Billy Branch watches Sonny Boy (Rice Miller) Williamson II; photo by Alan Frolichstein Nearly 100 Chicagoans (maybe some visitors?) watched Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy and other heroes of the blues on videos at the Cultural Center Thursday night (5/23/19), with harmonica star Billy Branch and WDCB program host Leslie Keros telling stories and participated in lively interplay with knowing attendees. It was the fifth Digging Our Roots: Chicago's Greatest Hits "listening session" this spring, co-presented by the Jazz … [Read more...]
Chi jazz fest 2016, details in photos and words
My DownBeat overview of the 38th annual Chicago Jazz Festival, comprehensive as I could make it, didn't go into depth on any of the couple dozen performances I heard from Sept 1 through 4 in downtown Millennium Park and the Cultural Center. So here, with imagery by my photojournalist colleagues and friends Marc PoKempner and Michael Jackson (whose photo of drummer Dave King of the Bad Plus graced that DownBeat review) are some previously unreported details. Tatsu Aoki's Miyumi Project continues to evolve as the Tsukasa Taiko Legacy … [Read more...]