Chicago nightlife
Nov 29th, 2004 | 07:23 AM
#1
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Joined: Nov 2004
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Chicago nightlife
We will be in Chicago this coming week-end. We made plans at the House of Blues for Friday, for dinner/show but are looking for something similar to do for Saturday night in the same area.. Any suggestions! Thanks!!
Nov 29th, 2004 | 07:26 AM
#2
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Skip the House of Blues for music and treat yourself to the real deal. Go to Buddy Guy's Legends and prepare for the best jazz and blues you'll ever hear.
Buddy Guy is often sitting at the bar and it isn't every day you have such access to such a legend.
Buddy Guy is the idol to people like Eric Clapton and the late Jimmy Hendrix.
Buddy Guy is often sitting at the bar and it isn't every day you have such access to such a legend.
Buddy Guy is the idol to people like Eric Clapton and the late Jimmy Hendrix.
Nov 29th, 2004 | 08:02 AM
#3
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,106
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The House of Blues is in the middle of a great jazz/blues club zone. Check out both Blue Chicago clubs, Andy's Jazz and (best of the best) Jazz Showcase, where Nicolas Payton is playing all weekend.
metromix.com and chireader.com have detailed listings. You have your pick of restaurants in the area; one to try is Naha, right across the street from Jazz Showcase.
Also, there is a FREE Christmas jazz concert with local faves Judy Roberts and Audrey Morris on Saturday afternoon at the Cultural Center on Michigan and Randolph streets.
metromix.com and chireader.com have detailed listings. You have your pick of restaurants in the area; one to try is Naha, right across the street from Jazz Showcase.
Also, there is a FREE Christmas jazz concert with local faves Judy Roberts and Audrey Morris on Saturday afternoon at the Cultural Center on Michigan and Randolph streets.
Nov 30th, 2004 | 05:19 AM
#4
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Thank you all for your input - its very much appreciated!! We are going to House of Blues specifically to see my favorite band - Edwin McCain on Friday, but it will be our first time in Chicago so were a little unsure on where else there was to go. Its great to now have some ideas! Thanks again!
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Dec 1st, 2004 | 01:13 PM
#8
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Dec 1st, 2004 | 01:34 PM
#9
Joined: Jan 2003
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Velvet Lounge
This out-of-the-way tavern on Chicago's near South Side, is the place for hearing raw, great jazz. But don't expect the glitz of a downtown jazz lounge at this bare bones club owned by tenor saxophonist legend Fred Anderson. It's the music that's rich; the decor consists of worn down tables, cafeteria-like chairs and a plyboard-constructed stage.
http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/s...,3112597.venue
This out-of-the-way tavern on Chicago's near South Side, is the place for hearing raw, great jazz. But don't expect the glitz of a downtown jazz lounge at this bare bones club owned by tenor saxophonist legend Fred Anderson. It's the music that's rich; the decor consists of worn down tables, cafeteria-like chairs and a plyboard-constructed stage.
http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/s...,3112597.venue
Dec 1st, 2004 | 01:50 PM
#10
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 480
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hmm,
No one mentioned Kingston Mines? is that still open? I have not been in a while - but I always have a great time there, its also open till 4(5 on sat) It is right down the street from BLUES
Pops is nice, I like that place - it is totally of the tourist path also
If you want to bar-hop you should head up to wrigley field and just walk around up there, there are literrally 100's of bars, one after another. Sports bars, irish pubs, concert halls(metro,vic) comedy theaters(Stage left, Iprov olympic, comedy sportz), Resturants, And even a few dance places (smart bar,spin,berlin come to mind)
No one mentioned Kingston Mines? is that still open? I have not been in a while - but I always have a great time there, its also open till 4(5 on sat) It is right down the street from BLUES
Pops is nice, I like that place - it is totally of the tourist path also
If you want to bar-hop you should head up to wrigley field and just walk around up there, there are literrally 100's of bars, one after another. Sports bars, irish pubs, concert halls(metro,vic) comedy theaters(Stage left, Iprov olympic, comedy sportz), Resturants, And even a few dance places (smart bar,spin,berlin come to mind)
Dec 13th, 2004 | 06:56 AM
#11
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 161
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Here is a review of a recent act at the Velvelt Lounge.
It's a special place to visit, if you like "cutting edge" Jazz.
-----------------------
No wonder the Velvet Lounge was packed.
Considering the caliber of artists who convened at the South Side club, Friday's late-night set could have been held in a room twice as large.
Though bandleader Douglas Ewart no longer lives in Chicago, he plays here so often -- and to such striking effect -- that he remains vital to the city's flourishing avant-garde scene. Certainly his concerts in the parks, which he calls "Crepuscule" and stages with the Jazz Institute of Chicago, have underscored the man's gifts as organizer and creative artist.
This time, Ewart offered a rare appearance of his Inventions Clarinet Choir, a characteristically genre-defying band that sounds like nothing else on this planet. With an all-star front line staffed by Ewart, Mwata Bowden and Edward Wilkerson Jr. -- each playing a variety of reed and percussion instruments -- the Inventions band commanded enough firepower to render microphones unnecessary.
Add to the equation the sometimes serene, sometimes provocative vocals of singer-poet Mankwe Ndosi, the propulsive bass virtuosity of Darius Savage, the searing guitar lines of Jeff Parker and the tautly swung rhythms of drummer Vincent Davis, and Inventions easily ranks among the more ferociously effective septets in jazz (the band sometimes expands to larger dimensions).
Dedicating the show to the late pianist Yapree Howell, Ewart and his fellow reedists opened with softly stated, sinuously designed lines. To hear the rumbling sounds of Ewart's baritone saxophone dovetailing with the gravelly phrases of Bowden's bass clarinet and the labyrinthine melodies of Wilkerson's alto saxophone was to behold a seemingly telepathic form of improvisation.
Before long, Parker's sighs on guitar, Davis' telegraphic beats on drums and Savage's fleetly running passages on bass fleshed out an already mighty ensemble sound.
Some of the evening's most inspiring work came from the revelatory vocalist-poet Ndosi, who buoyantly delivered her self-styled text at one moment, chanted and moaned and fired off piercing high notes the next. Neither charismatic poets nor skilled jazz singers are hard to come by, but literate performers who excel in both realms remain rare, making Ndosi a potentially important performer.
Ultimately, though, practically everything about this unit proved unique, from its range of expression to its stylistic breadth. In some passages, it recalled Count Basie's small-group swing organizations of the 1950s; in others, it unleashed fire and brimstone on a par with any of the more incendiary bands affiliated with Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).
The sooner the Inventions band returns to the stage, the better, for this remarkable organization ranks among Ewart's most inventive.
By Howard Reich
Tribune arts critic
Published December 13, 2004
----------
The Velvet Lounge, 2128-1/2 S. Indiana Ave., presents live music Wednesdays through Sundays; admission varies; 312-791-9050.
It's a special place to visit, if you like "cutting edge" Jazz.
-----------------------
No wonder the Velvet Lounge was packed.
Considering the caliber of artists who convened at the South Side club, Friday's late-night set could have been held in a room twice as large.
Though bandleader Douglas Ewart no longer lives in Chicago, he plays here so often -- and to such striking effect -- that he remains vital to the city's flourishing avant-garde scene. Certainly his concerts in the parks, which he calls "Crepuscule" and stages with the Jazz Institute of Chicago, have underscored the man's gifts as organizer and creative artist.
This time, Ewart offered a rare appearance of his Inventions Clarinet Choir, a characteristically genre-defying band that sounds like nothing else on this planet. With an all-star front line staffed by Ewart, Mwata Bowden and Edward Wilkerson Jr. -- each playing a variety of reed and percussion instruments -- the Inventions band commanded enough firepower to render microphones unnecessary.
Add to the equation the sometimes serene, sometimes provocative vocals of singer-poet Mankwe Ndosi, the propulsive bass virtuosity of Darius Savage, the searing guitar lines of Jeff Parker and the tautly swung rhythms of drummer Vincent Davis, and Inventions easily ranks among the more ferociously effective septets in jazz (the band sometimes expands to larger dimensions).
Dedicating the show to the late pianist Yapree Howell, Ewart and his fellow reedists opened with softly stated, sinuously designed lines. To hear the rumbling sounds of Ewart's baritone saxophone dovetailing with the gravelly phrases of Bowden's bass clarinet and the labyrinthine melodies of Wilkerson's alto saxophone was to behold a seemingly telepathic form of improvisation.
Before long, Parker's sighs on guitar, Davis' telegraphic beats on drums and Savage's fleetly running passages on bass fleshed out an already mighty ensemble sound.
Some of the evening's most inspiring work came from the revelatory vocalist-poet Ndosi, who buoyantly delivered her self-styled text at one moment, chanted and moaned and fired off piercing high notes the next. Neither charismatic poets nor skilled jazz singers are hard to come by, but literate performers who excel in both realms remain rare, making Ndosi a potentially important performer.
Ultimately, though, practically everything about this unit proved unique, from its range of expression to its stylistic breadth. In some passages, it recalled Count Basie's small-group swing organizations of the 1950s; in others, it unleashed fire and brimstone on a par with any of the more incendiary bands affiliated with Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).
The sooner the Inventions band returns to the stage, the better, for this remarkable organization ranks among Ewart's most inventive.
By Howard Reich
Tribune arts critic
Published December 13, 2004
----------
The Velvet Lounge, 2128-1/2 S. Indiana Ave., presents live music Wednesdays through Sundays; admission varies; 312-791-9050.
Dec 13th, 2004 | 06:58 AM
#12
Joined: Jan 2003
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