.
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Judith Stein is the hardest-working woman in jazz
September 7, 2012
If you've ever attended a major jazz event in Chicago, there's a good chance you've met Judith Stein.
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Fall jazz preview: From Esperanza Spalding to Ravi Coltrane, a lively lineup
September 7, 2012
The fall seasons looks so rich for jazz and related genres that these must be considered the highlights of the highlights:
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City Winery dips into jazz -- and more -- with David Grisman Sextet
September 7, 2012
Jazz listeners have cause to applaud: A potentially valuable new room has made its bow.
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Fall music preview: Chicago jazz greats coming home
September 6, 2012
Chicago always has produced jazz giants, larger-than-life figures whose art towers over that of mere mortals.
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Judy Roberts prepares to say farewell again
September 4, 2012
As she wound down a recent set at Chambers, in Niles, singer-pianist Judy Roberts leaned into the microphone and delivered what has become her favorite new closing line.
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34th Jazz Festival closes with victories and defeats
September 3, 2012
Some of the best music of the 34th annual Chicago Jazz Festival played during its finale on Sunday night. But so did some of the worst.
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Highs, lows and turbulent turns at the Chicago Jazz Festival
September 2, 2012
The Chicago Jazz Festival really ought to be marketed as a roller-coaster ride, its thrilling musical highs counterbalanced by its sudden, plummeting lows.
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Jazz Fest launches with a warm tribute to Ella Fitzgerald
August 31, 2012
The pleasant, populist program that opened the 34th annual Chicago Jazz Festival on Thursday night certainly had a great deal going for it.
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What to hear at the 34th annual Chicago Jazz Festival
August 30, 2012
Now that the 34th annual Chicago Jazz Festival is fully underway – having kicked off Thursday night at Millennium Park – Chicagoans can focus on figuring out what to catch this weekend.
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Wynton Marsalis plays homage to Von Freeman
August 29, 2012
Just moments after Wynton Marsalis took the stage of Orchestra Hall on Tuesday night he addressed a subject on many people's minds: Chicago tenor saxophonist Von Freeman, who died earlier this month at age 88.
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'Genius grant' winner Ken Vandermark gets nod from Chicago Jazz Festival
August 28, 2012
The most intriguing work at this year's Chicago Jazz Festival, running Thursday through Sunday, may come from the horn of MacArthur "genius grant" winner Ken Vandermark.
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The soaring vocal art of Sheila Jordan
August 25, 2012
A phone rings in the background. A siren screams in the distance. And the indomitable jazz singer Sheila Jordan works those random events into the lyric of the song, as if they had been planned all along.
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Ira Sullivan's brilliant tribute to Charlie Parker's bebop
August 24, 2012
How fitting that "August is Charlie Parker Month" festivities at the Jazz Showcase would culminate with a two-week stint by one of the greatest bebop players in the world, multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan.
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How to awaken a sleeping jazz festival
August 24, 2012
Two months ago, the Chicago Gospel Music Festival made a bold move, presenting performances for the first time on the South Side of Chicago, in Ellis Park. Throngs turned out.
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Nonstop week of music surrounds Chicago Jazz Festival
August 23, 2012
Though the 34th annual Chicago Jazz Festival surely has its flaws, it generates tremendous energy and interest for America's greatest gift to the arts: jazz.
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Cornet player Josh Berman explores past, future with a host of bold collaborators
August 23, 2012
Fascinating music constantly bubbles up from the caldron that is Chicago jazz, the latest example coming from the horn and pen of Josh Berman.
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Memorial set for Chicago jazz legend Von Freeman
August 21, 2012
A memorial service for Chicago tenor saxophone giant Von Freeman will take place at 6 p.m. Aug. 28 at Christ Universal Temple, 11901 S. Ashland Ave.
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Puerto Rican music meets Chicago jazz in Frank Rosaly's premiere
August 21, 2012
For anyone intrigued by Chicago jazz, Thursday night's concert at Millennium Park stands as one of the most intensely anticipated event of the summer.
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Artis's Lounge – a celebrated South Side blues den – closes
August 19, 2012
Artis's Lounge – a landmark blues club on the South Side for nearly 30 years – has lost its lease and closed.
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Tony Bennett in peak form at 86
August 19, 2012
If you didn't already know that singer Tony Bennett also happens to be a painter, you probably would have guessed it Saturday night at the Ravinia Festival, in Highland Park.
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Von Freeman, Chicago jazz legend, dead at 88
August 13, 2012
Revered around the world but never a major star, worshipped by critics and connoisseurs but perpetually strapped for cash, the towering Chicago tenor saxophonist Von Freeman practically went out of his way to avoid commercial success. When trumpeter Miles Davis phoned Freeman, in the 1950s, looking for a replacement for John Coltrane, Freeman never returned the call.
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When does Joe Segal get his Jazz Masters award?
August 8, 2012
Until three weeks ago, no jazz club owner ever had been selected to receive the country's pre-eminent jazz honor: the National Endowment for the Arts' Jazz Masters Fellowship, which carries with it $25,000 and considerable prestige.
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Chicagoans respond to draft Chicago Cultural Plan
July 25, 2012
How do Chicagoans feel about the draft Chicago Cultural Plan 2012, which was released July 16?
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Miguel Zenon to headline Hyde Park Jazz Festival
July 16, 2012
Miguel Zenon, a MacArthur "genius grant" winner and one of the most admired young musicians in jazz, will headline the 6th annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival, a free event running Sept. 29 and 30 in various Hyde Park locations.
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Draft of Cultural Plan lays out ambitious campaign
July 16, 2012
The draft for the Chicago Cultural Plan 2012 cites 10 priorities "for Chicago to realize its potential as a cultural leader" and identifies 36 recommendations for achieving them. Released Monday, the 64-page draft and 38-page supplemental materials estimate that "the majority of initiatives can be achieved within 18 months, with much of the remainder being completed within five years."
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Even now, Barry Manilow writes the songs that make his fans sing
July 13, 2012
Remember the '70s?
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South Shore jazz festival not canceled after all
July 12, 2012
The annual South Shore jazz festival, which had been canceled due to lack of sponsorship, will take place after all, according to planners.
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South Shore JazzFest may be saved
June 22, 2012
Earlier this month, Chicago impresario Geraldine de Haas announced that her South ShoreJazzFest -- which has played the South Shore Cultural Center annually since 1981 -- would be canceled.
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Jason Adasiewicz makes beautiful vibes
June 22, 2012
Chicago has a way of producing fabulously eccentric, fiercely individualistic jazz stars.
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New boss for MacArthur 'genius grants'
June 21, 2012
Cecilia Conrad, vice president for academic affairs and dean of Pomona College, in Claremont, Ca., will be the next director of the MacArthur Fellows Program. She will replace Daniel Socolow, who last year announced he was leaving the position after 15 years.
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Garcia and Auguscik jazz the Beatles
June 8, 2012
So many artists have covered Beatles tunes in so many ways that one might wonder why anyone would bother anymore. What possibly could there be left to say in this music?
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Jason Moran takes on the myths of Fats Waller
May 31, 2012
If Fats Waller is remembered at all by the public at large these days, it's as a caricature, with bug-eyes wide open, cigarette dangling from lip and eyebrows perpetually bobbing underneath a derby hat as he hams it up at the keys.
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Chicago Jazz Ensemble, Center for Black Music Research face budget cuts
May 23, 2012
The Chicago Jazz Ensemble and the Center for Black Music Research, both based at Columbia College Chicago, will face reduced budgets and redefined missions, according to a plan issued by Columbia President Warrick Carter and obtained by the Tribune. The “Blueprint for Action” plan is subject to adoption by the college's board of trustees in late June.
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Jazz meets classics: A Chicago pianist teams with Orion Ensemble
May 3, 2012
When Chicago pianist Miguel de la Cerna was growing up on the South Side, the sound of jazzand blues, gospel and funk, R&B and soul was everywhere. It blasted out of clubs and apartments, car radios and storefronts, inspiring a kid growing up near 41st Street and Berkeley Avenue to build his life in music.
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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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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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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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'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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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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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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'Fiddler' by design
June 21, 2009
The voice still can thunder.
