Jazz & Blues Lounge

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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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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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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It’s a holiday weekend here in the States. It reminds me of the question, “Do they have the 4th of July in Great Britain?” Well, of course the answer is yes, it’s the 4th of July everywhere. They don’t celebrate Independence Day, however. Get it? Har-dee-har-har.
Thankfully the weather here looks great. It would be a great weekend to gorge yourself on some great food on a stick at the Taste of Chicago and check out some of the great music they have there. It woul dalso be a great weekend to check out …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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