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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I know this is a day late. That’s what happens when your critical lifeline, AllAboutJazz.com, goes down and won’t come up during the time I slot to write this particular blog. That’s what happened to me on Tuesday and I had to go with another blog about the Chicago Jazz Festival. I hate it when my personal schedule gets disrupted.
It’s a busy week for new releases and reissues. So, without further ado, here is the list from the fine folks at AllAboutJazz.com:
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
NEW RELEASES
32 Festival De Jazz De Vitoria-Gasteiz – 32 Festival De Jazz …read more

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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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The end of July is fast approaching. The dog days of summer have left the Chicago area for a time and the breeze is off the lake. This has caused the sky to clear, pushing out the pollution and making the sky a brilliant blue. It’s quite nice and it’s a good time to check out those live outdoor shows. However, thanks to radio station WDCB, I can also tell you about all of the jazz and blues performances around the area. I strongly recommend that you click on that link and check out their …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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The new releases are here again. If you recall, and you can page down if you don’t, I was talking about the website called AllAbouJazz.com for one of the best places on the web for jazz information and news. I raved about thta yesterday, and today I am using them because it is the big day for new releases and reissues.
It’s another impressive list and I want to thank the AllAboutJazz.com people for providing all of this information on a regular basis. They really do a great job and you should check them out.
NEW RELEASES
Tuesday July 22, …read more

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There is a website I visit every week. I try hard to mention them here and give them as much credit as I can. They deserve it. The world of jazz music is filled with organizations trying to keep jazz music alive and doing so on an entirely volunteer basis. It’s tough to get paid when you love jazz. It’s a great genre of music, as is the blues, but jazz is not the most popular form of music out there. People are intimidated by it and that is too bad.
I am, of course, …read more

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I was a punk kid who was into Pink Floyd. What I really wanted to do was be on the radio. I thought I was going to be the next Howard Stern or, more likely, the next Steve and Garry (two Chicago radio legends). I had worked at the tiny AM station that my college, Webster University, has created first. It was known as WEBU AM 660 and you could pick pretty much any shift you wanted and play whatever the hell you wanted. This created a scattered program schedule and no one ever listened. …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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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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