Jazz & Blues Lounge

The month of August is nearly upon us. This means the summer, as far as schools and the cit of Chicago is concerned, is amost over. Chicago always has a festival season that starts with the Chicago Blues Festival and then it ends with the Chicago Jazz Festival. The Festival is nearly upon us, folks! As amazing as that seems, the fact remains, the dates are almost here and that means Fall will be shortly on its heels. So, you can start practicing your complaining about winter now, if you wish.
So, this week, I am …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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I went to Webster University which is located in Webster Groves, which is a suburb just west of St. Louis. It is a quaint little place, Webster Groves, with quiet tree-lined streets and lots of suburbanites. Of course, most of St. Louis is suburbanites, but this is a very picturesque kind of place. It has a section known as “Old Webster” which is the downtown area. This is the even-more quaint original part of the town. It has streets that actually are still cobblestone.
This is also the location of the “Old Webster Jazz Festival” and …read more

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It is, at last, the weekend. Most of the city of Chicago is caught up in the infamous “Crosstown Classic” which is when the Chicago White Sox baseball team and the Chicago Cubs bseball team face off in inter-league play. I am a White Sox fan, but this weekend the Sox are in Cubs territory at Wrigley Field. As such, this may be a really good weekend to visit Chicago and check out a great live jazz show without running into too many actual Chicagoans. They may be in bars or busy getting in fist-fights somewhere.
Once …read more

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The twin cities of Bloomington and Normal sit about two hours to the south of Chicago. They are maybe three hours north of St. Louis. Bloomington is the international headquarters for State Farm Insurance and is also a big college town. It is also the LONGEST part of the drive either to and from Chicago and St. Louis. If you are driving from Chicago to St. Louis, the longest part of the journey (at least perception-wise) is that stretch between Chicago and Bloomington. The same holds true when you are driving back.
Well, they are the …read more

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Continuing the theme of festival week (or month or whatever) I thought you might want to know about the Illinois Blues Festival which is right downtown in beautiful (ahem) Peoria Illinois. Yes, the same Peoria people used to use when they would say, “Yeah, but will it play in Peoria?” The home of Catepillar tractors and construction equipment.
These days Peoria is experiencing a bit of a comeback. They have a casino now and they have begun to build up their riverfront which goes right through the heart of the downtown area. I hear it’s …read more

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Well, as I have mentioned before, this is festival season around here. I have had many a friend tell me, “Jeez, you have a lot of festivals in Chicago.” This is true, and there are even more when you factor in the suburbs. So, one week after the huge, momentous Chicago Blues Festival, there is another great, totally free blues festival in nearby suburban Aurora.
“Blues on the Fox” is located at Galena Boulevard and Stolp Avenues in downtown Aurora, which apparently is knowns as “Blues Alley” on June 13 and 14. Granted, this is a bit …read more

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Chicago is an interesting town.  It is a city that seems to be slowly expanding and expanding.  I guess that is not particularly new.  Most places call that “urban sprawl.”  Considering the number of independent cities that have officialy become suburbs and, therefore, part of the “Chicago Metro Area” I call it “significant improvement.”  Then again, I am biased.  I grew up within the city limits.
What this means is that there is great music even out in the ‘burbs.  When you visit Chicago, you are probably very tempted to stay downtown and just walk everywhere.  This is a pretty good …read more

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I have had requests in the past to expand the sphere of coverage I do for this blog.  That can be a tough thing.  I am just one man, and Chicago is a big city and there is a lot of jazz and blues music going on here.  Trying to include such bastions of jazz and blues such as New York and Kansas City and New Orleans can be tough.  I don’t get free airline tickets or flown to concerts and events around the country by record labels and concert promoters (if you happen to be one, however, feel free …read more

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I am back in Chicago now, but I had to write one more article about St. Louis.  Like I said, St. Louis has a great musical tradition and it is certainly a major center for the music of jazz and blues.  As such, you can also always find a cool jazz club and blues club and there is almost always a festival.
There was one this past weekend as well and it was in a great part of town where I went to school.  You see, I attended Webstery University in the St. Louis area.  It is in a very nice …read more

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