For nearly 70 years, Bob Koester owned the Jazz Record Mart and Delmark Records—and though his businesses could be “crazy town,” they helped nurture thriving communities.
Tag: Chicago Jazz Festival
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Chicago’s September jazz festivals cope with COVID
The city is replacing the Chicago Jazz Festival with a slimmed-down online event, while the smaller, nimbler Hyde Park Jazz Festival plans to try pop-up in-person shows.
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Remembering Chicago jazz anchor Joe Segal
Jazz Showcase founder Joe Segal was set in his ways, but his ways are worth saving.
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Free-jazz piano great Dave Burrell plays a rare Chicago show
The only time I’ve seen wild jazz pianist Dave Burrell play live was in an odd setting for him—he joined free-jazz bass titan William Parker for a program called “The Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield” at the Chicago Jazz Festival in 2009. The ensemble also included drummer and musical polymath Hamid Drake and writer Amiri […]
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Why is Chicago jazz so successful in Europe?
Chicago expats Frank Rosaly and Rob Clearfield discuss the differences between pursuing jazz here and overseas.
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The Reader’s guide to the 2019 Chicago Jazz Festival
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.
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The Fat Babies wring the kitsch out of trad jazz
Hardworking Chicago preservationists the Fat Babies play with the vitality and commitment to make antique songs feel brand-new.
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Mike Reed honors the modern golden age of Chicago jazz
Bandleader and drummer Mike Reed assembles an ensemble of composer-performers from The City Was Yellow, a “real book” documenting 30 years of the city’s jazz scene.
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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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Rob Mazurek refracts melody and groove through cosmic complexity
Trumpeter and polymath Rob Mazurek returns to his old hometown with the adventurous quartet Desert Encrypts Vol. 1.
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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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The Art Ensemble of Chicago celebrate 50 years of pushing great Black music into the future
Art Ensemble cofounders Roscoe Mitchell and Famoudou Don Moye expand the group into an 18-piece big band with the likes of Nicole Mitchell, Tomeka Reid, Jaribu Shahid, and Fred Berry.
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Two Chicago institutions bridge jazz and blues
Guitarist George Freeman and harmonica player Billy Branch demonstrate the common roots of the sounds they love.
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The complete schedule of the 2019 Chicago Jazz Festival
Thursday, August 29, through Sunday, September 1, 2019 in Millennium Park and at the Chicago Cultural Center
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The Jazz Festival’s orbit bustles with too much music for one weekend
Jazz Fest’s ten days of neighborhood concerts, satellite shows, and aftersets include Kidd Jordan, Angel Bat Dawid, Jeff Parker, Marc Ribot, and Ben Sidran.