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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One of my new favorite things is the Jazz Institute of Chicago and their website. They do so many cool things for people who love jazz. They have all kinds of scheduled performances and concerts and do what they can to keep jazz alive in this town.
You may not realize that Chicago has beaches. We do. Granted, you can really only use them about three or four months a year, but we do have beaches and they are right downtown and on Lake Michigan and they are just as sandy and wet as the beaches you …read more

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Chicago has a lot of cool places to see live music but, without a doubt, one of the coolest is Millenium Park, which is right downtown. I meant RIGHT downtown, with the buildings rising all around you, except for the part that points toward the lake, of course. You can sit on the lawn and above you is a metal laticework that has speakers, so you can see the stars and the buildings and still hear the music. Then there is the pavillion, colored red, each with a great view of the stage. Meanwhile, the stage …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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Macomb is a city not far from Chicago. It is also a college town as Western Illinois University is there. It is known as a party town. Of course, colleges are some of the best places to see great jazz. Well, Macomb has a jazz festival that you should probably know about as part of my “Jazz Tours of the Midwest” tirade lately. You can find out about it by clicking HERE.
It is known as the “Al Sears Jazz Festival.” It is September 12 – 14, 2008.
SCHEDULE
Friday, September 12, 2008 …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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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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This is the problem with trying to cover a musical genre with the scope jazz and blues has in the Chicago area alone. Any attempt to cover this music on a nationwide basis would take a staff of hundreds, I think. Had I known about this gig sooner, well, I would have posted it.
Apparently Anthony Michael Hall’s mom (yes, that would be the same Anthony Michael Hall from TV’s ‘The Deadzone” and “The Breakfast Club”) is a jazz singer of some talent. Don’t believe me? Check out her site: www.mercedeshall.com. She also is …read more

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