Jazz Archives - Chicago Concert Reviews

Plant & Krauss, James Taylor, Norah Jones return to Ravinia, Ben Platt, Big Boi, Crowded House debut

Excitement’s been steadily building for Ravinia’s summer concert series in Highland Park, especially considering so many early announcements and perhaps a few artist [More…]

The legendary Crystal Gayle lets her lovely long hair down to talk classic country, Des Plaines date

Country music simply wouldn’t be the same if it weren’t for Crystal Gayle, whose indelible mark on the genre includes becoming its first female artist to achieve platinum [More…]

City Winery nestles into the New Year with the positivity and pledges of Kindred The Family Soul

Hot on the heels of the holidays, the always active and inviting City Winery wasted no time settling right back into the groove with a sold out show from Kindred The Family [More…]

Cadillac Palace portrayal of complicated jazz king Louis Armstrong is “A Wonderful World”

So many standards Louis Armstrong popularized or personalized throughout the last century are permanently woven into America’s artistic fabric, but ever since his passing [More…]

Sergio Mendes throws North Shore Center a festive, flavorful “Bossa Nova Samba Celebration”

Hardly a year went by in the 1960s and ‘70s when Sergio Mendes wasn’t releasing an album, and while his pace wasn’t quite as constant afterwards, he’s continued [More…]

Brazil’s king of bossa nova Sergio Mendes coming to Skokie’s North Shore Center “In The Key Of Joy”

Longtime Brazilian bandleader Sergio Mendes has constantly reinvented himself since debuting with Brasil ‘66 to the point of becoming a visionary for the hugest names in [More…]

“I Just Wanna Stop” legend Gino Vannelli about to offer Arcada Theatre five distinctive decades

One of the most distinctive singer/songwriters of the 1970s and ‘80s became even more versatile from the ‘90s through now, but not before stepping out of the limelight at [More…]

“Wish Upon A Star” when trumpeter Herb Alpert, Lani Hall take Vic Theatre to Tijuana, Brasil, today

As an artist, Herb Alpert revolutionized the trumpet since the days of the Tijuana Brass outselling The Beatles by double, through frequently sampled solo re-inventions and [More…]

Trailblazing bassist Stanley Clarke Return(s) To Forever and elsewhere for standing room Space

A mere glance at bassist Stanley Clarke’s discography is enough to drop some jaws, starting with the sheer quantity of solo and collaborative endeavors, followed by the [More…]

Half-century of world fusion phenoms Shakti, John McLaughlin move Ravinia, Béla Fleck bonus

Few jazz fusion acts of the 1970s were as influential and marvelously mind-boggling as the Mahavishnu Orchestra, which meant leader John McLaughlin could literally do [More…]