Jazz & Blues Lounge

I love writing this blog. When I started, I just hoped a few folks who were devoted to, primarily, jazz would stop by and read a few things and I would have been happy. However, I have been surprised by how much this site and this blog has grown. I was delighted when Scooter Pietsch approached me, via e-mail, asking if I would like to review the new album for the Sad Salamanders entitled “Cigarettes and Fishnets.”
Now, I write movie, DVD and television reviews for another website. I get approached there all the time by filmmakers …read more

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It can be tough to write for b5media.  I love this forum and this topic and I love writing for them.  I think the people who work for and run b5media are great and their bloggers are some of the coolest writers out there.  At the same time, sometimes I run across things I want to praise and rave about and I am afraid I am going to completely anger some of their key advertisers.  Their advertisers keep me going here and I definitely don’t want to do that.
Still, I have to sing the praises of an internet radio network …read more

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Of course, there are online methods to listen to jazz on the radio.  The two best, at least for me, come from a cable company and the other from a multi-channel online radio station located right here in Chicago.
Comcast provides something called Comcast Rhapsody Radio.  They have several jazz channels including a smooth jazz channel.  I love their jazz club channel.  They play the kind of classic jazz that I love and they play some stuff you are likely to find as new.  I have discovered some new names and talents while listening there and added them to my list …read more

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One of the best places to find great jazz and still listen to it in your car is the radio station I have written about and steal from all the time.  This is the radio station WDCB located at the College of DuPage.  This is is the western suburbs of Chicago.  The dial number is 90.9.
 When it comes to jazz, you will find no better classic jazz radio station in the area.  They play all of the greatest jazz performers.  This is the place to hear Miles and Oscar Peterson and Dizzy and Bird.  This is the station that does …read more

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I admit, again, that I am cheating a bit here.  I have written before about the struggles jazz fans in the Chicago area have when it comes to listening to jazz music.  Sure, there are always iPods and CDs and such, but there is something about being able to listen to an actual radio station.  You can hear things you wouldn’t normally hear.  You can discover new things.  You can find out about the music and the musicians involved thanks to the DJs.
Here in Chicago, your options are limited.  This may be the case in most cities.  Commercial jazz radio …read more

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Finding jazz on the radio has become a very difficult thing.  Essentially, if you want to listen to grea jazz music, you need to listen online or to your own CDs or maybe your MP3 player.  There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but I am a guy who still enjoys actual radio shows.  This is probably because of my days in radio.
Here in Chicago, the local National Public Radio station used to play classic jazz all night long. Then they went and changed that and got rid of it.  It was rather sad, but the numbers over night were …read more

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First off, I wanted to write to all of you great readers out there and tell you that I am most thankful on this Thanksgiving for all of you.  I love writing in this blog and talking about this kind of music.  It isn’t always easy.  Sometimes coming up with something to write about is the most difficult part of my entire day.  But I am grateful for the outlet and for regular readers like Chip and others.
So, I know this is a bit late, but I do hope all of you have a great holiday and weekend.  I hope …read more

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I am so in love with MySpace.  It is just about as big as the internet itself.  Each time I go in there and do a search for Chicago Jazz, I expect not to find anything new.  Every time I go, I end up finding something new.
There is a guy that is a bit of a Chicago treasure in the jazz world.  He is also a morning radio personality on the jazz station here.  You may have heard of him.  His name is Ramsey Lewis. 
He was born in the Chicago in May of 1935 and is one of the most-respected …read more

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For all of you who are not in Chicago, I apologize.  I love this town.  You really should visit.  If you happen to love jazz, then you really need to visit.  There is an entire vacation you can have all related to jazz if you come up here, I am quite sure.  You just have to stop at the Velvet Lounge, for example.
The cool thing is that we have jazz festivals even when it gets cold and the sky starts spitting snow.  That is the case this coming Thanksgiving weekend and I have the great jazz radio station WDCB to …read more

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It has been a while since I wrote about things going on in the Chicago area as far as jazz is concerned.  Thankfully, there is a cool radio station in town that has a bunch of jazz events listed and scheduled.  In case you haven’t seen any of my previous posts about this, you should check out radio station WDCB.  Their website is located here and you can listen to them online.  The events listed below come from the WDCB website:
Jazz Institute of Chicago Presents
JazzCity: Saxophone Summit 

Event Category:
WDCB Sponsored Events

Price:
FREE!

* contact the Presenting Organization listed below for ticketing information

Dates and …read more

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