Jazz & Blues Lounge

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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Can you believe it’s July 15 already? I know, I keep harping on how fast things are flying this year, or every year, but it’s so true. It seems like just yesterday that everyone was complaining about how brutal the winter was and I was slipping and falling on the ice while trying to get into my car. Now, it’s brutally hot and there are severe thunderstorms every other day and everyone is complaining about the heat.
One thing always helps and that’s being able to tell you about the new releases and various re-issues that …read more

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Jazz in Chicago (JIC) is an organization I was busy raving about just yesterday. It’s an organization dedicated to promoting jazz and jazz music in and around Chicago. They sponsors and put together and promote all kinds of jazz performances and jazz education programs. They are a very cool organization and they do good work for a form of music that far too many people don’t know enough about. Too many people find jazz intimidating or off-putting and that’s too bad.
One of the up-coming events is the performance of the Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble. …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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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 love it when people discover this website and then send me things. I have written about how much that means to me here before. It means that people think that this website is important and can help them and I love that.
On the south side of the city of Chicago is a very old and very historic neighborhood known as Hyde Park. It has always been an interesting and historic place. It has always been diverse and culturally mixed. They also have a rich history and they also have the Hyde Park Jazz Festival.
I …read more

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The summer is speeding past like a speeding bullet. Nothing makes that slow down just a little bit more than a cool jazz or blues album or tune to add to your collection. I do not have a record player myself, but when I worked at the jazz radio station, we would sometimes get the tunes on vinyl. I actually learned how to cue up a record just like the old-time DJs. There was just something cool, so very cool and warm, about listening to those jazz tunes on vinyl. It’s how I first listened …read more

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I am very happy to have found the website “Blues Festival Guide” to help me try and find blues festivals across the country and, really, across the globe. It turns out that there are just a ton of these festivals keeping blues music alive all across this amazing planet of ours. There is likely to be one within a decent distance from where you live. They even keep track of blues festivals in other countries.
So, from that website (which I strongly urge you to check out and tell them you heard about them from me) and check …read more

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I love living in Chicago. Chicago is a truly great city and for those of you who live and have lived much of your lives, on either coast, you may just think of the city as a place to fly over or perhaps an airport you are often required to stop in. It not only has one of the best skylines are are ever likely to see, but a great lake, nice beaches, great food and decent people. Finally, it is a great town for music, particularly if you love jazz or blues music.
I recently found a …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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