34th Annual
Chicago Jazz Festival Lineup Announced
Local and National Talent Fill Stages throughout Downtown
The best
reason to look forward to the end of summer is this year’s complete
lineup of free music at the 34th Annual Chicago Jazz Festival, August
30-September 2.
Joining headline acts such as
Roy Haynes, Dianne Reeves and Allen Toussaint are a
vast array of local, national and international performers on stage in
Millennium Park, four stages in Grant Park, and with the earliest
performances on Thursday,
August 30 in the Chicago Cultural Center (78 E. Washington.)
Music begins at
noon in the Randolph Café with a salute to one of jazz’ originators, Bix Beiderbecke performed by the
Chris Madsen’s Bix Quartet.
At 1:30 p.m. The Hyde Park Jazz Society pays tribute to pianist Jodie Christian, one of
Chicago ’s most versatile and creative pianists who passed away earlier this year.
The quartet features pianist Ken Chaney.
More performances throughout the building include the
Damon Short Quintet as the percussionist/composer takes the stage at Claudia Cassidy Theater at
12:15 p.m. followed by Osaka’s gift to Chicago Jazz and Blues, pianist/vocalist
Yoko Noge with her
Japonesque, a project that merges Asian and Western jazz and blues, this time featuring the improvisations of special guest,
Dee Alexander.
A couple of jazz musician with a
bit more experience than the rest kick off the music in
the historic Preston Bradley Hall at
12:30 p.m. , when 75 year-old Stu Katz and 81 year-old Willie Pickens
continue to explore their decades-long musical relationship followed by
Jim Gailloreto’s String Quintet.
Gailloreto’s group, back in the festival after having to cancel
last year’s appearance, explores the traditions of classical music while
expounding on the truest elements of jazz.
The festival closes on Thursday with the previously announced
Exquisitely for Ella tribute to Ella Fitzgerald which is simultaneously the finale of Made in
Chicago : World Class Jazz and the Jazz Festival’s first evening.
Following Friday’s performances with Artist in Residence
Ken Vandermark at Roosevelt University’s Ganz Hall and
Roy
Hayes Fountain of Youth Band at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, which include the
Chicago Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble as its opening act, the
festival moves to its longtime home of Grant Park where four stages
present free jazz music all weekend long.
Saturday’s music begins at noon with guitar virtuoso
Alfonso Ponticelli & Swing Gitan performing at the Jazz on Jackson Stage located on the east end of Jackson at Lake Shore Drive.
The Chicago area native and his band perform their interpretations of Django Reinhardt’s groundbreaking Gypsy Jazz.
Up next is another Chicago artist, further demonstrating the rich Jazz community in
Chicago . Clarinetist
Jason Stein leads a quartet of young emerging improvisers that include drummer Frank Rosaly, bassist Josh Abrams and reedist Keefe Jackson.
Singer/guitarist
Frank D’Rone a Chicago tradition for more than five decades, takes the stage to celebrate his 80th birthday.
Then it’s on to the next generation and a new voice on the national scene as 30-year-old trumpeter
Ambrose Akinmusire closes the stage for the day with a
3:30 p.m. performance.
The Jazz and Heritage Stage, located just south of
Jackson on the east side of
Columbus, opens with the
Caroline Davis Quartet at 12:30 p.m.
Born in Singapore, schooled in
Texas and educated in jazz in
Chicago, this young saxophonist has exhibited fearlessness in her original compositions and performance.
Next up is Artist in Residence Vandermark
with Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love.
One of the most innovative, dynamic and versatile drummers in jazz,
Nilssen-Love has worked on various projects with Vandermark in
Europe,
Japan, and the
United States.
At 3:30 p.m. the stage closed with bassist
Marlene Rosenberg and her
Quartet, highlighting tracks from Bassprint, the artist’s first album in a decade.
Now
in its fourth year as a feature of the Chicago Jazz Festival, The
Chicago Community Trust Young Jazz Lions Stage introduces audiences to
the next generation of
Chicago’s jazz artists.
Set just east of the Jazz and Heritage Stage at Lake Shore Drive, performances begin at
12 noon with high school and college age Jazz musicians.
Saturday’s lineup is: Lakeview High School Jazz Combo; Saucedo
Scholastic Academy Latin Big Band; Curie Metro Jazz Ensemble; Evanston
Township High School Jazz Ensemble; Pritzker College Prep Jazz Ensemble
and the NIU Jazz Ensemble.
Awarded
the Chicago Composer Residency Award by the Jazz Institute of Chicago,
Pritzker’s Ensemble will feature the world premiere of a composition
commissioned for them by reedist
David Boykin.
The evening entertainment moves to the Petrillo Music Shell with a 5 p.m. performance from drummer
Billy Hart and his cross-generational, all-star
quartet that includes tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, pianist Ethan Iverson and bassist
Ben Street.
Artist in Residence Vandermark premieres his commissioned composition with his
Resonance Ensemble as European and American players join together in international band-bonding.
Trumpeter Jerry Gonzalez & El Commando De La Clave provides a look at how Latin-based music has influenced jazz before the festival’s Saturday night headliner
Dianne Reeves closes out the night.
On the festival’s final day, inventive vocalist Milton Suggs and
The Milton Suggs Philosophy begins the day of music on the Jazz on Jackson Stage.
Then, back again after a rain out cut short last year’s set, is the
Jeremy Kahn Sextet.
Kahn will once again pay tribute to the late Pepper Adams.
The fourth and final appearance for Artist in Residence Vandermark is at
2:20 p.m. with his
Made to Break Quartet that includes
electronics artist and reed player Christof Kurzmann from
Argentina, bassist Devin Hoff and drummer Tim Daisy.
The Jazz on
Jackson stage finale features
Matt Wilson’s Arts & Crafts band which playfully and artfully touches upon Cuban carnival, swinging post-bop and swirling psychedelica.
Latin, soul and jazz music come together with the
Edwin Sanchez Project as the Jazz and Heritage Stage opens at
12:30 p.m.
Jeff Newell‘s New Orleans’ flavored
New-Trad Octet combines instruments and elements of traditional New Orleans brass bands with those of modern jazz groups.
The stage ends for the season with trumpeter
Tito Carrillo who, on the heels of his debut album
Opening Statement, is one of Chicago’s leading Latin instrumentalists.
Sunday, The Chicago Community Trust Young Jazz Lions Stage starts off at
noon with the Chi Arts Jazz Combo.
Following them is Kenwood Academy Jazz Combo; Northwestern
University Jazz Ensemble; Downers Grove South Jazz Ensemble and
completing the stage for this year’s festival is the Lincoln Park Jazz
Ensemble.
Chicago’s
newest rising star vocalist Sarah Marie Young
has
been winning competitions around the world showcasing her jazz,
R&B, blues and Gospel music roots. Opening the Petrillo Music Shell
at
5 p.m.,
she is joined by a quartet that includes guest singer Saalik Ziyad
and pianist Stuart Mindeman, bassist Patrick Mulcahy and drummer Makaya McCraven.
The music lineup takes an international turn with the next performance as
Denmark’s
New Jungle Orchestra led by
Pierre Dørge fills the stage with
their signature blend of African and European perspectives.
With the exception of Norwegian trumpeter Gunnar Halle and
Swedish bassist Thommy Andersson, the band is Danish through and
through: reed players Morten Carlsen, Jakob Mygind and Anders Banke,
trombonist Kenneth Agerholm, keyboardist Irene Becker (Dørge’s
wife), drummer Martin Anderson on drums and conga player and percussionist Thomas Dyani.
The penultimate act is
Steve Coleman, a protégé of Chicago ’s own Von Freeman. With his band
Five Elements he advances Freeman’s teaching of expressing experiences through music.
They perform at 7:10 p.m. , leading in to the festival finale,
Allen Toussaint’s “The Bright Mississipi” featuring Marc Ribot and Don Byron.
In addition
to the four stages, the festival includes an art fair and a wine oasis,
as well as the opportunity to purchase food and beverage from various
vendors.
The 34th Annual Chicago Jazz Festival
is presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and programmed by the Jazz Institute of Chicago.
The Young Jazz Lions Stage is made possible by The Chicago Community Trust.
The Chicago Community Trust is a member of the Chicago Jazz
Partnership and a dedicated leader in the collaborative effort to expand
arts learning and performance opportunities for all students.
The
festival is sponsored in part by the Chicago Jazz Partnership, American
Airlines, Aquafina, Chicago Jazz Magazine, Chicago Transit Authority,
Chicago
Tribune, CLTV-ChicagoLand’s Television, Communications Direct, DownBeat
Magazine, E & J Gallo Family Vineyards, LaGrou Distribution System,
Pepsi, Stella Artois, WGN-Television, XFINITY, 90.9fm
WDCB Public Radio and WSSD Radio-FM 88.1.
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