The Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events originally planned to celebrate the Year of Chicago Music in 2020. Then the pandemic diminished those festivities to the point that the city declared 2021 the Year of Chicago Music too. The ongoing surge of the Delta variant means the U.S. won’t be rid of the pandemic […]
Tag: house
Posted inBest of Chicago
Old-school musicians beat lockdown with new-school platforms
Veteran DJ Vince Adams and nonagenarian bluesman Jimmy Johnson both took to livestreaming during the pandemic.
Posted inMusic
Thirty-five moments that brought Chicago music to the world
The Year of Chicago Music has had less music in it than anybody anticipated, but we still have plenty to celebrate.
Posted inMusic
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.
Posted inMusic
International dance veterans Tama Sumo and Lakuti know the best routes through music’s past and present
Tama Sumo and Lakuti, each a key player in electronic music for nearly three decades, have been linked professionally and romantically for several years, even though their journeys started in different continents. Lerato Khathi, aka Lakuti, went to her first rave in Johannesburg in 1990, and since then she’s worn several hats: DJ, promoter, booking […]
Posted inMusic
Life was just a party: Prince’s 1999 and Chicago house music
Prince could hardly have avoided influencing Chicago house, whose earliest, most ardent fans were queer Black and Brown kids.
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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 from the 3 Yards Bangin’ House Fest
The three backyards where this party started aren’t big enough for Chicagoans’ love of house—so now the festival happens on a blocked-off street next to a high school.
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Photos from DJ Clent’s Beatdown House Litnic
Some of the biggest names in ghetto house, juke, and footwork played for free at a relaxed party and cookout in Dolton Park.
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Kaina gives her soulful R&B the intimacy of real and chosen family
On her debut album, Chicago singer-songwriter Kaina takes strength from her favorite people: her friends and collaborators, her childhood mentors, her immigrant parents.
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Local producers Tensei create an electronic canvas of astral soul
Local producers Tensei create an electronic canvas of astral soul, Chicago house producer Derrick “Sleezy D” Harris passes away, and more.
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Disco diva Loleatta Holloway got a second wind from house music
She had her biggest hits in the late 70s, but the rise of sampling helped keep her on the charts for decades longer.
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Plugging into Chicago’s forgotten house venues
A tour and oral history of the long-gone spaces that birthed one of the foundational sounds in modern pop
Posted inMusic
Marcus Mixx has lost his home, but he still has house
Marcus Mixx’s early records fetch hundreds of dollars apiece from a cult of collectors, but he just wants a space of his own to make his new tracks.