Jazz & Blues Lounge

Every week I rave about Chicago radio station WDCB and what they do. I can’t help myself. Here in Chicago, our options are very limited when it comes to listening to jazz on the radio. At one time the local NPR outlet, during the nighttime hours, used to broadcast classic jazz music. Then someone decided that they should do other things and jazz fans lost a major outlet. Fortunately, this has been a major boon to humble College of DuPage, publicly-funded, suburban radio station WDCB.
They do a program just known as “All Things …read more

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Earlier this year you may remember me raving about Cassie Taylor, the daughter of the great blues musician Otis Taylor. Cassie is a fantastic musician in her own right, of course, and I mean no slight by mentioning her father. I saw her at the Chicago Blues Festival last month and I was captivated. Not only is she gorgeous, she is also very talented. She also was trying to get onto the Blues Foundation as one of the youngest members.
Unfortunately, I have not heard from her since that time. I did hope to …read more

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Jazz in Chicago (JIC) is an organization I was busy raving about just yesterday. It’s an organization dedicated to promoting jazz and jazz music in and around Chicago. They sponsors and put together and promote all kinds of jazz performances and jazz education programs. They are a very cool organization and they do good work for a form of music that far too many people don’t know enough about. Too many people find jazz intimidating or off-putting and that’s too bad.
One of the up-coming events is the performance of the Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble. …read more

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Right in the heart of Chicago’s Puerto Rican community is a park called Humboldt Park. Within that park is an open-air boathouse. Within that area, every year, the organization known as Jazz in Chicago holds a Latin Jazz Festival. It is one day every summer and it is totally, and completely free.
This year the event is being held July 11, 2008. That would be today, in case you don’t have a calendar handy. In case you are not familiar with Jazz in Chicago, well, you should check out the link above. They are another …read more

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This has been a very strange week for me. I have spent the entire week convinced it was actually the day before what it really was. So, I spent all of Tuesday convinced it was Monday. I spent Wednesday thinking it was Tuesday. Then I spent Tuesday night out with friends until very late and that just threw everything off. Have you ever had weeks like that? Sheesh!
WDCB is the radio station that provides me with the jazz and blues concerts and performances that you find here. I will never stop raving about …read more

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I love it when people discover this website and then send me things. I have written about how much that means to me here before. It means that people think that this website is important and can help them and I love that.
On the south side of the city of Chicago is a very old and very historic neighborhood known as Hyde Park. It has always been an interesting and historic place. It has always been diverse and culturally mixed. They also have a rich history and they also have the Hyde Park Jazz Festival.
I …read more

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I love living in Chicago. Chicago is a truly great city and for those of you who live and have lived much of your lives, on either coast, you may just think of the city as a place to fly over or perhaps an airport you are often required to stop in. It not only has one of the best skylines are are ever likely to see, but a great lake, nice beaches, great food and decent people. Finally, it is a great town for music, particularly if you love jazz or blues music.
I recently found a …read more

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It’s a holiday weekend here in the States. It reminds me of the question, “Do they have the 4th of July in Great Britain?” Well, of course the answer is yes, it’s the 4th of July everywhere. They don’t celebrate Independence Day, however. Get it? Har-dee-har-har.
Thankfully the weather here looks great. It would be a great weekend to gorge yourself on some great food on a stick at the Taste of Chicago and check out some of the great music they have there. It woul dalso be a great weekend to check out …read more

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I am not really a fan of Smooth Jazz. To me, this music is like the stuff you hear in a doctor’s office. Kenny G is smooth jazz and to me, that just isn’t really jazz. I know he plays a saxophone, but there are too many synthesizers and things going on. I like horns and I like drums and bass and long meandering solos. To me, that’s what jazz is. Like I have said many times, Miles Davis is real jazz. Kenny G and his ilk are not.
But there must be people …read more

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The Chicago Jazz Festival will be here before you know it and you should start making plans now. The Jazz Festival has grown steadily for years and while it is still the smaller and younger brother of the Chicago Blues Festival, it is starting to gain in popularity. It is starting to attract some of the biggest talent and the number of stages involved has grown as well. It closes out the festival season around here in Chicago and if you are a fan of jazz music, or just want an introduction to the scene, this is …read more

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