Tag: Vol. 22 No. 39

Functioning like a theatrical Richter scale, Survivors measures the damage done to a woman named Billie by her abusive, socially respected father. Refusing evenhandedness, playwright L.A. Ross’s uncompromising one-act details the damage wrought by incest with as much compassion as a survivor can supply. To deal with Billie’s trauma, Ross gives her two personas, played […]

Dial Africa–that’s what the marvelous British saxist Trevor Watts has done, and he’s made a clear connection between the rich percussion tradition of West Africa and his own background as a top free-jazz improviser. The word “moire” suggests the layering of two patterns to create a third, and that certainly does describe the makeup of […]

The women stamp a hard-edged beat into the floor with their feet and use their arms and hands to make circles over their heads and against their chests as if they are scooping the music in toward themselves for inspiration. The men stand ramrod straight, moving their hands in quick, full-body circles that always end […]

Late afternoon, midsummer’s day, an outdoor jazz concert with an unhurried agenda: that premise suggests such halcyon occasions as the Newport Jazz Fest of the 50s and the Monterey festivals of the 60s–even though we have a prime example much closer to home. The Jazz Institute of Chicago sponsors this annual free party, knowing full […]