House music never went out of style, but not everybody knows about its culture, its history, or even its existence—and a legion of those newbies fell for house this year, thanks to new dance-oriented albums from superstars Drake and Beyoncé. The latter recruited figures from across house history for Renaissance, including Chicago native Honey Redmond, […]
Tag: Chosen Few
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Reading house’s history from its used records
Chicagoans don’t need an excuse to talk about house music, but when the biggest pop star in the world drops a record indebted to house, you can expect more than just a conversation. Beyoncé’s Renaissance has effectively evangelized for this Chicago-born sound since the album came out in July, not least because she shaped it […]
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The Chosen Few Picnic & Festival comes to everybody’s backyards
For its 30th anniversary, one of the world’s largest house-music parties has been pushed online by the pandemic—but it might reach even more people that way.
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Lori Branch’s greatest moments in Chicago music history
Pioneering house DJ Lori Branch shouts out her fellow Windy City originators, including Chaka Khan and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
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Forest Management drops an ambient record made from Debussy vinyl
Forest Management drops an ambient record made from Debussy vinyl, the Chosen Few celebrate the legacy of Sauer’s with a Thanksgiving house and disco party, and more.
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Grün Wasser diversify their apocalyptic EBM on the new Not OK With Things
Grün Wasser diversify their apocalyptic EBM on the new Not OK With Things, the Chicago South Side Film Festival celebrates house music with a documentary by Jesse Saunders, and more.
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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.
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Photos: The grill masters of the Chosen Few Picnic
The grill masters of the Chosen Few Picnic are the fans who feed the fans.
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The Chosen Few Picnic is the homegrown festival every Chicagoan should attend
If you’ve ever wished that more music festivals were like family picnics, then you need to go to this Jackson Park house-music blowout. In the late 80s, DJs and brothers Tony and Andre Hatchett and their families began hosting an annual Fourth of July reunion barbecue behind the Museum of Science and Industry. For the […]
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Barbecuing, jacking, and other sights from the 2017 Chosen Few Picnic & Festival
The view from the crowd during the annual house-music extravaganza in Jackson Park.
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Gossip Wolf premieres Soft Candy’s new garage-psych single
Gossip Wolf premieres Soft Candy’s new garage-psych single, the 3 Yards Bangin’ House Fest returns to the southeast side, and more.
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An oral history of the Chosen Few Picnic, the ‘Woodstock of house music’
How a family Fourth of July party grew into an annual event that attracts more than 40,000 fans
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Reader’s Agenda Thu 1/30: Out at CHM, Friends and Family Cocktail Challenge, and Drinking Gourd
What’s on the Reader‘s Agenda for Thursday, January 30
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Spoon’s last dance
For six decades, Fletcher Weatherspoon has been a pillar of Chicago’s African-American social-club scene. On Mother’s Day, he had his last dance.
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Best of the rest of the week’s fests
Warped Tour, Chosen Few Old School Reunion Picnic, Irish American Heritage Festival, and Roscoe Village Burger Fest round out the weekend