Community Daybreak

I'm in the midst of a "Community" marathon, and I finally caught the name of this Troy and Abed favorite: "Daybreak."

Free Jazz

It starts tonight! Jazz on the Terrace at the MCA! It's one of my favorite free outdoor events in the city in the summer. You can take in the artists up-close in the seats on the terrace, or more as background music with a blanket and friends (and wine) on the lawn below. It's a cool way to see a lot of Chicago's renowned jazz and improvising musicians.

Every Tuesday, 5:30 to 8pm, there's a different musician featured each week, and the whole museum is free all day, so get in there and check out those exhibits. I loved the the summer that we got to spend with Jeff Koons...I wonder what we'll be treated to this year...sorta bummed the "This Will Have Been" tribute to 80's Art, Love and Politics just ended, I never made it in to see it.

Anyway...music, art, wine, free...do it!

Ratchet: Pushing Jazz Forward

Well, the feature that I've been toiling over for the past month went up on Gapers Block: Transmission last week. The piece explores the highs and lows of a free jazz series called Ratchet. Every Monday at the Skylark in Pilsen this group presents froward thinking creative music.

The article was funded in part by a Community News Matters grant from The Chicago Community Trust and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Features supported by the grant are to be "locally oriented and primarily about underserved neighborhoods and issues that affect them." I never would have thought to take on this project without Gapers having been awarded that grant last year. It gave me the inspiration to dig deeper in myself and in the community and really dive into a subject matter that I was familiar with and thought should be shared.

I've already gotten tons of really great feedback. I'm really proud of the piece itself, but I'm also really glad that I was able to put a spotlight on the work this group is doing.

So what are you waiting for? Go read it!

Festival Crazy

It's been an exhausting week in Chicago concerning the two biggest summer music fests: Lollapalooza and Pitchfork both finalized their line-ups, but not with out lots of fanfare. There were letter games, number games, and big parties. But now it's all out in the open and all we need are the schedules so we can bitch about all the bands that are playing opposite each other.

In other summer music news, the MCA announced the dates for jazz at "Tuesdays on the Terrace", and Downtown Sound's line-up at Pritzker Pavilion is nothing to sneeze at either. Still waiting for that Edible Audible Picnic schedule though...

If you're not getting pumped for summer by now, there's got to be something seriously wrong with you. Seriously, see a doctor.

Umbrella Music Festival

My first post went up on Transmission yesterday about Umbrella Music Festival. It's basically a festival showcasing creative and improvised jazz music. It started last night with a free show at the Chicago Cultural Center and continues through the weekend.

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a slight affinity for this type of music, since I dated a jazz musician and was subjected to it for a year. Unfortunately we broke up before I finally grew to appreciate it. (Hmm, maybe this blog is going to start to become a little more personal...)