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- Music, Music Review Mar 29, 2021
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Chicago producer Vince Kaichan steers footwork toward serenity on Lost in Time
- Music, Music Review Mar 11, 2021
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Saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh tunes up for duets
- Music, The Secret History of Chicago Music Mar 11, 2021
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Pianist Willie Mabon gave Chess Records its first big hit
Despite that 1952 smash, he was soon overshadowed by the likes of Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters.
- Music, Music Review Feb 15, 2021
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Aki Takase, Christian Weber, and Michael Griener advance the language of piano jazz with a collective approach
- Music, Music Review Nov 30, 2020
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Israeli pianist Shira Legmann revives the piano music of composer Giacinto Scelsi
- Music, Music Feature Apr 2, 2020
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Pianist Charles Joseph Smith celebrates companionship and solitude in a new video
“Flourishing Cities of Undead” was shot late last year in the empty Fine Arts Building, with special guest star Angel Bat Dawid.
- Music, Concert Preview Jan 17, 2020
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Free-jazz piano great Dave Burrell plays a rare Chicago show
- Music, Music Feature Aug 27, 2018
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Pianist Matthew Shipp can make magic with the perfect partner
He’s released more than a dozen albums with Brazilian saxophonist Ivo Perelman just in the past two years, and their Jazz Festival set is the first time they’ve played together in Chicago.
- Music, Concert Preview Jul 12, 2018
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Two Chicago pianists perform a pair of rarely heard masterpieces by Morton Feldman
- Music, Music Feature Jun 5, 2018
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Boogie-woogie torchbearer Erwin Helfer upholds the dignity, joy, and humor of an antique style
The 82-year-old pianist may be Chicago’s last living link to a tradition that arose more than a century ago.
- News & Politics, Feature Mar 28, 2018
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A Chicago cop’s daughter’s suicide sets family on mission
Carli Blanco shot herself to death at 14, highlighting the growing teen suicide risk.
- Music, In Rotation Sep 20, 2017
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Bassist Matt Lux on his favorite pianist of his generation
Plus: Jazz guitarist Tim Stine on “classic rock” from Helmet, Reader critic Peter Margasak on a reissued Yoko Ono masterpiece, and more
- Music, The Secret History of Chicago Music May 23, 2017
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Vibist Paris Smith is an undiscovered treasure of Chicago underground jazz
On three albums released across three decades, Paris Smith evolved from bebop to spiritual jazz to something uncategorizable involving R&B—and he's still playing today.
- Music, The Secret History of Chicago Music Feb 14, 2017
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The Chicago blues pantheon needs more women—and Queen Sylvia Embry deserves a spot
Queen Sylvia Embry's bass playing and warm, soulful singing made her a hit in local clubs and on transatlantic tours.
- Music, The Secret History of Chicago Music Jan 31, 2017
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Blues pianist Little Brother Montgomery influenced legends as diverse as Skip James and Johnny Cash
Pianist Little Brother Montgomery straddled blues, boogie-woogie, and jazz—and bridged prewar southern blues and the electric Chicago style.
- Music, The Secret History of Chicago Music Jan 3, 2017
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Add blues pianist Barrelhouse Chuck to the list of greats lost in 2016
Barrelhouse Chuck built upon piano traditions established by the likes of Sunnyland Slim, Pinetop Perkins, and Little Brother Montgomery.
- Blogs, Bleader Oct 21, 2016
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Local pianist Matt Piet drops a dazzling new trio album
He celebrates the release of Of Sound Mind with a performance Saturday at Constellation
- Blogs, Bleader Aug 5, 2016
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Versatile percussionist Chris Corsano plays a rare solo show Monday
The relentlessly curious, restless improviser has shown his range on a number of recent recordings.
- Best of Chicago, Reasons to love Chicago Jun 23, 2016
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The Harold Washington Library rehearsal rooms offer DIY music therapy
An amateur pianist finds peace and quiet inside the practice spaces of Chicago’s central library.
- Music, The Secret History of Chicago Music Apr 20, 2016
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Rowdy bluesman Detroit Junior used to crawl under his piano while he played
Detroit Junior worked with Little Mack Simmons and Howlin' Wolf, but it was his deep catalog of original songs that made him beloved in the blues world.
- Blogs, Bleader Oct 8, 2015
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Composer Anthony Pateras does amazing and terrible things to a piano at Constellation on Sunday
Anthony Pateras has collaborated with Mike Patton and played piano-based grindcore. His Chicago solo concert will definitely stir up your blood and brains.
- Music, The Secret History of Chicago Music Mar 19, 2015
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Not even a gorilla mask could bring blues pianist Johnny 'Big Moose' Walker out of the sideman shadows
Big Moose worked for years with Earl Hooker and Elmore James and backed Otis Rush, Howlin' Wolf, Ike Turner, and many more, but his own recordings never caught fire.
- Music, The Secret History of Chicago Music Mar 5, 2015
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Bluesman Leonard "Baby Doo" Caston played with the legendary Willie Dixon for years
Leonard Caston helped convince Willie Dixon to pursue the blues instead of boxing, but ended up overshadowed by his friend and fading from public view.
- Blogs, Bleader Oct 9, 2014
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Reader's Agenda Thu 10/9: CIFF, Garden Gala, and Helen Sung Quartet
What's on the Reader's Agenda for Thursday, October 9
- Music, Record Roundup Jul 1, 2014
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Robin Thicke's morbidly fascinating Paula and 15 more record reviews
Eight Reader writers take on 16 albums—including White Lung's witchy two-minute mantras, Monarch's crawling tectonic doom, and Sir Michael Rocks's bleakly sunny party rap.
