Here are some interesting concerts going on tonight (with links to past coverage of the musicians by our music writers): Multidisciplinary artist Nikki Lynette’s Get Out Alive blew the doors off the Den Theatre in Wicker Park during its run with Haven this past summer. Through stories, songs, dance, and multimedia, Lynette laid out her […]
Tag: Elastic Arts
Posted inMusic
The Pleiades Series celebrates its first year of elevating women and nonbinary improvisers
Last October, musician and curator Emily Beisel began booking the monthly Pleiades Series at Elastic Arts, which centers femme and nonbinary performers—and they follow their sets with improvised jam sessions that can include members of the audience, a practice intended to “build community and connection between womxn improvisors from diverse backgrounds.” Over the past year, […]
Posted inMusic
The best of the jazz outside the fest
For several years now, the heart of the Chicago Jazz Festival has been in Millennium Park. This year the four days of the fest also include programming at the Cultural Center (from 11 AM till 5:15 PM on Thursday, September 1) and a lunchtime show at the Maxwell Street Market on Sunday, September 4. Around […]
Posted inAgenda
Newberry Book Fair, In The Land, art, and experimental music
The 2022 Newberry Book Fair is back and under way today after a three-year break while all of us adjusted to concerns around COVID-19. The fair has traditionally been a must-go event for book collectors and lovers, as 30,000 or so books will be on sale representing dozens of categories including history and fiction. Reader […]
Posted inCity Life
Sales, sanctuaries, giardiniera, and Mortified
Looking for some things to do? Consider these options! We found some happenings all over the map this time around, including Evanston, Back of the Yards, downtown, Logan Square, South Shore, and the universe of the internet. FRI 5/20 The Unitarian Church of Evanston (1330 Ridge, Evanston) is hosting its annual rummage sale today until […]
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Elastic Arts’ AfriClassical Futures series continues with the Honourable Elizabeth A. Baker
Since January 2020, vocalist Julian Otis and Elastic Arts executive director Adam Zanolini have programmed AfriClassical Futures, a series offering an antidote to the overwhelming whiteness and deadness of the classical canon. Each AfriClassical concert invites a Black artist working in or springboarding from the Western classical tradition for an intimate live performance and conversation, […]
Posted inMusic
Daniel Wyche makes guitar ambience you can feel at home in
“A home is a place that’s full of people,” says Chicago guitarist, composer, and improviser Daniel Wyche. “I’ve been inspired by my grandparents’ hospitality. They had this need to welcome tons of people into their home. That’s cultivating what family means.” The first track on Earthwork, Wyche’s new album on local label American Dreams Records, […]
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Elastic Arts hosts the fourth annual Afrofuturist Weekend
The fourth annual Afrofuturist Weekend comes to Elastic Arts from Friday, October 22, through Sunday, October 24, with evening programs on Friday and Saturday and daytime programs on Saturday and Sunday. The festival’s organizers describe it as a “celebration of Black artists making forward-looking work that envisions radically positive futures for Black people,” and in […]
Posted inMusic
Chicago joins seven other cities on two continents to host the Catalytic Sound Festival
Avant-garde jazz musicians have been uniting to better control their opportunities to perform, record, and engage with their communities at least since the 1960s, when the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) first convened in Chicago and the shorter-lived Jazz Composers Guild (which included Carla Bley, Sun Ra, Bill Dixon, and Archie Shepp) […]
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Julia Dratel, music curator and visual artist
Julia Dratel, 30, is an events producer, curator, radio DJ, activist, and visual artist. She’s taken photos for album artwork by Circuit des Yeux and Devouring the Guilt and created music videos for Health & Beauty, Mind Over Mirrors, and Spirits Having Fun. She’s also curated night two of the Elastro A/V Fall Festival at […]
Posted inPublic Service Announcement
Festivals, fairies, and free shows in the parks
Labor Day is coming up, but there’s plenty of summer left to enjoy. Here are a few things to get you out and about (and several of these events are free). Your weekend outdoor festival watch: Ruido Fest happens in Union Park this weekend (Fri 8/20, gates open at 3 PM, Sat 8/21 and Sun […]
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Hip-hop veterans Coolout Chris and SamIam the MC drop a collaborative EP
Hip-hop veterans Coolout Chris and SamIam the MC celebrate a collaborative EP, hybrid performance series ¡Hot Mess! returns to Elastic Arts, and more.
Posted inMusic
Constructive interference on the gig poster of the week
This week’s featured gig poster was designed by Stylin’ Out Network and includes an image by Chicago artist Ricardo Mondragon.
Posted inCity Life
A mother of a week
Upcoming events and recommendations from our listings coordinator
Posted inCity Life
Somewhere in time is here and now
Upcoming events and recommendations from our listings coordinator