Discovering the treasures of the Chicago Jazz Archive

18 May 2007

“There are things in there that only have been rumored to exist,” a record collector once told Deborah Gillaspie, the curator of the University’s Chicago Jazz Archive. Afte...

Vandermark’s driving force keeps Powerhouse Sound in the groove

20 Apr 2007

Chicago saxophonist Ken Vandermark is the great populist of avant-garde jazz...

Vail Film Festival: a celebration of excess

06 Apr 2007

I lay silently on my back—eyes closed, mouth slightly open—as a tall blond woman massaged moisturizing oils into my face. Ne...

Shortcuts—Wynton Marsalis's From the Plantation to the Penitentiary

06 Mar 2007

Wynton Marsalis has never been interested in just making music...

Shortcuts—Kenny Werner's Lawn Chair Society

06 Mar 2007

Kenny Werner’s Lawn Chair Society is a hard album to pin down, other than to say that it’s ambitious and creative. Th...

Visting professor seeks obsessed writers

02 Mar 2007

No one seems to know exactly how to categorize Ron Rosenbaum, the incoming Vare Writer-in-Residence at the University...

Voices STD (Stuff to Do)—March 2, 2007

02 Mar 2007

Friday/ March 2 The chic and trendy will descend on Ida Noyes Hall for Moda’s Spring Fashion Show, a showcase of the work of Chicago- and campus-based designers. ...

Potter Quartet forges harmony out of conflict

27 Feb 2007

Saxophonist Chris Potter might be the hardest working musician in jazz...

Voices STD (Stuff to Do)—February 23, 2007

23 Feb 2007

Friday/ February 23 The psychotherapeutic treatment of Beau Willie Brown, a black Vietnam War veteran, serves as the dramatic foundation of UT’s production of but i cd only whisper. ...

Voices STD (Stuff to Do)—February 16, 2007

16 Feb 2007

Friday/ February 16 University Theater presents two short and innovative plays as part of “Lost and Found,” its second and final workshop week of the quarter. Th...

Shortcuts—Stefano Bollani's Piano Solo

13 Feb 2007

Stefano Bollani’s Piano Solo might be the most lushly recorded album ever produced. ...

For Caine, there are no borders

02 Feb 2007

Jazz and classical music have a lot in common these days—a niche market, strong institutional support, sagging record sales—but when it comes to rhythm and harmony, they’re often far apart. Whil...

Voices STD (Stuff to Do)—February 2, 2007

02 Feb 2007

Friday/ February 2

Mississippi bluesmen, Carolina bluegrass players, bayou fiddlers, gospel divas and more will make their way to Mandel Hall for the U of C Folklore Society’s annual F...

Voices STD (Stuff to Do)—January 26, 2007

26 Jan 2007

Friday, January 26

The Hilliard Ensemble, a world-renowned vocal group, has specialized in early music since its beginning in 1974...

The Uncommon Interview: Bob Saget

19 Jan 2007

In recent years, comedian Bob Saget has transformed his image from Danny Tanner, the good-guy father figure on the long-running sitcom Full House, to a raunchy comedian who recently made waves wi...

Voices STD (Stuff to Do)—January 19, 2007

19 Jan 2007

Friday/ January 19

Clue, the 1985 film based on the infamous Parker Brothers board game, is a freewheeling, kitschy ride of a movie that didn’t impress too many critics but has gained ...

Mitchell and company: simplicity in improvisation

25 Nov 2003

The Roscoe Mitchell Quartet crafted an evening of complex, ethereal music last Friday at HotHouse...

Jazz torch passed to next generation at HotHouse

31 Oct 2003

Von Freeman and Jason Moran, jazz stars of different eras, co-headlined an epic on Saturday night, October 18, at HotHouse. Jazz's past, present, and future were all celebrated with equal vigor...

Brad Mehldau evolves on latest jazz experiment

24 Feb 2004

Over the past 10 years, Brad Mehldau has created a body of piano trio music to rival some of the most hallowed names in the jazz canon...

Dave Holland Quintet are musical mind readers

24 Oct 2004

At its best, jazz music fosters a synergy of disparate elements...

Same Mother bears two sides of the same soul

15 Feb 2005

If one were to study the tastes of jazz critics across the country and then attempt to use that information to create the ideal musician, that musician would probably be a lot like pianist Jason ...

Shortcuts - Jeff Parker

25 Jan 2005

Over the past ten years, Chicago-based guitarist Jeff Parker has worked with artists from disparate sectors of the jazz world, moving between the mainstream and the avant-garde and fusion fringes...

Neither sonic terrorist nor the Holy Ghost, Brotzmann is simply sax dazzler

14 Jan 2005

Albert Ayler, the dynamic and short-lived tenor saxophonist, famously embodied his part in what he considered the "Holy Trinity" of free jazz tenors: He was the Holy Ghost, Pharaoh Sanders was th...

Jarrett's Radiance shines through in latest endeavor

02 May 2005

Keith Jarrett has never aspired to modesty...

Lloyd's Creek adds new facet to long career

29 Apr 2005

Charles Lloyd's career has been a drama of many acts...

Ahmad Jamal enlivens normally reserved jazz crowd

15 Apr 2005

Jazz audiences are not usually the ecstatic sort. Even when in the presence of a legend, jazz audiences tend toward respectful appreciation rather than raucous adoration...

Like Clint Eastwood—or a fine wine— -- Tomasz Stanko just gets better with age

08 Mar 2005

Jazz is often celebrated as a quintessentially American art form, but from its very beginning, it has captivated an international audience...

Motian's trio builds Room with innovation, not rust

18 Feb 2005

Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, and Joe Lovano are three of the most intriguingly adventurous players on today's jazz scene...

Jazz legends Coltrane and Monk exchange lively dialogue at Carnegie Hall

04 Oct 2005

Jazz, like all art forms that become institutionalized, is always at risk of being engulfed by its own history...

Voices STD (Stuff to Do)—January 12, 2007

12 Jan 2007

Friday/ January 12

Director Darren Aronofsky kicks off Doc Films’ 75th anniversary celebration with a Q&A session and a screening of his latest film, The Fountain. ...

Top 5 Albums of 2006–Eric Benson

28 Nov 2006

Odean Pope Saxophone Choir, Locked & Loaded: Live at the Blue Note There are few sounds as bounteous as nine saxophones roaring and swooning in joyful unison...

STD (Stuff to Do)—November 17, 2006

17 Nov 2006

Friday / November 17 Trio Mediaeval, the much-lauded Scandinavian threesome, brings its precise interpretations of early choral works to Rockefeller Chapel...

STD (Stuff to Do)—November 10, 2006

10 Nov 2006

Friday / November 10 Classical music ensembles usually don’t have to worry about losing members to injury, but the Emerson Quartet faced that very predicament after violist Lawrence Dutton wen...

Borat make funny glorious nation of U.S. and A.

03 Nov 2006

Part road movie, part absurdist documentary, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan is an outrageous travelogue, celebrating the sideshows of our Amer...

STD (Stuff to Do)—November 3, 2006

03 Nov 2006

Friday / November 3 Broken Bride, the hot UT event of the week, is a half hour–long rock opera that features dragons, zombies, demons, and a heartwarming love story. ...

STD (Stuff to Do)—October 27, 2006

27 Oct 2006

Friday, October 27 In the summer of 2005, a group of seasoned U of C filmmakers shot a wildly ambitious feature-length project entitled Crime Fiction...

Stanko smolders, HotHouse only lukewarm

20 Oct 2006

The Tomasz Stanko Quartet walked onto the stage Wednesday night with characteristic poise and quiet intensity...

STD (Stuff to Do)—October 20, 2006

20 Oct 2006

Friday, October 20 Christmas Eve is rarely fodder for absurdist dark comedy...

Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin drones on as Ralph Towner finds spiritual inspiration

05 May 2006

Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, Stoa, ECM Stoa, the major label debut album of Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, is a precise and pretentious attempt to unify minimalism, funk, jazz, and world music with a Zen aestheti...

Friends with Money explores the bonds between women and their pocketbooks

11 Apr 2006

In college, if we’re lucky, many of us will make friends whom we will have for the rest of our lives....

Vandermark Quartet finds inspiration, perfect sound at the Empty Bottle

07 Apr 2006

Playing to a sparse but attentive Tuesday night crowd at the Empty Bottle, the awkwardly named—but pristine sounding—Kessler/Lonberg-Holm/McBride/Vandermark Chamber Quartet balanced improvisation...

STD (Stuff to Do)—October 13, 2006

13 Oct 2006

Friday, October 13 COUP is holding Blues and Ribs, its annual festival of tunes and chow, featuring Charlie Love, The Nightburners, and Nellie “Tiger” Travis and her Men in Black. Th...