Cash Box Kings celebrate classic Chicago blues
When Joe Nosek was a teenager growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, he snuck into nightclubs to experience the music he'd come to love from records and radio: classic...
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40 years later, WDCB swings harder than ever
Forty years ago, a small radio station in west suburbia began broadcasting a motley mix of classical music, news and educational programs for a limited number of hours each day....
Pianist Barry Harris still has a few tricks up his sleeves
At 87, pianist Barry Harris has distilled his art to its essence. Opening a rare Chicago engagement Thursday night at the Jazz Showcase, Harris beguiled a packed house with the...
Tony Bennett preps for 91st birthday concert at Ravinia
On Aug. 4, one day after he turns 91, Tony Bennett will take the stage of the Ravinia Festival, in Highland Park. If past performances — such as last year's...
Andy Brown and the Zen of mainstream jazz
Chicago guitarist Andy Brown recently watched a video interview of eminent cornetist Warren Vache that raised a fundamental question. "They asked: What do you call the kind of music you...
Navy Pier’s Lake Stage: An inviting new home for music
Until Saturday night, I thought the greatest place in Chicago to behold jazz outdoors was the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. And, indeed, for its size and scope, the spot...
Trumpeter Pharez Whitted delivers profound sound with powerhouse quintet
Trumpeters who summon poetry and power with equal fervor are ever in short supply, which partly explains the appeal of Chicagoan Pharez Whitted. The sheer size and scope of Whitted's...
Two community jazz festivals assert their power
The Chicago Jazz Festival doesn't come around until the end of next month, but two smaller-scaled events this weekend show the appeal and growing importance of neighborhood celebrations. Each is...
Singer Paul Marinaro prepares for his second act
Four years ago, the singular Chicago vocalist Paul Marinaro made a recording debut that changed his life. Jazz listeners across the country — and as far away as Japan —...
Jazz celebration at Navy Pier honors Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie
Trumpeter Victor Garcia and singers Felicia Fields and E. Faye Butler will celebrate this year's centennials of Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald and Lena Horne with a "Lakefront Swing" concert at...