Jazz & Blues Lounge

Its another freezing cold day here in Chicago and the entire city is waiting to awaken encased in ice by tomorrow morning.  That means it was tough to drag my sorry flabby behind to the computer to write tonight.  You know what that means, right?  Yes, it means taking the easy way out and going to the WDCB radio station website.  You can visit the same station by clicking here, but you can look below to see some of their events listed on their events calendar.
Chicago Jazz Magazine’s
Up-And-Coming Jazz Jam Session 

General Event Information

Event Category:
WDCB Sponsored Events

Price:
No Cover

Dates and Times:
Wednesday, December …read more

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I am so in love with MySpace.  It is just about as big as the internet itself.  Each time I go in there and do a search for Chicago Jazz, I expect not to find anything new.  Every time I go, I end up finding something new.
There is a guy that is a bit of a Chicago treasure in the jazz world.  He is also a morning radio personality on the jazz station here.  You may have heard of him.  His name is Ramsey Lewis. 
He was born in the Chicago in May of 1935 and is one of the most-respected …read more

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There are really very few radio stations that JUST broadcast the blues these days.  This is true even in Chicago, where you would think things like blues and jazz would be on the air all the time.  It must be that there are just not the ad dollars in broadcasting 24-hour blues and jazz.  That’s why you usually find blues and jazz relegated to the non-commercial, listener-supported area of the FM band.
So, where can you tune into some great blues music in Chicago?  Well, you have to kind of plan things a bit.  You can’t just tune in anytime you …read more

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I have struggled with whether or not to write about myself in this particular blog.  This blog is supposed to be your one-stop shop for all things blues and jazz related, particularly in relation to the Chicago jazz and blues scene.  Should I actually be a part of it?  Maybe I should be nameless and faceless.
Then I got an e-mail forwarded to me from a guy I wrote about when I wrote about the schedule for the Chicago Jazz Festival.  He sent the message indicating his name had been spelled wrong to b5media instead of to me.  This is fine, …read more

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Finding the blues on Chicago radio can be a bit tricky.  I honestly do not know of any stations dedicated to JUST the blues.  Maybe because that would just be too much misery for 24 hours of solid broadcast.
There are some stations that have blues-related shows.  One of them is a guy who has been a radio legend in Chicago for over thirty years.  His name is Steve Dahl, his newsman is also a blues performer named Buzz Killman and every Monday they have “Blue Monday.”  What this means is the show kicks off with a great blues song, is …read more

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In the city of Chicago, your broadcasting options for good jazz is very limited.  The NPR station, WBEZ, that used to broadcast classic jazz during the overnight hours, has since closed up shop.
There is WNUA, which is a Smooth Jazz station.  However, I have never been as big a fan of Smooth Jazz as I have the classic jazz of people like Miles Davis and Dizzie Gillespie.
There is, however, WDCB, which is the listener-sponsored station on the campus of the College of DuPage.  They have become the leading jazz station in the city by default.  They also sponsor a lot …read more

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