Hard times will bring out anyone’s true colors, and the Hyde Park Jazz Festival certainly showed what it was made of when COVID-19 brought live music to a halt in 2020. Its organizers emulated the music that the festival supports, improvising ways to support local jazz. First, they arranged the Jazz Postcards series, small-scale outdoor […]
Tag: Darren Johnston
Posted inBlogs
Improvising horn trio Spectral play with the colossal reverb in an abandoned munitions bunker
Spectral perform at Elastic on Thursday to support their new album, Empty Castles, recorded in a 12,000-square-foot concrete structure.
Posted inMusic
Trumpeter Darren Johnston’s affinity for the Chicago improvised music scene was no secret in 2016
Superb Bay Area trumpeter Darren Johnston has been a regular visitor to Chicago for nearly a decade, and over that time he’s fortified his connection to the local improvised music scene. Last year he dropped three recordings, two of them featuring Chicagoans. On Neutral Nation (Aerophonic), saxophonist Dave Rempis sparred with him and veteran Bay […]
Posted inBest of Chicago
Best New Artist-Run Label
Its releases bear distinctive artwork and showcase its founder in an impressive variety of contexts.
Posted inBlogs
12 O’Clock Track: “When a Long Blast Is Sounded,” the pensive chamber jazz of Steven Lugerner
The ambitious reedist and composer Steven Lugerner uses the Torah as a compositional tool on his strong new album For We Have Heard.
Posted inMusic
The List: July 15-21, 2010
Critics’ Choices and other notable shows: Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, Cap’n Jazz, Tesco Vee’s Hate Police, Konono No. 1, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti
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The List, August 6-12, 2009
Critics’ Choices and other notable concerts: Slaid Cleaves, the Warlocks, the Bobby Broom Trio, Bat for Lashes, and more
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6/29 — Darren Johnston at the Hungry Brain
6/29 — Darren Johnston plays two free sets at the Hungry Brain.