The term “world music” has never been adequate to the task we’ve set it—even in its most benign reading, it implies a division between the listener and the rest of the world. And if that listener is in the United States, our country’s global hegemony in popular music colors the term’s meaning too. Americans don’t […]
Author Archives: Jacob Arnold
Posted inMusic
Chicago’s 1920s nightlife incubated world-changing musical and social experiments
The Roaring Twenties have often been portrayed as a time of wealth, glamor, and social change. Technological advances, including more widespread electrification and increased use of automobiles, plus the growth of mass media such as radio and movies, drove a booming economy—though then as now the benefits were inequitably distributed. Inspired by movie stars and […]
Posted inMusic
Jana Rush engineers her own empowerment
Experimental footwork producer Jana Rush recorded her breathtaking new album, Painful Enlightenment, while battling depression, but she’s careful not to romanticize that fact. “At that time, I couldn’t be consistent with anything. I could start something and good luck with finishing it,” Rush explains. “The loss of hope, it’s a strange and empty feeling, and […]
Posted inMusic
Farewell to unsung house-music architect Rodney Bakerr
Rodney Bakerr led early Wax Trax! group Strange Circuits, ran underground label Rockin’ House, and wrote ubiquitous house-music rhythm patterns for Roland.
Posted inMusic
A eulogy for Danny’s Tavern
For decades, Danny’s nurtured a devoted and welcoming community of music lovers—but it couldn’t survive the pandemic.
Posted inMusic
Remembering Benji Espinoza, champion of Chicago house music
Benji Espinoza’s work for Quantum Distributors and the D.J. International label helped boost house into its exalted place in the global pop pantheon.
Posted inMusic
The B-52s gave Chicago one last gift at Riot Fest
Even if the B-52s really are retiring from the road, they’ve left a permanent mark on the city through their influence on house music.
Posted inMusic
Open the Circle teaches footwork because footwork saves lives
Chicago nonprofit Open the Circle works to spread a local Black dance culture that can knit together youth communities.
Posted inBlogs
After seven years away, Africa Hi-Fi returns for one night in Hyde Park
A reunion of Sonia Hassan and Ron Trent’s beloved Africa Hi-Fi DJ night closes the Harper Court Summer Music Series on Wednesday.
Posted inMusic
Virgo Four, Round Two
The Chicago house duo’s late-80s home recordings still sound fresh on the new Resurrection.