Spread across 13 indoor and outdoor venues on Saturday, September 25, the fourth annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival features a lineup packed with top-shelf local players. The music begins at 1 PM with the University of Chicago X-Tet at the James W. Wagner Stage (on Midway Plaisance between Ellis and Woodlawn) and the U-High Lab Tet at the DuSable Museum of African American History. Highlights from the daylong schedule include the Bethany Pickens Trio (Robie House, 2:30 and 3:30 PM), the Robert Irving III Quintet (International House, 3 PM), the Ernest Dawkins Organ Trio (Hyde Park Art Center, 3:30 PM), flutist Nicole Mitchell & the Black Earth Ensemble (Experimental Station, 4 PM), the Willie Pickens Trio (Hyde Park Union Church, 5:30 PM), the Orbert Davis Quintet (Hyde Park Union Church, 7 PM), Dana Hall’s Spring (Rockefeller Chapel, 11:30 PM), and New York salsa dura band La Excelencia, who also play the World Music Festival at 3 PM (International House, 9 PM). Vocalist Dee Alexander closes the fest by hosting a midnight jam session at the International House. All shows are free and all-ages, but donations are accepted; those who give $125 or more will earn a “Jazz Pass” good for preferred seating at certain venues. Though many of the venues are within a short walk of one another, a free shuttle service will serve all of them throughout the event. A prefestival gala at the South Shore Cultural Center on Thursday, September 23, features a performance by Dee Alexander at 7 PM; it begins at 6 PM with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, and tickets are $150. For more info, see Jazz listings by day, call 773-324-8614, or visit hydeparkjazzfestival.org. 
 
Hyde Park Jazz Festival
Saturday’s jazz marathon features an impressive cast of local players, including Ernest Dawkins, Nicole Mitchell, Willie Pickens, Dana Hall, Robert Irving III, and Dee Alexander.
