Fernando Jones moves his annual summer Blues Camp online
Few Chicago blues musicians have done more to nurture the next generation of talent than guitarist Fernando Jones. The Blues Camp he has presented every summer has given young musicians...
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Chicago blues harmonica player Sugar Blue: Running one step ahead of the coronavirus around the world
For the past few months, the great Chicago blues harmonica player Sugar Blue has been on the run – from the coronavirus. His flight has taken him from Shanghai to...
Chicago Symphony Center cancels concerts through June 9
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association has canceled all CSOA-presented events at Symphony Center and other locations through June 9, the institution announced Friday. These events have been dropped "in cooperation...
City cancels Gospel, House and Blues festivals
The 35th annual Chicago Gospel Music Festival (May 27-30), the 37th annual Chicago Blues Festival (June 5-7) and the 5th annual Chicago House Music Conference & Festival (May 21-24) have...
The coronavirus-related death toll in jazz keeps rising, to tragic effect
Ellis Marsalis, 85, a singular New Orleans jazz pianist and father of musicians Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo and Jason Marsalis. Lee Konitz, 92, a Chicago-born-and-raised jazz artist who changed the way...
Ramsey Lewis brings his jazz pianism to cyberspace
Last year, Chicago jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis declared that he was retired. Well, not wholly retired – just "retired from O'Hare," as he put it to me. Meaning that he...
5 ways to connect with loved ones in nursing homes and senior centers
Nursing homes and senior residences by necessity have been strict about allowing only medical professionals to visit patients. That doesn't mean, however, that relatives and friends can't make contact with...
‘This is devastating for us.’ For those in nursing homes, and their visitors, coronavirus isolation takes a toll
Before the coronavirus pandemic, Suzanne Heuberger visited her parents several times a week at The Selfhelp Home on West Argyle Street. She would join them for meals, sit with them...
Chicago Jazz Philharmonic looks to a new future
In the midst of the worst pandemic in a century, the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic finds itself at a crossroads. Birdie Soti, executive director since 2008, plans to leave the organization...
In Shanghai, jazz struggles amid the coronavirus
Jazz put down roots in Shanghai as early as the 1920s, the city's cosmopolitan character and booming nightlife an ideal setting for a new American music that was starting to...