CHICAGO CULTURAL CENTER
The South Loop club (31 E. Balbo; 312-362-9707) lives up to its name with a week’s worth of bookings practically guaranteed to light fires. Thursday, September 2, at approximately 9:30 HotHouse starts the first of its “Jazz Fest Aftersets” with tenor saxist Vandy Harris, a grizzled AACM veteran and unreconstructed avant-garde soloist who’ll celebrate the release of a CD, The Lighthouse Keeper, with a Chicago all-star quintet featuring pianist Jodie Christian and trumpeter Robert Griffin. Friday, September 3, Edward Wilkerson’s accomplished and intuitive octet 8 Bold Souls returns to the scene of good times: the band played here weekly in June and July, and Wilkerson willl again present sparkling new compositions from the band’s Thrill Jockey debut, due early next year.
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JAZZ SHOWCASE
TOWER RECORDS AT THE FEST
In any case, the weekend sets cap a full slate of activity at the homey south-side club, including the regular Thursday-night quintet led by saxist and pianist Ari Brown and drummer Avreeyal Ra and, on Friday, September 3, trumpeter Malachi Thompson with a variation on his Freebop Band. Figure on all shows starting sometime after 10 PM, and plan on standing if you arrive after 9:15.
