Jazz & Blues Lounge

Thanks to WDCB, thanks to WDCB, thanks to WDCB. I felt so bad for yesterday’s post when I almost forgot to credit the greatest radio station in the world, I have been writing that last sentence over and over again on a chalkboard I found. OK, that may be a slight exaggeration, but I would hate to tick off the station I rely on so heavily to keep everyone, including myself, informed about jazz and blues shows every weekend.
There is also another jazz festival that is sponsored by the station and I have mentioned it before. However, I …read more

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The weekend is here and so is the month of June. I cannot believe that June is here, people. That means the year is already almost half over. How is that even possible? We have yet to have an actual spring yet here in Chicago.
Still, the weather is supposed to be pretty nice here in Chicago this weekend. Granted, you would think the world was going to end the way the weather people are going on about the thunderstorms that are supposed to come through here on Friday into Saturday. Still, what better place …read more

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The weather has, for the most part, finally started to get warm around here. Of course, I am writing this the evening after we had a night of 39 degree weather. But still, compared to the below zero temps we had most of the winter, 39 degrees is a heatwave. On Monday, we were in the 80s and I heard people actually complaining about how hot it was. Come on people, either you want it cold or you want it hot, let’s not be total wimps here.
That means it is festival season and I have mentioned, …read more

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Tonight I am just in a mellow mood. It’s been a rough couple of nights for your humble writer of the Jazz and Blues Lounge. For some reason, I have not slept well in a couple of nights. So, as I write this one, I am barely conscious. When I get that way, man, I love to find something me relatiely mellow and just, cool, to listen to. You can’t do much bette for that than Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers.
I have written about Art before on this blog. He was a hugely …read more

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Is it really the last week in the month of May, already? Wasn’t it just New Years Day like, yesterday? At this rate the holidays will be here in the blink of an eye. I will be celebrating my niece’s birthday before I know it. Jeez, who hit the Fast-Forward button?
Anyway, AllAboutJazz.com has a great list of CD reviews and they have this great list of new releases and reissues. It’s a cool website filled with lots of news and other things too. It is mostly volunteer and they are currently looking for volunteers, …read more

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Ah, the saga of the Sad Salamanders and their video or their rockin’ (or is that, jazzin’) tune “My Parents Are Swingers.” Just to recap: The Salamanders are this awesome group that reached out to me back around February wondering if I would give their new CD “Cigarettes and Fishnets” a listen. I am always open for free stuff, so I said yes. Turns out, the CD is awesome and I have raved about them ever since and done everything I can to promote the hell out of the thing and get everyone to listen. One …read more

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Sorry folks, this is all my bad. You know, we are required to have a minimum number of articles per week around here at b5media. I don’t know how keen on my giving you inside details the higher-ups are, but it’s true. We have to post a minimum of 6 posts a week cuz, we actually do get paid to be this cool and write about such cool sh**.
Well, I was having one of those days, you know, where I am running around doing laundry and other errands, convinced I had written an entry last …read more

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Well, this is what many people consider to be the official start of the summer season. It is officially Memorial Day Weekend. That, at the very least, means it is time for you to kick back, dust off the barbecue grill, and maybe open the pool. You should, at least, get a day off to boot. Of course, we here at the Jazz and Blues Lounge also feel like it is the perfect time to check out a blues or jazz show in and around the Chicago area.
Once again, I beg and plead for …read more

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It’s probably a lost cause, and I admit it. I want to be the place where people can go to find out about all of the coolest jazz festivals. The problem is, though, there are just so many music festivals, and so many of them dedicated to jazz and blues, that it really has to be an impossible task. There ought to be a blog dedicated to just following and discussing music festivals (hint, hint, b5media).
However, while looking around I found a link and some information about the Detroit International Jazz Festival. Now you and I …read more

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AllAboutJazz.com is a great website for people who love jazz. They have lots of CD reviews and they have the most definitive list of new releases and re-issues that you are likely to find anywhere. They have a simple mission and, as their website says, it is “to build a music resource where everyone can play an active role in furthering the awareness of jazz and jazz musicians on the internet.”
The cool thing about it, and the amazing thing, is that the entire website and the organization is run by volunteers. Their writers are volunteers and their …read more

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