Jazz & Blues Lounge

Well, the month of July is now in the history books for the year of 2008. It’s hotter than all hell here in the Windy City, but there’s nothing cooler than hanging out in a jazz or blues club and checking out a show. Of course, when looking at the calendar for both genres of music at WDCB, there isn’t much in the way of blues shows listed there.
Of course, the city is holding its breath for the Lollapalooza show this weekend. Why they always manage to end up doing that on the hottest damn weekend of …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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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 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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Well, it is the last weekend in the month of June for 2008. I still cannot believe I am writing that. The mere thought that my niece’s birthday will be here before I know it, her first birthday, is just beyond my imagining. How does time move so fast?
Anyway, the weather people are predicting a chance of storms around the Chicago area this weekend. It’s another great weekend to catch a live jazz or blues show. I want to thank and credit radio station WDCB for providing the information about the performances you will find …read more

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OK, sorry about this one being so late. Heck, if you are in Chicago, you are probably already out and about doing things and seeing shows on a Saturday night. I do apologize. Between Father’s Day and it being my birthday, I just got caught up doing family things.
I also did some research on Friday looking for jazz and blues festivals within easy driving distance from Chicago. I found a ton. The thing is, I now have to try and put them in order and tell you about them. This may take longer than …read more

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Well, the big event this weekend in Chicago is the TOTALLY FREE Blues on the Fox blues festival located in nearby Aurora Illinois. It is right on the Fox River and the big headliner is Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Sadly, I will not be able to attend as this weekend is also my birthday and my family went and made plans for Saturday night that did not include seeing Kenny Wayne Shepherd. From that website linked above, here, again, is the schedule for this awesome event:
Friday, June 13
Time …read more

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Jeez, it’s a busy weekend as far as live music in Chicago this weekend. Not only is the 25th Annual Chicago Blues Festival (the largest totally free blues festival in the country, by the way) going on all weekend, but there are so many live jazz performances that I couldn’t fit the entire weekend on yesterday’s post. So, once again, I want to thank WDCB for the shows below.
By the way, I am still trying to find some way to post as I “fest” tomorrow. I have been testing Utterz and Spinvox. Utterz seems …read more

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Of course, as I have been saying all week, the big thing going on this weekend in Chicago is the 25th Annual Chicago Blues Festival. However, there are other shows going on in and around town here in the Windy City. The weather is predicted to be very warm and humid with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. As such, maybe you would rather head indoors where there is a roof and air conditioning while the rest of us are standing outside in the heat and rain catching the blues.
Once again, it is radio …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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