Entries associated with the tag "Jazz Showcase":

There aren't many many musicians still alive who were active during the golden era of hard bop, but pianist Cedar Walton is one of them. Though he doesn't loom as large in the history of the music as, say, saxophonist Johnny Griffin, who died earlier this year, he remains a vibrant link to folks like Art Blakey, J.J. Johnson, and Art Farmer. At age 74 he's still a model of consistency and good taste, playing impeccable, hard-swinging jazz as naturally as most folks draw breath.

Walton's recent Seasoned Wood (HighNote) won't ruffle any feathers, but his concise, graceful playing shows off every bit of his impressive rhythmic alacrity and harmonic sophistication. The recording also features top-notch backing musicians, including veteran drummer Al Foster and young-gun trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, on trio, quartet, and quintet tracks. This evening Walton opens a four-night stand at the Jazz Showcase; he's joined by regular saxophonist Vincent Herring, bassist Tony Dumas, and Chicago drummer George Fludas.

Today's playlist:

Johnny Alf, Rapaz de Bem (Sony/BMG, Brazil)
Claudio Rocchetti, Another Piece of Teenage Wildlife (Die Schachtel)
Sibylle Baier, Colour Green (Orange Twin)
George Strait, Troubadour (MCA)
H3FK, Nubiska Nätter (Caprice)

A Howard Reich story in Sunday's Tribune reported on the return of the venerable Jazz Showcase, which closed at the end of 2006 after losing its lease at its Grand Avenue location. The piece said the club hoped to reopen on Thursday at its new Printers Row digs (809 S. Plymouth Court, in the Dearborn Station building), and now it's official: Joe Segal's bebop temple returns with an engagement by pianist Junior Mance that starts on June 12. Music is already booked through July, including stints by Charles McPherson (7/3-6), Eric Alexander (7/10-13), and John Abercrombie (7/18-20).

Today's playlist:

Mariana Baltar, Uma Dama Também Quer Se Divertir (Zambo)
Shweta Jhaveri, Anahita (Intuition)
Islaja, Ulual YYY (Fonal)
Ranking Joe, Zion High (Blood and Fire)
Cheer-Accident, Variations on a Goddamn Old Man (Pravda)

Perpetually overshadowed by the Chicago Jazz Festival every Labor Day weekend, the African Festival of the Arts continues to program an eclectic assortment of soul, jazz, hip-hop, African music, and Latino music over four sprawling days in Washington Park. It’s always a mixed bag, and this year’s schedule is no exception, but there are plenty of highlights. I wrote about Randy Weston’s performance in the paper this week, but there are others worth catching.

Among the best jazz offerings are the great alto saxophonist Jimmy Heath, who leads a big band of Chicago instrumentalists tonight, and the irrepressible multi-instrumentalist Phil Cohran, who plays on Monday. A load of old-school hip-hop acts, including Yo-Yo, Monie Love, EPMD, Kurtis Blow, Naughty by Nature, and MC Lyte perform throughout the long weekend, in addition to locals like the Molemen, Juice, and Kid Sister. The Dazz Band, Con Funk Shun, the Bar-Kays, and the Stylistics represent classic funk and R & B, while the great Leela James delivers contemporary soul on Saturday. Sunday, Cuban bassist Yunior Terry Cabrera leads a promising new project featuring his talented brother Yosvany Terry on saxophone, David Oquendo on vocals, Osmany Paredes on keyboards, and special guest Alfredo de la Fe, a veteran of the great Charanga 80.

Also on Saturday, New Orleans legends Bo Dollis & the Wild Magnolias will deliver the usual set of earthy Mardi Gras Indian funk. The group has long ceased to be a genuine creative force, but a recent reissue from Sunnyside Records is here to remind us of the killer sound the band was churning out more than three decades ago. They Call Us Wild collects both albums they cut for the French label Barclay back in 1973 and 1975, The Wild Magnolias and They Call Us Wild. Few funk singers could ever match the declamatory style of Dollis—a loud, full-bodied, and sensual shout that complimented the overtly sexual throb of the band's syncopated grooves. The Wild Magnolias featured the brilliant guitarist Fird “Snooks” Eaglin and saxophonist Earl Turbinton, who died a few weeks ago at 65. Mardi Gras warhorses like “Oh! When the Saints,” “Iko, Iko,” and “Meet the Boys (on the Battlefront)” were given a sublimely heavy backbeat, and supporting the outsize singing and call-and-response chants was a richly textured mesh of cross-cutting rhythms, propulsive guitar licks, and the rollicking keyboards of Willie Tee, the band’s musical director.

They Call Us Wild isn’t as inspired as the debut—Eaglin is sorely missed—but it’s still pretty burning. The double CD also includes a PDF file of the lavish and informative 68-page booklet that accompanied the French version of the reissue.

Perhaps, like me, you initially missed the short item in Wednesday’s Tribune, but the Jazz Showcase has found a new home, in Dearborn Station. The club, far and away the most important presenter of national mainstream jazz heavies, has been closed since January, after losing the lease on its Grand Avenue location. It's supposed to reopen early next year.

Today’s playlist:

Bonde do Role, With Lasers (Domino)
Keiji Haino & Tatsuya Yoshida, Until Water Grasps Flame (Noise Asia)
Orchestra Baobab, A Night at Club Baobab (Oriki Music)

The Jazz Showcase, which has been homeless since the end of last year, is staging an impressive benefit tomorrow, March 1, at the Harris Theater, to help with relocation costs once it finds a new home, something owner Joe Segal says will happen. The club has long been the place in town to regularly check out the finest in mainstream jazz. The Tribune’s Howard Reich actually wrote a pretty good piece in Sunday’s paper examining the difficulties Segal faces these days—with a dying pool of talent, competition from institutions like Symphony Center, and a stubborn refusal to program many musicians that incorporate more contemporary (read: anything from the last three decades) developments into their work. Yet whatever Segal’s shortcomings, he’s remained an invaluable resource to the city, and it’s crucial that he resurface soon. Most of the performers are local, but a killer trio with drummer Jack DeJohnette and pianist Danilo Perez—who recorded a live album at the club a few years ago—suggests the loyalty and appreciation some jazz stars have for Segal.

Over at the Steppenwolf, guitarist Bill Frisell performs tomorrow night as part of the three-week Traffic Jam series, a “festival of music, language and performance." (So much for specificity.) Last year Frisell released one of his best albums in years, a lean trio session with drummer Paul Motian and bassist Ron Carter that put some backbone behind the guitarist’s improvisations, which too often are puffy clouds with no rain lurking inside. Motian, who possesses one of jazz’s lightest touches but can swing like nobody’s business, kicked the guitarist’s ass, providing the sort of focus Frisell really needs. Here he’s joined by the superb violinist Jenny Scheinman—who recently delivered the goods at the Empty Bottle as part of drummer Scott Amendola’s band—and pedal steel/lap steel whiz Greg Leisz, a guy who’s worked with everyone from Matthew Sweet to Lucinda Williams to Me’Shell Ndegeocello. I saw this trio play at the Berlin Jazz Festival a couple years ago and the entire set consisted of Beatles tunes—twangy, creatively arranged versions. But it wasn’t exactly, um, high impact. No telling what their repertoire will consist of this time.

Finally, although this isn’t exactly jazz news, one of the contestants on American Idol, Chicagoan Leslie Hunt, is the daughter of drummer Steve Hunt, the explosive force behind bands like Hal Russell’s NRG Ensemble, Caffeine, and a steady member of the quartet led by pianist Jim Baker that plays every Tuesday night at Hotti Biscotti.