This year’s lineup details a sprawling cross section of the genre, including world-changing explorers the Art Ensemble of Chicago, trad band the Fat Babies, venerable guitarist George Freeman, and restless experimenter Rob Mazurek.
Author Archives: John Corbett
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Trumpeter Russ Johnson dances along a fine line
Wisconsin trumpeter and composer Russ Johnson strikes a perfect balance between mainstream and vanguard.
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Saxophonist Dave Rempis builds a band with the stamina for deep dives
The lively quartet Chicago saxophonist Dave Rempis brings to the festival finds the meditative heart of free improvisation.
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Bassist Eric Revis works at the conflux of the mainstream and its far-out tributaries
The quartet that bassist Eric Revis brings to Jazz Fest is packed with inside-outside explorers: pianist Kris Davis, reedist Ken Vandermark, and drummer Chad Taylor.
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Flutist Nicole Mitchell uses music to map a possible paradise
Flutist Nicole Mitchell brings her Afrofuturist epic Mandorla Awakening back to Chicago for the Jazz Festival.
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South African drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo fans the spark of resistance into the flame of liberated jazz
Louis Moholo-Moholo, the last survivor of legendary South African group the Blue Notes, introduces his current band to Chicago.
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Chicago guitarist Tim Fitzgerald summons the joy and grace of Wes Montgomery
Tim Fitzgerald makes his Jazz Festival debut leading the seven-piece band Full House.
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Chicago Jazz Festival 2016: Thursday
The lineup for September 1 includes Cameron Pfiffner’s Adolphe’s Ax; Mwata Bowden’s One Foot In, One Foot Out; and Orbert Davis’s Soul Migration.
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Chicago Jazz Festival 2016: Friday
The September 2 roster features Tarbaby with Oliver Lake, the Benny Golson Quartet, Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, and more.
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Chicago Jazz Festival 2016: Saturday
Among the highlights on September 3 are the JD Allen Trio, the Anat Cohen Quartet, and the Bad Plus performing Ornette Coleman’s Science Fiction.
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Chicago Jazz Festival 2016: Sunday
The bill on September 4 features the Charles Rumback Sextet, Erwin Helfer, Michael Zerang & the Blue Lights, the John Scofield/Joe Lovano Quartet, and much more.
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Your comprehensive guide to the 37th annual Chicago Jazz Festival
Previews of every act in Millennium Park and beyond, including Fred Hersch in his overdue festival debut and AACM cofounder Muhal Richard Abrams leading a historic reunion of the Experimental Band
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The Reader’s guide to the 36th annual Chicago Jazz Festival
The lineup at the 36th annual Chicago Jazz Festival includes Dave Holland’s Prism, the Sun Ra Arkestra, and much more.
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Thursday and Friday: 2013 Chicago Jazz Festival according to Reader writers
Jack DeJohnette and Wadada Leo Smith are just two of the highlights of the first two days of the 2013 Chicago Jazz Festival.
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Sunday: 2013 Chicago Jazz Festival according to Reader writers
Robert Glasper Quartet and others close out Jazz Fest’s final day.