Chilean singer-songwriter, accordionist, and pianist Pascuala Ilabaca offers endlessly unpredictable sonic pleasures. On six albums and one EP, she builds upon a foundation of Andean folkloric music while incorporating sounds inspired by her time and studies in Spain, India, Guatemala, and Mexico. At this Martyrs’ show, she’ll be accompanied by her longtime band, the saxophone- […]
Tag: pianist
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Chicago pianist Neal Francis finds time and space on In Plain Sight
Chicago singer-songwriter Neal Francis isn’t particularly religious, but the church has had a deep impact on his music. As a child piano prodigy, Francis learned to play the pipe organ at the Catholic church he attended with his family, an experience that helped fuel his budding love of performance—since then, he’s sat in with local […]
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Pianist Charles Joseph Smith celebrates companionship and solitude in a new video
Dr. Charles Joseph Smith collaborated on his new video with filmmakers from Mississippi Records and Raw Music International.
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Prewar blues great Georgia White died forgotten in Chicago
Singer and pianist Georgia White made dozens of classic records for Decca from 1935 to 1941, then fell off the map in the 1970s.
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Pianist Matthew Shipp can make magic with the perfect partner
Pianist Matthew Shipp has released more than a dozen albums with Brazilian saxophonist Ivo Perelman just in the past two years, and their Jazz Festival set is the first time they’ve played together in Chicago.
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Boogie-woogie torchbearer Erwin Helfer upholds the dignity, joy, and humor of an antique style
Pianist Erwin Helfer may be Chicago’s last living link to the vital boogie-woogie tradition, which arose more than a century ago.
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Anthony Cheung has turned foghorns and out-of-tune piano into a Guggenheim Fellowship
Award-winning composer Anthony Cheung presents a new viola concerto at this weekend’s Ear Taxi Festival.
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Reader’s Agenda Tue 1/29: Admission: One Shilling, Queer Comedy, and Soundgarden
What’s on the Reader‘s Agenda for Tuesday, January 29, 2013.
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Achim Kaufmann Trio
German-born pianist Achim Kaufmann started his career in the 80s, working in a variety of free-improv, fusion, and mainstream jazz contexts, but it wasn’t until 1996, when he moved to Amsterdam, that his playing truly took flight. The city has long been a springboard for creative musicians, and its anything-goes scene demands a focus and […]
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All Ears, Jim Baker
Technical skill and spontaneity are essential in a strong jazz soloist, but the ability to listen and process information on the fly is just as crucial. Amsterdam’s aptly named ALL EARS embodies this talent: led by pianist Michiel Braam and tenor saxophonist Frans Vermeerssen, the sextet plays from a repertoire of pithy, carefully arranged themes […]
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Aaron Moore
Pianist Aaron Moore moved to Chicago in 1951, and he’s since played as a sideman for everyone from B.B. King and Little Milton to local figures like Clarence “Sonny Boy Williamson Jr.” Anderson; he even claims that Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters both tried to recruit him. Though he relocated to Milwaukee a few years […]
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Ahmad Jamal
The silky dynamics of pianist Ahmad Jamal’s music haven’t really changed throughout his career; parceling space and measuring notes in a way that echoes Count Basie and Miles Davis (whose respect for Jamal’s music led him to name a tune for the pianist), he remains among the foremost jazz minimalists. Although he gained his fame […]
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Alfred Brendel
At age 62 Alfred Brendel is arguably the most respected and beloved pianist in the generation of performers whose careers took off in the 60s. He gained this distinction, however, partly by default. There were more brilliant technicians and more soulful interpreters than he at the starting gate, but some of them, like Leonard Shure, […]
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Abraham Stokman
Abraham Stokman is one of the city’s best-kept musical secrets. For years the Israeli-born pianist has zealously championed new works, particularly those of local composers; I still remember vividly his performance in the late 70s of Ralph Shapey’s Fromm Variations, in which he played nonstop for more than an hour and managed to make sense […]
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Akio Sasajima Trio
Akio Sasajima avoids fads and trends, and we’re all better for it: his gracious yet fiery guitar work fits firmly in the mainstream jazz tradition, but at the same time, he keeps pulling in newer influences and pushing at the seams, slowly stretching his art. (A solid melodist, his compositions have a distinct fingerprint, as […]