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Concert Thu Aug 28 2008
Remiss? Us? Never.
Your plans are probably made for tonight; either watching the speech or avoiding it, but we at Transmission would be remiss if we did not mention the Chicago Jazz Festival. Four days of the celebration of a true American art form in a city that's done so much as a showcase and as stomping grounds for its luminaries and its everyday practitioners.
The Chicago Jazz Festival is being bookended by two legends of jazz; Sonny Rollins tonight, and Ornette Coleman on Sunday night. Both men are nearing 80 and are still creating and playing gigs worldwide.
Other publications have done excellent recaps of both men's careers; Rollins as possibly the greatest saxophonist alive, Coleman as one of the fathers of free jazz. But we'd like to stress that, while the titans bookend the event, the musicians in the middle aren't slouches. Very few will play "straight ahead" jazz, as that has seemed to fall out of favor in favor of standards and histrionics, but there's something for everyone. Schedule is over here. Here's to hoping that a (mostly) dry weekend will get you out into the sun and into some good music.
Elizabeth Austin / August 28, 2008 5:50 PM
Thanks for the timely reminder of Chicago's great heritage of jazz. Sounds like a great way to spend the last beautiful weekend of summer.