At 91, guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli shows how it’s done
It was standing-room-only at the Jazz Showcase on Thursday night, and for two very good reasons. At 91, Bucky Pizzarelli has built a vast and loyal audience among listeners who...
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Piano wizard Mike Jones takes a break from Vegas
Sometimes it seems as if pianist Mike Jones has more fingers than the rest of us. When he plays the nightly opening set for Penn & Teller's show in Las...
Tony Bennett, Ella Jenkins to be honored
Ninety-year-old master singer Tony Bennett has been named the next recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Bennett, who will receive the award in November in...
Hyde Park Jazz Festival to feature world premieres and ‘Thelonious Monk at 100’ tributes
World premieres, unexpected collaborations, a spotlight on women bandleaders and an in-depth look at Thelonious Monk at 100 will top the 11th Hyde Park Jazz Festival, running Sept. 23-24. As...
Bassist Linda May Han Oh revels in tonal beauty of ‘Walk Against Wind’
Chicago has heard nimble bassist Linda May Han Oh in various contexts, most notably in bands fronted by ultra-lyrical trumpeters Dave Douglas and Avishai Cohen. But until Saturday night, Oh...
Jane Bunnett and Maqueque celebrate music of Cuba
Each time Jane Bunnett brings her Maqueque band to Chicago, the ensemble sounds more majestic than before. In 2015, the Canadian flutist-saxophonist and her all-female Cuban colleagues made a bit...
Ragtime whiz Reginald Robinson, friends rekindle Pekin Theatre
Long before Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Louis Armstrong and others ignited jazz in Chicago early in the 20th century, black musical culture flourished here. The new sound, however, was...
At 90, jazz legend George Freeman preps his next album
Ninety-year-old Chicago jazz legend George Freeman settles into a comfortable chair, closes his eyes and says he's ready to listen. So recording engineer Brian Schwab presses a button, and, suddenly,...
Judy Roberts swings back home to Chicago for Jazz Showcase residency
Beloved singer-pianist Judy Roberts left Chicago for Arizona a decade ago, but she keeps coming back like a song. Each year since she moved, Roberts has returned to her hometown...
Holocaust survivors at Printers Row Lit Fest to explain how they created memoirs
They suffered the horrors of the Holocaust and the destruction of their families — and lived to tell the story. Sam Harris, Mitchell Winthrop and Estelle Glaser Laughlin have gone...