Performing with his Brass Ecstasy quintet, contemporary jazz crossover trumpeter Dave Douglas has a heaping dose of shiny instrumentation for festival-goers on Saturday night. Sporting his trumpet alongside two trombones, a tuba, and drums, Douglas will play in homage to Lester Bowie, the avant-garde composer and cofounder of the Art Ensemble of Chicago who used his Brass Fantasy nonet to link jazz and pop music. Like Bowie, who passed away in 1999, Douglas and his crew will perform original compositions as well as brassed-up versions of pop songs. Douglas is known for his many ensembles and collaborations, and this promises to be one of the festival’s highlights. (Scott Morrow)
Sludgy, impossibly heavy metal bridges the line between the Melvins and Mastodon in the hands of this Bay Area trio. Antonio Anguilar and Meg Castellanos return with new drummer, Chris Fugitt, (lucky number seven) in tow and their fifth LP, Milagrosa, which was produced by Helmet's Page Hamilton. Expect true metal with melodic leanings, just enough prog to wet the appetite and even an acoustic tune or two. (K. Tighe)
Chicago’s 30th Annual Jazz Festival couldn’t be capping four days of diverse jazz sounds in much better fashion. After kicking off festivities with tenor sax giant Sonny Rollins, the extravaganza ends with free-jazz icon and progenitor Ornette Coleman. Coleman, who was born just six months before Rollins, bypassed bebop to help found a new sound—one of freeform expression, providing improvised quasi-vocalizations over unorthodox chord progressions. His landmark album, The Shape of Jazz to Come, will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2009, but he continues performing with vigor into his late 70s. Many may find his style undisciplined or unmelodic, but jazz fans of all types would do well to catch this legend in action. (Scott Morrow)
Hip-hop shows are one thing, but to catch a live beat performance (which is till undoubtedly hip-hop) is another experience all together. Beat architects Radius and Kenny Keys have established themselves as two of the most skilled downtempo hip-hop producers that Chicago has to offer, and their nights can easily be considered one of the best “cool-out” experiences in the city. Beesknees will headline with their electro funk rhythms, and you’ll likely be able to nab their latest EP, Masters of the Universe. (J. Min)
Sunday, August 31 at 8pm Venue: The Church Tickets: $0
FREE
Endowed with consummate cornet skills and compositional excellence, Rob Mazurek leads a standout quintet before heading to Europe with his cosmic free-jazz ensemble, Exploding Star Orchestra, and special performer Bill Dixon. Here he is joined by vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz and upright bassist Josh Abrams—a pair of ESO contributors—as well as bass guitarist Matt Lux (Isotope 217) and drummer John Herndon (Tortoise), all obvious talents in their own right. There’s no telling when this exact lineup will perform again, so make sure to catch this if you enjoy the avant-garde edges of jazz. (Scott Morrow)
It’s not uncommon to see a shoe company sponsor musicians (notably Adidas and RUN DMC), but when Converse teamed up with Pharrell, Santogold, Julian Casablancas, Kid Sister and a slew of other indie acts, the hipster community officially entered the world of mainstream America. The Converse-sponsored show at the House of Blues will feature Pharrell and his group N.E.R.D. (Chad Hugo and Shae Haley) performing songs off their critically acclaimed album, Seeing Sounds, released by Interscope records. It’ll be a hard ticket to come by because of the ridiculously low price, so let the searching begin. (J. Min)
The iconic punk band returns to Chicago for a set bound to delight longtime fans and new converts alike. For those unfamiliar, these avid followers of the Rastafari movement, sentiments that are closely intertwined with early punk ethos, were also one of the only African-American punk rock bands involved in the punk scene during the early 80's. (Check out James Spooner's Afro-Punk). Expect that trademark grating, incendiary, break-neck speed and a set hugging the underside of an hour. The Brains will be reaching far back into their catalogue for the set, from the self-titled, reggae-tinged, cassette-only 1982 debut, to 2007's Build a Nation. (K. Tighe)
Tuesday, September 2 at 7pm Venue: House of Blues Tickets: $4.55
It's always heart-warming to see a local truly make it. But what exactly is "making it" these days, anyway? Is it massive critical acclaim and blogosphere buzz? A world-wide tour that includes festival spots and major television appearances? Andrew Bird's recent resume certainly reads like he's made it, but just to seal the deal he'll be playing Pritzker—a stage that he's aspired to grace since before the park opened—with fellow Chicagoans, The Occidental Brothers Dance Band in his only public appearance this year. The multi-instrumentalist has been in the studio working on his next release (due out in 2009), so expect to hear some new things, as well as a sampling from 2007's critically-adored Armchair Apocrypha and selections from the nine albums that came before—Bird's nothing if not prolific. Oh, and a genius. (K. Tighe)
Not one to partake in any of the mid-20th century mass exoduses to Chicago, this Mississippi guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and producer kept it local, learning theory from his blind grandfather, John Paul Newson, and choir-backing soul stalwarts Joe Tex and Z.Z. Hill in his teens. When he did bolt for state lines, it would be for touring stints with the O.V. Wright Band, opening for B.B. King and Bobby Bland, which consumed his schedule for the next two and a half decades. ‘94’s Can’t Sleep At Night, saw Rawls debut his own tunes, albeit a collaboration with fellow guitarist L.C. Luckett; old school soul, disco pre-cursor stuff. Eleven records later, the silky smooth pipes are still intact, but licks are Delta-traditional dressed up in bursts of brass, sharing the same tales of southern-fried love and regret. (Gavin Paul)
The “Interview Show” at the Hideout won’t be your typical hip-hop event, but it will feature some nice performances by two interesting Chicago artists. Kevin Coval is a spoken-word poet whose book Slingshots was considered a finalist for “Book of the Year” by “The American Library Association.” His newest project Everyday People is an amazing follow-up album that has this smooth crooner dropping some Windy City-inspired lines over a nice collection of jazzy beats (don’t worry, Coval strays away from the cheesy overly didactic mold of most spoken word artists). C.O. Any (think Ugly Duckling) will also be performing with his conscious lyrics and progressive beats. (J.Min)
Friday, September 5 at 6pm Venue: Hideout Tickets: $5
Fresh off a stint at the top of the College Music Journal charts, Springfield's The Graduate is looking to expand its reach into the big(ger) city. This headlining set as part of the new Emerging Artist Showcase at Subterranean (the series continues through the end of the year) is a pretty good start. Expect this all-ages event to be filled with upbeat, sincere pop-rock—the kind of stuff you can't help but tap your foot to. Atlanta's Holiday Parade, New York's Thieves and Villains, and Missouri's Never Shout Never fill out the bill, along with a secret special guest, who you'll probably be seeing on MTV2 in a matter of weeks.
Saturday, September 6 at 6:30pm Venue: Subterranean Tickets: $5-$8
One of eight offspring from America’s favorite country outlaw, Willie Nelson, Paula was told by her father, as she followed the family gene into music, to watch every step he made and do the exact opposite. Whether she took it to heart or not, one cannot shake the country soul she was spawned from, as her pipes attest in sun-drenched, sweet Texas fashion. Although she’s got a little Southern rock and blues in her boots—as spotlighted on her 2008 debut LP, Lucky 13, a collection of plainspoken relationship woes and highs, performed in perpetual saloon-ballad tempo. Rounded out by five good ol’ backing band boys from her hometown of Austin, who know exactly when to instigate her out of lull and back into the beat, she both shimmers like a CMT-star and resonates like a street-weary blues heart. (Gavin Paul)
Sunday, September 7 at 9:30pm Venue: Fitzgerald's Tickets: $10
If you’re still beating yourself up for missing GZA’s performance of the entire Liquid Swords album at last year's Pitchfork, then you're in luck. Known as the genius behind Wu-Tang, GZA’s Liquid Swords album can easily be regarded as one of the best albums to ever come out of the 90’s. Overall, it’s an interesting move for him to perform this set again, seeing as how he just released his newest album, Pro Tools. Nevertheless, the GZA will never lose the respect of hip-hop fans for the role he had in propelling Wu-Tang to cult status, and it’ll be a chance for fans to see lightning hit twice. (J. Min)
Sunday, September 7 at 7:30pm Venue: House of Blues Tickets: $21.50-$24
Cross-pollinated keyboardist Marco Benevento and tight-knit drummer Joe Russo began their self-named groove/jam duo as a weekly improvisational gig at New York’s Knitting Factory in 2001. As material cohered into structured songs, the two self-released some material that led to a pair of outstanding albums for Ropeadope Records. With layers of looped riffs and fuzzy keyboards, Benevento provides an arresting wall of sound, under which Russo builds beats that alternate from peaceful to maniacal. Benevento moonlights in other jazz and improvisational groups, but here his work is carefully scripted. Don’t miss this if you dig groups like Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey and Jazzanova. Throwback piano pop rockers Everthus the Deadbeats, something of a modern ELO, open. (Scott Morrow)
Sunday, September 7 at 8pm Venue: Martyrs' Tickets: $15
Still remorseful about missing the sweeping set from Spiritualized at Pitchfork? Or perhaps you caught Jason Pierce and company—including a trio of gospel singers on backup—and can't wait to see it again, in more intimate environs. Whatever your situation, one things for sure—missing this performance at the Metro is not an option. Live shows highlight the UK group's signature droning, melancholy gems—but mingle with orchestral swells and soaring, uptempo arrangements. Expect a set heavy on tracks from this year's Songs in A&E, and—if we're lucky—a few blasts from 97's Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating in Space. (K. Tighe)
Monday, September 8 at 8pm Venue: Metro Tickets: $20
