Jazz & Blues Lounge

Continuing our look at the upcoming Chicago Jazz Festival, I wanted to continue to show you the various stages. We have already covered the Pritzker Pavillion concert which will kick things off on August 28. We have also covered what is, essentially, the main stage which is the Petrillo Music Shell. We also ran down the lineup at the “Jazz on Jackson Stage” and you can find all of those if you just page down. There is one more stage to cover and that is the “Jazz & Heritage Stage.”
Jazz and Heritage Stage
Friday, August 29, 2008 …read more

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The Chicago Jazz Festival is coming and it’s coming up fast. This is a good thing, even if you are disappointed that it also means the end of summer is fast approaching. It’s a great thing if you happen to be a fan of jazz music. It’s an opportunity to see more jazz than you could even imagine. The entire city is a jazz metropolis during the weekend of the festival and the various jazz clubs go all-out for the people in fromt out of town.
So, continuing my breakdown of who is playing and at what …read more

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WDCB is a great radio station and you know I believe that. I rant and rave about that place and that station ad nauseum around here. But they are really a great source of information about jazz and blues music in and around the Chicago area and suburbs. In fact, since they are located in the suburbs, they are the finest source of suburban jazz music and concerts and festivals for those of you living in and around the Chicago area.
One of their sponsored events is called “Hot Jazz – 6 Cool Nites” which is …read more

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As I mentioned in an earlier post today, there is a jazz festival in the Chicago are. This is known as the JVC Jazz Festival and they apparently do festivals all over the country. I also appears to be performances at a whole variety of very cool Chicago jazz clubs.
From their website (linked above) the line up is:
Friday, July 18, 2008
Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo
House of Blues
329 N. Dearborn Street
(312) 923-2000
Doors open at 7:30pm
Show at 9pm
Tickets: Standing only: $45.50
Age: 17+
The Corey Wilkes Quartet featuring Greg Osby
Andy’s Jazz Club
11 E. Hubbard Street
(312) 642-6805
8pm & 10:30pm
Tickets: $21.50 in …read more

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Another weekend is here. While I am planning on standing in lines and cramming into a movie theater to see The Dark Knight, you may have other plans or desire to see some live music. Thankfully, summer in Chicago is a great time for that. There is a jazz festival this weekend. Buddy Guy is having a CD release party at his club “Buddy Guy’s Legends.” It’s all here and a special thanks goes out, as always, to radio station WDCB for the information you find here.
This weekend is predicted to be a real scorcher …read more

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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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One of the biggest festivals in the City of Chicago is going on right now and it is known as the “Taste of Chicago.” If you love food, and Chicago has lots and lots of great food, then you will love the Taste of Chicago. Click on that link and you will find all kinds of entertainment and plenty of great food. The crowds are thick, the lines are long and the food is great.
Oh yeah, and there is a lot of music.
Now, the main stage is known as the Petrillo Music Shell. Here …read more

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Just a reminder that another great free jazz festival is fast-approaching. I first started writing about the Glen Ellyn Jazz Festival months ago. I cannot believe that it is now close enough to July 12 that I can start writing about it as being right around the corner.
The festival is in beautiful downtown Glen Ellyn which is in the far western suburbs of Chicago. It is sponsored by the radio station WDCB which you hear me ranting and raving about at least at once a week. It is July 12 and it is totally, …read more

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Well, I spent time on Friday looking up jazz and blues festival within the 100 mile radius of Chicago. Of course, there are blues and jazz festivals all over the country. I am only one man, however, so I am sticking close to home. I often get to places like St. Louis and Milwaukee, so I included those in my search.
I had originally planned to go through this list and then try to present them to you in order of their dates. Yeah, well, that seems like it will take a lot of time, so I …read more

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Well, my adventure at the 25th Annual Chicago Blues Festival is over for another year. I had such a blast. Folks, this is the largest free blues festival in the country. It is a festival that, somehow, manages to get better every year. You will have to pay through the nose to get food and drinks, and on a hot day like this, you’ll need that, but the music more than makes up for it.
When I first got there I was just in time to catch most of Shorty Mack and his Magnificent R&B Blues Band …read more

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