Jazz & Blues Lounge

Well, it is finally here.  The 29th Annual Chicago Jazz Festival is officially here.  Techincally, it kicked off last night, but really, the festival doesn’t get swinging until tonight.  There is plenty of music in Grant Park tonight and you can find my articles about the festival and schedule throughout this blog.  You can also find more information here and here.  
One thing you need to keep in mind, however, is that there are other shows going on around town.  You may want to keep an eye on the Velvet Lounge, for example.  It seems to have some of the most …read more

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So, you can’t make it to the Chicago Jazz Festival this weekend?  It’s not a big deal.  That’s the great thing about living in a city like Chicago, you can always find another jazz or blues festival.  I am sure that cities like New York have the same thing.  I am betting each suburb and section of the city has a jazz festival at some point.  To me, L.A. always seemed a bit too shallow and soulless for that, but that’s me.
So, if you can’t make it this weekend, maybe you can make it to one of the older and …read more

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There are really very few radio stations that JUST broadcast the blues these days.  This is true even in Chicago, where you would think things like blues and jazz would be on the air all the time.  It must be that there are just not the ad dollars in broadcasting 24-hour blues and jazz.  That’s why you usually find blues and jazz relegated to the non-commercial, listener-supported area of the FM band.
So, where can you tune into some great blues music in Chicago?  Well, you have to kind of plan things a bit.  You can’t just tune in anytime you …read more

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Terence Blanchard is a very talented man.  While I am a huge fan of the classic jazz scene, it is nice to know that there are some hugely talented people who still hold true to those classic sounds.  Wynton Marsalis is one.  A man named Terence Blanchard is another.
Terence was born in 1962 in New Orleans.  He is a man who plays the trumpet and, man, can he play.  When it comes to modern horn players, there are a select few I would consider lumping in with the classic horn players like Dizzy and Miles.  Terence would be one of …read more

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When you start to get involved in the jazz scene and you take the time to go back and study the earliest of the jazz albums, certain names begin to pop up again and again.  You can probably rattle them off yourself.  The other thing is that jazz fans tend to be the types who want to know who all of the musicians are that they are listening to.  So, you often get to know the “side-men” just as well as the stars.
You know that Jelly Roll Morton is often credited (whether he should be or not) with helping create …read more

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Well, I wanted to write about a couple of music festival that featured jazz music going on in the suburbs of Chicago this up-coming weekend.  The problem I have now is that I have no idea if these events are still going on.  Chicago has been hit by a week of horrible weather.  Last night was the worst yet with flooding, power outages, and more.  Since the events I have here are outdoor events, I have no idea if they are still going on.  Bring your ponchoes.
So, I got these from the only all-jazz radio station in town, WDCB.  Visit …read more

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Well, I apologize for the day off yesterday. I had a lovely bout of the stomach flu and, trust me, that is as much as you really want to know.
I found that list of supposedly greatest blues albums earlier this week. I felt it was only appropriate to give jazz its due as well. People love lists. Lists are great fr blogs, too, because they can cause debate. People can add their own suggestions or fight over the placement of beloved albums.
For jazz, it turns out, it’s much harder to find such a list. Whereas …read more

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It is tough to get the blues essentials.  There are just so many blues albums out there, how can you find the supposed best ones?  Well, Downbeat magazine, back in 2003, had some help in order to help you build up your collection.
These albums are mostly older, as you might imagine.  Again, this was released in 2003 and they  tried to compile a list of 50 must-have blues albums.  They asked 80 musicians, music industry folks and music journalists for their opinions and then started weeding it out, editing it and putting it all together.
According to Downbeat, these are the …read more

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I had planned on trying to update you some what new jazz albums were coming out this week.  I found it nearly impossible to find that information.  Apparently I am also not on any music labels mailing list for new albums either.  Oh well, that may be my fault since I haven’t actually contacted any either.
So, I thought I would make a recommendation of a classic jazz album.  It kind of goes along with my little life story thing too.  It is the jazz album that changed my opinion of jazz.  It is the albume that made made me sit …read more

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I have struggled with whether or not to write about myself in this particular blog.  This blog is supposed to be your one-stop shop for all things blues and jazz related, particularly in relation to the Chicago jazz and blues scene.  Should I actually be a part of it?  Maybe I should be nameless and faceless.
Then I got an e-mail forwarded to me from a guy I wrote about when I wrote about the schedule for the Chicago Jazz Festival.  He sent the message indicating his name had been spelled wrong to b5media instead of to me.  This is fine, …read more

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