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The Chicago Reader

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Music, Music Review Feb 26, 2021
Recommended
Archie Shepp and Jason Moran turn tradition into new challenges on Let My People Go
- By Aaron Cohen
- Tags: Music Review, Archie Shepp, Jason Moran, Let My People Go, Archieball, saxophone, jazz, avant-garde, Horace Parlan, Goin' Home, Von Freeman, Recommended

Music, Chicagoans of Note Oct 15, 2020
Video
Jumaane Taylor, tap dancer

“I’ve been on this journey to be able to present within the jazz community. . . . To be a union of creative beauty.”
- By Philip Montoro
- Tags: Chicagoans of Note, Jumaane Taylor, Jazz Hoofing Quartet, tap dance, tap dancer, jazz, Ugly Flavors, Ornette Coleman, The Shape of Jazz to Come, Igor Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring, M.A.D.D. Rhythms, Sammy Dyer School of the Theatre, Ruth Page Center for the Arts, Roosevelt University, Supreme Love, John Coltrane, Chicago Dancemakers Forum, Dance Center of Columbia College, Bill Robinson, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Savion Glover, Nicholas Brothers, Baby Laurence, Dianne Walker, Jimmy Slyde, Bril Barrett, Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk, Stormy Weather, Lena Horne, Ted Levy, National Tap Dance Day, Makaya McCraven, Justin Dillard, Marlene Rosenberg, Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, AACM, Rebuild Foundation, Museum of Contemporary Art, Ernest Dawkins, Corey Wilkes, Rajiv Halim, Jazz Institute of Chicago, Hyde Park Jazz Festival, Jay Fagan, Fred Anderson, Von Freeman, Charlie Parker, bebop, Dancemaster, David Danced Before the Lord, Duke Ellington, Bunny Briggs, Cab Calloway, Video

Music, Music Feature Aug 27, 2020
Video
Chicago’s September jazz festivals cope with COVID

The city is replacing its traditional huge outdoor affair with a slimmed-down online event, while the smaller, nimbler Hyde Park Jazz Festival plans to try pop-up in-person shows.
- By Bill Meyer
- Tags: Music Feature, Chicago Jazz Festival, Hyde Park Jazz Festival, Millennium Park at Home: Jazz Music, Jazz Postcards, pandemic, coronavirus, COVID-19, Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, DCASE, Jazz Showcase, Green Mill, Constellation, Elastic Arts, Experimental Sound Studio, Quarantine Concerts, Option Series, Catalytic Sound, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Adam Zanolini, Kate Dumbleton, Peter Margasak, Solo Impro Festival, Doek Festival, Cristina Marx, Millennium Park Summer Music Series, Jon Langford, Sam Trump, Zeshan B, Mucca Pazza, the Promontory, Dee Alexander, Khari B., Junius Paul Quartet, Souleyes—An Exercise in Reconstruction, Jazz Festival Citywide, Citywide Jazz, Midway Plaisance, University of Chicago, Logan Center for the Arts, Bobby Broom Trio, Tito Carrillo Quintet, Twin Talk, Nick Mazzarella Trio, Abigail Riccards, Von Freeman, Clifford Jordan, Fred Hersch Trio, Muhal Richard Abrams, Experimental Band, Myra Melford, Angel Bat Dawid, Corey Wilkes, Greg Ward, Tomeka Reid, Avreeayl Ra, Joshua Abrams, HPJF, Video

Music, Music Feature Aug 27, 2019
Video
Two Chicago institutions bridge jazz and blues

Guitarist George Freeman and harmonica player Billy Branch demonstrate the common roots of the sounds they love.
- By James Porter
- Tags: Music Feature, George Freeman, jazz guitar, Chicago Jazz Festival, Jazz Festival, Billy Branch, Billy Branch & the Sons of Blues, George the Bomb!, Von Freeman, blues, jazz, Little Walter, Roots & Branches: The Songs of Little Walter, Southport Records, Alligator Records, Rhumboogie Cafe, T-Bone Walker, Video

Blogs, Bleader Jun 7, 2018
Celebrating the work that iconic Chicago saxophonist Von Freeman did with Sun Ra

Von Freeman played in Sun Ra's Arkestra in 1959 and '60, and this week French horn player and Chicago native Vincent Chancey leads a strong local group through tunes Ra played in those days.
- By Peter Margasak
- Tags: Music, Post No Bills, Von Freeman, Sun Ra Arkestra, Vincent Chancey, DuSable High School, Captain Walter Dyett, Saturn, Jazz Institute of Chicago

Music, Music Feature Sep 16, 2015
Video
Jazz grows under Ernest Dawkins's feet

By staying put in his hometown, this Chicago saxophonist has nurtured generations of musicians—and a south-side festival that's now in its 16th year.
- By David Whiteis
- Tags: Music Feature, Ernest Dawkins, New Horizons Ensemble, Yosef Ben Israel, Jeff Parker, Avreeayl Ra, Marquis Hill, Memory in the Center, an Afro Opera: Homage to Nelson Mandela, Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, AACM, Maurice Brown, Corey Wilkes, Nicole Mitchell, David Boykin, Aaron Getsug, Greg Ward, Norman Palm, Isaiah Spencer, Englewood, Hamilton Park, Alexis Lombre, James Wenzel, Isaiah Collier, Jeremiah Collier, Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, Kahil El'Zabar, Englewood Jazz Festival, Live the Spirit Residency, Live the Spirit Big Band, Bobby Dawkins, Regal Theater, Black Artists Group, James Johnson, Vandercook College of Music, Von Freeman, South Side Street Songs, Fred Anderson, Washington Park, Video

Film, Artist on Artist Aug 4, 2015
Jazz iconoclast Steve Coleman on the ancient bedrock of human creativity

The saxophonist, composer, and M-Base founder talked to local reedist Geof Bradfield during a Chicago residency that ends with a Millennium Park concert on Thursday.
- Tags: Artist on Artist, Steve Coleman, Charlie Parker, Von Freeman, Greg Osby, Cassandra Wilson, Geri Allen, Geof Bradfield, Chicago Jazz Festival, Andrew Hill, Dana Hall's Black Fire

Music, Music Feature Mar 20, 2014
An oral history of the Green Mill

The neon-lit bar at Lawrence and Broadway, now a legendary jazz club, has been around for 107 years—and has more stories than any tavern in town. Here are a few from the past three decades.
- By Patrick Sisson
- Tags: Music Feature, Green Mill, Uptown, bars, jazz clubs, history, oral history, Chicago Tribune, Phohibition, jazz, Pop Morse's Roadhouse, beer gardens, Tom Chamales, Green Mill Gardens, Moulin Rouge, Uptown Theatre, Jazz Age, Jack McGurn, Jack "Machine Gun" McGurn, Al Capone, tunnels, smuggling, Joseph Lewis, Rendezvous Cafe, comedy, The Joker Is Wild, movies, Billie Holiday, Al Jolson, Texas Guinan, cabaret, 300 Club, James Doherty, nightlife, Jason Cole, Batsis brothers, Steve Brend, Dave Jemilo, bar owners, American Indian Center, Patricia Barber, speakeasies, bartenders, Brad Goode, musicians, performers, halfway houses, hillbillies, Sharon's Hillbilly Heaven, liquor licenses, Marc Smith, Uptown Poetry Slam, paintings, statues, Jimmy Moscarello, plumbing, Aragon Ballroom, Ed Pedersen Quintet, Ed Pedersen, Brad Goode Qunitet, Vu Jazz Quintet, Susie Hansen Band, Deja Vu Big Band, Mike Finnerty, Mike Finnerty & the Heat Merchants, 4 AM bars, Neil Tesser, jazz critics, cocktails, Ted Sirota, Sabertooth Organ Quartet, Clifford Jordan, Jazz Showcase, Wilbur Campbell, Blackstone Hotel, Katerina's, The Jazz Bulls, Fred Anderson, London House, Mr. Kelly's, Von Freeman, Andy's, Elastic, poetry, poetry slams, football players, Chicago Fire, Chicago Poetry Ensemble, martinis, booking, Mighty Blue Kings, old-fashioneds, manhattans, classic cocktails, E2, Gold Star Sardine Bar, Sheila Jordan, accents, Starbucks, drinking, Malort, Malort face, Chicago Reader

Blogs, Bleader Dec 6, 2013
Audio
Ben Paterson, Dave Douglas, Keefe Jackson, and a tribute to Bill Russo mark a busy weekend in jazz

Who says it's dead in December—a slew of live jazz options for the weekend
- By Peter Margasak
- Tags: Jazz, Music, Post No Bills, Ben Paterson, Essential Elements, Jon Dietemyer, Joshua Ramos, Von Freeman, Dave Douglas, Jon Irabagon, Linda Oh, Matt Mitchell, Rudy Royston, Time Travel, Beware of Doug, Bill Russo, Bill Williams, Stan Kenton, Lee Konitz, Everybody Rides the Carousel, jazz, Keefe Jackson, Likely So, A Round Goal, Paul Giallorenzo, Audio

Music, The Secret History of Chicago Music Oct 17, 2013
The Secret History of Chicago Music: Captain Walter Dyett

This DuSable High School band director taught generations of future stars.
- Tags: The Secret History of Chicago Music, Walter Dyett, The Secret History of Chicago Music, DuSable High School, band directors, St. Joseph, Missouri, violin, theater orchestras, Eighth Regiment Infantry Band of the Illinois National Guard, jazz, Wendell Phillips High School, Nat "King" Cole, Bo Diddley, Roscoe Mitchell, Redd Foxx, Eddie Harris, Leryo Jenkins, Gene Ammons, Von Freeman, Dinah Washington, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Lionel Hampton, Hi-Jinks, teachers, music teachers

Blogs, Bleader Aug 16, 2013
Video Audio
Guitarist Mike Allemana gets behind another of the Freeman brothers

Longtime Von Freeman sideman Mike Allemana starts a new project with George Freeman.
- By Peter Margasak
- Tags: Jazz, Music, Post No Bills, Mike Allemana, George Freeman, Lin's Holiday, The Out Patient, Happy Fingers, jazz, Von Freeman, Hammond B-3, Video, Audio

Music, Music Feature Dec 19, 2012
People Issue 2012:
Dee Alexander, the singer

"There was a freedom in jazz and all of the different chances you could take."
- Tags: Music Feature, Dee Alexander, Rashida Black, Tomeka Reid, James Sanders, Ernie Adams, jazz, Iqua Colson, Newport Jazz Festival, Evolution Ensemble, 3Arts Award, Douglas Ewart, Jimmy Ellis, Theophilus Reed, Orvieto Jazz Festival, Rita Warford, Von Freeman, Progressive Art Center, Moosehead Lounge, "Light" Henry Huff", Yosef Ben Israel, Ken Chaney, Avreeayl Ra

Music, Music Feature Oct 16, 2012
Caroline Davis, a saxophonist 20 years in the making

And now that she's playing full-time, it's spectacular
- By Peter Margasak
- Tags: Music Feature, Caroline Davis, saxophone, Mike Allemana, Von Freeman, Litchfield Jazz Camp, James Davis, Ears and Eyes Collective, Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead, Maitri, Orso, Chicago Jazz Festival, Matt Wilson

Blogs, Bleader Oct 4, 2012
Outsider musicians, an unsung soul-jazz genius, and a cool T-shirt on the B Side

David Liebe Hart, crusty black metal, and a nice Bulls/Rick Ross mashup
- By Miles Raymer
- Tags: Music, David Liebe Hart, Chicago Bulls, Rick Ross, Catholic Tapes, Mayor Daley, Von Freeman, George Freeman, Adventures in Modern Music, Empty Bottle, Flatbush Zombies, Micachu and the Shapes, Beth Orton, Ssion

Blogs, Bleader Sep 14, 2012
Video
Monday: celebrating Von Freeman

On Monday the Jazz Showcase hosts a tribute to the late Von Freeman that features his band from the New Apartment Lounge
- By Peter Margasak
- Tags: Music, Post No Bills, Von Freeman, New Apartment Lounge, Jazz Showcase, Chicago jazz, Mike Allemana, Michael Rayor, Matt Ferguson, Willie Pickens, Ari Brown, Art Hoyle, Dan Anderson, Christopher McBride, George Freeman, Video

Music, Music Sidebar Aug 28, 2012
African Festival of the Arts 2012

George Clinton, Nona Hendryx, the Chosen Few DJs, and more
- By Luca Cimarusti
- Tags: Music Sidebar, neighborhood festivals, Joan Collaso, Charles Neville, Taylor Moore, Avian Hightower, George Clinton, Parliament Funkadelic, Dwele, Ray Silkman, Taylor Mallory, Terry Hunter, Mike Dunn, VaShawn Mitchell, Aleya James, Senabella, Nona Hendryx, Kahil El'Zabar, Corey Wilkes, Robert Irving III, Lyfe Jennings, Southside Big Band, Von Freeman

Blogs, Bleader Aug 13, 2012
Legendary tenor saxophonist Von Freeman dead at 88

Chicago loses an internationally renowned pillar of its jazz community
- By Philip Montoro
- Tags: RIP, Music, Von Freeman, Vonski, Neil Tesser, jazz, National Endowment for the Arts, NEA, tenor, saxophone, RIP, obituary, heart failure, Jazz Masters, NEA Jazz Masters, New Apartment Lounge

Blogs, Bleader Jan 10, 2012
Video
Vonski honored as an NEA Jazz Master tonight in NYC

Chicago tenor sax great Von Freeman gets his NEA Jazz Master award online tonight
- By Peter Margasak
- Tags: Music, Post No Bills, Von Freeman, NEA Jazz Masters, National Endowment for the Arts, Jack DeJohnette, Sheila Jordan, Charlie Haden, Jimmy Owens, Lincoln Center, Chicago jazz, Video

Blogs, Bleader Oct 13, 2011
This week on the B Side

Looking back at 40 years of the Reader's music writing, plus gossip and live music must-sees
- By Miles Raymer
- Tags: Music, Reader, Chicago, Von Freeman, Neil Tesser, Disappears, Dam-Funk, Dum Dum Girls, Goran Bregovic & His Wedding and Funeral Orchestra, Double Dagger, Glenn Jones

Music, Three Beats Jul 7, 2011
Three Beats: George Freeman reflects on seven decades in jazz

Plus: The Slayer magazine book comes to Chicago, and Cloud Mouth plays a round robin
- By Peter Margasak, Philip Montoro, and Leor Galil
- Tags: Three Beats, George Freeman, National Endowment for the Arts, Von Freeman, Richard "Groove" Holmes, Gene Ammons, Shirley Scott, Rock Wojick, Jon "Metalion" Kristiansen, Slayer magazine, Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries, Tara G. Warrior, Peter Beste, Cloud Mouth, the Reptilian, the Caution Children, We Were Skeletons, Itto, Ghastly Sleep, Chicago Public Library, Roosevelt Branch

Blogs, Bleader Apr 20, 2010
Vonski Speaks With His Tenor Saxophone

I review Von Freeman's latest album Vonski Speaks for NPR's All Things Considered.
- By Peter Margasak
- Tags: Music, Post No Bills, Von Freeman, Vonski Speaks, New Apartment Lounge, Chicago jazz, NPR, All Things Considered

Blogs, Bleader Jan 5, 2010
Dinner & a Show: Tuesday, 1/5

Recommended events paired with nearby restaurants.
- By Whet Moser
- Tags: Chicagoland, Food Chain, Film, Music, Food & Drink, Performing Arts, Arts, Von Freeman, New Apartment Lounge, Barbara Ann's BBQ, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Music Box, Cuna, Kendal Duque, Chicagoland, Annoyance Theatre, Agami, Icarus, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Silver Spoon, Spoon, pet-pet

Blogs, Bleader Jan 2, 2010
Dinner & a Show: Saturday 1/2

Recommended events paired with nearby restaurants
- By Whet Moser
- Tags: Chicagoland, Food Chain, Film, Music, Food & Drink, Performing Arts, Arts, Dinner & a Show, Von Freeman, Green Mill, Willie Pickens, Ch'ava Cafe, Pandora's Box, Bank of America Cinema, La Pena, Panic in the Streets, Cibo Matto, The Pillowman, Flourish Bakery Cafe, The Message Is in the Music, Black Ensemble Theter, Fishpond

Music, Soundboard Dec 31, 2009
The List: December 31-January 6

Critics' Choices and other notable concerts: Black Keys, Girl Talk, Prefuse 73, Von Freeman, and more
- By Peter Margasak, Miles Raymer, Ann Sterzinger, and Bill Meyer
- Tags: Soundboard, Black Keys, Blakroc, Von Freeman, Girl Talk, New Apartment Lounge, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's, Prefuse 73, Savath and Savalas, Urge Overkill, Matt Bauder, White Blue Yellow and Clouds, Butch Walker, DKV Trio, Hamid Drake, Kent Kessler, Ken Vandermark

Blogs, Bleader Sep 30, 2009
Von Freeman and Barry Harris Take It to the Parks

Jazz greats Von Freeman and Barry Harris play a free concert in La Follette Park on Friday.
- By Peter Margasak
- Tags: Music, Free Shit, Post No Bills, Swag, Von Freeman, Barry Harris, JazzCity, Jazz Institute of Chicago, jazz, Chicago, Chicago Park District, La Follette Park, Stewart Miller, Charles Heath, bebop, free

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