Just because you’ve got an internationally known event–one of the largest free jazz festivals in the history of the world, approaching its third decade–going down right in the city’s lakeside front yard, don’t expect the little institutions that gird and maintain the jazz scene the rest of the year to fold up like cheap tents. For many of them, the festival has become the impetus for special bookings throughout the week. Depending on what you think of the festival lineup, these gigs offer either a complement or an alternative to the big show in Grant Park: whatever your taste, they let you turn the festival into a customized celebration of both the music and the city.
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This summer the Bop Shop made more moves than the White Sox front office. In its current and allegedly permanent home, the club has its third address since March (1146 S. Wabash; 312-922-3233). A moderately sized but maximally intimate affair, the new Shop has tiered seating in the back and good sight lines throughout; it fills the space formerly occupied by the Cleopatra Lounge & Pub, from which it’ll probably anchor the new near-south music strip on Wabash. Since she’s still settling in, the Shop’s indefatigable proprietor, Kate Smith, has opted to maintain her regular schedule (though she’ll uphold her tradition of presenting no fewer than three bands in rotation on the night the Jazz Club Tour comes through; see the Jazz Club Tour entry below). Nonetheless, it takes just ten minutes to walk from Grant Park to the new locale, making it an obvious after-fest hangout. Thursday, August 28, the new octet led by Georg GrŠwe and Ken Vandermark starts at 10 PM and will add an extra (third) set for festival-goers, taking them till 1:30 AM. Next Friday, August 29, David Hernandez & Street Sounds mix Latino poetry and hipster-homage jazz from 10 PM to 1:30 AM; Saturday, the Power Trio (bassist Tatsu Aoki, reedist Mwata Bowden, and drummer Afifi Phillard) plays from 8 to 10 PM, followed till 2 AM by Panamanian-born, New York-based flutist Mauricio Smith, who’s deservedly well-known in both the jazz and Latin-music spheres. And Sunday, August 31, Aoki returns with a different trio to back up former Ink Spots vocalist Elija Levy from 9 PM to midnight.
Thanks to the ambitious guidance of events coordinator Michael Orlove, the Chicago Cultural Center (78 E. Washington; 312-744-1424) this year becomes a major festival-time player. Saturday, August 23, at 2 PM saxist and poet Joseph Jarman and bassist Malachi Favors–both cofounders of the Art Ensemble of Chicago– will play music and chat with moderator Steve Saltzman as part of the Cultural Center’s ongoing “Rollin’ on Randolph” series. On Monday at 5:30 PM, new-jazz musicians Hamid Drake, Georg GrŠwe, and Mars Williams will join journalists John Litweiler, Art Lange, and John Corbett in a discussion of whether postfreedom improvisation fits into the jazz tradition or boldly goes where no music has gone before; after the panel, the musicians will illustrate their views in a trio set. Tuesday from 5:30 to 7 PM jazz and poetry collide in a program called “Verbs and Vibes” (see entry on Chicago Underground Orchestra for details). On Wednesday, the center will for the first time take part in the Jazz Club Tour (see separate listing) by presenting the Polish-born Grazyna Auguscik, who takes a sometimes strikingly pure approach to jazz singing, from 5 to 7 PM. And on Thursday, August 28, the Jazz Festival’s opening day, the Cultural Center scores a coup: a 4:15 PM duo concert by expansive pianist Kenny Drew Jr. and daring young saxist Seamus Blake, both on loan from the Mingus Big Band, which performs that evening in Grant Park. Immediately after, the Original Pin Stripe Brass Band of New Orleans will quite literally lead the parade–in traditional Crescent City second-line fashion–over to the band shell in time for the festival kickoff.
With its cozy performance space tucked away behind the LPs, Jazz Record Mart (444 N. Wabash; 312-222-1467) uses the festival weekend to summon a time when jazz shops more regularly featured live as well as recorded sounds. Sunday, August 31, from 10:30 AM till noon, the Mart holds its third annual Breakfast Bash. It features a continental breakfast (in other words, a breakfast you wouldn’t usually eat on this continent) and music by artists who record for Delmark, the Mart’s house label. The lineup boasts trumpeter Malachi Thompson and cornetist Rob Mazurek (see entry on Chicago Underground Orchestra); two quite different alto saxists, the hard-bopping Andy Goodrich and the space-traveling Rich Corpolongo (see festival listing); veteran vibists Jim Cooper and Carl Leukaufe; ancient-to-the-future pianist Jodie Christian; and the usual “special surprise guests.” The Breakfast Bash has always proved a satisfying way to roll into the festival’s final fling–provided you can roll out of bed early enough after Saturday night.
Velvet Lounge
