Trumpeter Roy Hargrove rings in a New Year's tradition
There are few certainties in life or in jazz, but one of them played out Thursday night at the Jazz Showcase.
Shirley Johnson has a voice that tells a lot of tales
Shirley Johnson might be one of the familiar female voices on the Chicago's electric blues circuit, but in her tones you hear everywhere she...
Zedd looking for something different
As a 12-year-old who'd studied classical music, Anton Zaslavski of Kaiserslautern, Germany, played drums in a heavy-metal trio and thought...
Styx continues to defy time, trends
There's a story about Styx that made the rounds a few years back, about the time the band, in town for a show, crashed a White House press...
Trans-Siberian Orchestra rocks Christmas
Last fall, Trans-Siberian Orchestra made the biggest change ever to its annual holiday tour. After having performed its rock opera...
Top New Year's Eve concerts
As any music-lover knows, New Year's Eve can be a tough night to find bargain-priced entertainment. But a few good deals can be found...
Best jazz shows of 2013
We've enjoyed an exceptional year in live performance. Here are the top shows, with information on where you can hear these artists next...
Yusuf on alter-ego Cat Stevens' Rock Hall of Fame induction
How does a man who turned his back on the world of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll in a quest to be closer to God feel about...
Chance the Rapper rises to head of hip-hop pack
What a difference a year makes. At the end of 2012, Chancellor Bennett — aka Chance the Rapper — was regarded as a promising MC,...
Willie Pickens: The lion in winter
Anyone who was there will never forget the moment: Willie Pickens, alone on stage at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, making the...
Rutter was CSO's fixed point in 2013
Any observer of administrative excellence at the top echelon of American symphony orchestras in 2013 had to conclude it was the Year of...
Jazz musician Yusef Lateef dies at 93
Yusef Lateef, an uncommonly adventurous saxophonist-flutist-oboist who more than half a century ago dared to bring sounds from around the...
What kind of classical music year was it? Let us count the ways
The year began badly for Riccardo Muti – and, by extension, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra – when the maestro suffered a bout of...
Singer Kurt Elling at a crossroads
When singer Kurt Elling returns to Chicago next week, he will be dealing with two profound changes in his art and life:
U2 talks of new album in the works, Nelson Mandela
NEW YORK — Bono took a look around the cluttered recording studio, filled with Coke bottles and laptops and vinyl records, and...
Tatsu Aoki's 'Reduction' merges Japanese culture and jazz
For more than three decades, Chicago bassist-composer Tatsu Aoki has been exploring both the musical traditions of his Japanese homeland and...
'Health issues' sideline Boulez from CSO residency
The eminent French composer-conductor Pierre Boulez, conductor emeritus of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, has withdrawn for health...
CSO bids farewell to 2013 with sturdy showing under Eschenbach
The Christmas wreaths and garlands adorning the Armour Stage at Orchestra Hall may put audience members in a festive mood, but the Chicago...
Daft Punk, Kendrick Lamar, Imagine Dragons to perform at Grammys
French dance duo Daft Punk, who have thus far resisted touring in support of its hit 2013 album "Random Access Memories," have booked at...
Lincoln Center musicians lay groundwork for fine holiday tradition
It's unclear just when Johann Sebastian Bach's "Brandenburg" Concertos began to enjoy special favor during the Christmas season, but in...
George Freeman carries forth the legacy of brother Von
The death of Chicago tenor saxophone giant Von Freeman last year, at age 88, was a blow to anyone who valued the fierce individuality,...
Michael McDonald mixes hits and Christmas classics
Such songs as "Takin' It to the Streets," "What a Fool Believes," "It Keeps You Runnin' " and "I Keep Forgettin' " were part...
Holiday tunes for one and all
Holiday-music aficionados should, Saturday night, consider standing somewhere on the North Side, roughly equidistant to Naperville, Rosemont...
Martina McBride loves Christmas ... SO much
Just because Martina McBride loves Christmas (and she does love it. So much) doesn't mean she doesn't take the holiday very, very seriously.
Cokegoat pulls off the neat trick of being a positive metal band
Jeff Wojtysiak laughs a little when he's trying to describe his band and lyrics, he knows it sort of incongruent, calling a darky, doomy...
Chicago classical music recommendations
Bella Voce: Andrew Lewis takes his chamber choir on a Christmas journey through distant lands and centuries with fresh...
Celtic Woman brings songs to life in Irish tradition for the holidays
There's an intensity to the music of the Celts, says Lisa Lambe of Celtic Woman.
Andrew Belle finds there's no place like home
Andrew Belle started his career in the coffeehouses and clubs of Chicago. He's now a rising artist with a second full-length album and songs...
Chamber music society reups at Harris Theater
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center has extended its three-year residency at Chicago’s Harris Theater for Music and Dance...
New Philharmonic ushers in the new year at a modernized MAC
If you're wondering why the New Philharmonic has been silent for most of the year, wonder no more. The orchestra hasn't disbanded – it...
New boss at WDCB ramps up jazz
On Oct. 28, veteran Chicago jazz broadcaster Dan Bindert found his dream job: station manager at the Chicago area's leading jazz outlet,...
Watch: John Mayer, Katy Perry get close in 'Who You Love' video
Slow motion, couples caressing, wind-swept close-ups, sun-burnt-shaded images of wide-open vistas -- consider John Mayer's video for his...
Tylan, a keen poet of shattered hearts, at Space
When the temperature dips into the low teens, it takes a strong artist to draw folks into the chill. On Sunday night at SPACE, a devoted...
Paquito D'Rivera swings in the New Year ahead of time
New Year's Eve arrived early at the Mayne Stage on Sunday evening, a capacity audience counting down the last 10 seconds until 2014, then...
Head and Heart's lush harmonies charm at Chicago Theatre
"Rivers and Roads," the finale of the Head and the Heart's performance at the Chicago Theatre Sunday night, began as quintessential North...
Three leading pianists swing into action: Hersch, Jones and Robinson
Are we living in another golden age of jazz pianism?
Bottle Rockets look back 20 years at Hideout
The Bottle Rockets made most mainstream music seem out of touch with reality Friday at a sold-out Hideout. Rejecting the self-importance,...
A commanding account of Chavez rarity highlights CSO concert
At the end of a week dominated by the news of Deborah Rutter's impending departure as president of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra...
Mikal Cronin keeps songs raw, fuzzy at Logan Square
Song after song, Mikal Cronin briefly was left unaccompanied, strumming jazzy chords on his hollow-bodied 12-string electric guitar as he...
Lyric Opera serves up a delightful, funny 'Fledermaus'
Who would have thought that the strongest overall ensemble effort of the Lyric Opera season so far would be "Die Fledermaus"?
New jazz recordings for Christmas
Christmas recordings often yield unbearable treacle when it comes to jazz and standards, but this year happens to be an exception.
Andrew Bird captures the holiday spirit in concert
What Pixar often accomplishes with visual animation, Andrew Bird did with sound Monday at the Fourth Presbyterian Church. Playing the...
Nick Lowe's Christmas collection a fresh take on the formula
In the A.D. era of Christmas albums — that would be After Dylan — nobody who releases one can seem too dark a horse. Still, Nick...
Davis salutes Russo and Marsalis swings in the holidays
No single concert could possibly sum up the achievements of Chicago composer-conductor William Russo – or even reference all of the...
CSO 'Beyond the Score' program brings Berlioz to life, raging passions and all
With a romantic fever-dream scenario that fairly cries out for pictorial and theatrical realization, Hector Berlioz's "Symphonie...
