In the last few years saxophonist James Brandon Lewis has emerged as a versatile force, a musician fluent in the postbop spirit of Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane who can easily adapt his sound to a funked-up setting with heavy hip-hop vibes. I first heard the New Yorker four years ago on his impressive second album, Divine Travels; throughout that wide-ranging collection he oozes confidence while delivering fired-up soul in the esteemed company of bassist William Parker and drummer Gerald Cleaver....

“Mica siamo al club Mediterranee,” says the gravel-voiced, stubble-faced guy with the aviator shades and the uniform of a tin-pot general. “This ain’t Club Med.” The poor general’s problems are compounded by shoddy record keeping. After all, these folks didn’t come through customs, did they? “Can anyone read this?” he moans when we first meet him. “Can anyone make this out? . . . Just scribbles everywhere.” And then there’s the wear and tear wrought by algae, saltwater, “beasts of the sea,” and the incompetence of military officials who, sent to save people from sinking boats, end up running 77 of them through the rescue ship’s propellers instead....

You’re hopefully not going to die of the flu this year. But the truth is that you could. Once the virus that causes the flu enters the body, it begins to multiply and cause damage to the respiratory system (nose, throat, and lungs). Children, pregnant women, adults over 65, and patients with compromised or weakened immune systems are all at risk of developing secondary complications from the flu, as damage done to the body by the flu virus can lead to increased risk of additional illness, and in severe cases death....

This is the year that the Jeff Awards, given every year for excellence in Chicago theater, kissed their venerable best actor and best actress categories goodbye and created a controversy. Shortly after that, the committee commissioned a no-holds-barred study of the Jeffs and their reputation, and in February announced that it was making changes: ramping up public communication and outreach; cutting in half the enormous time commitment for new committee members (who had been required to see 150 shows in the first year); and actively recruiting “younger and minority candidates” for the committee (which is capped at 55 members and has a waiting list)....

There’s something to it, I swear Back in March when Toronto-based Greys played Township I made mention of the band’s June 17 debut album dropping on Carpark Records. Well, look at that, June 17 has come and gone and their album If Anything is currently available for consumption. As is the way these days, there were already enough singles and streams to fill you up, because today’s 12 O’Clock Track, “Use Your Delusion” (you get it), was released into the wild in May, with a crush of other teasers following....

Former Shame That Tune cohost, Nerds on Tour podcaster, and Baby Teeth front man Abraham Levitan just wrote Gossip Wolf to say he’s getting back onstage—it’s been five years since he played a full show. He admits he might be having a midlife crisis, and says he’s been writing “insanely specific” songs about fatherhood that could “yank the term ‘dad rock’ into a strange and awkward new dimension.” He’s also hoping to re-form Baby Teeth!...

In the mid-70s, guitarist and vocalist Kim Salmon dreamed of playing punk music in his hometown of Perth, the isolated capital city of western Australia. Though he initially had nothing to work from except a six-week-old issue of NME and a Ramones record, by the summer of 1978 he’d spent time in one of Perth’s few early punk bands, the Cheap Nasties, before joining up with local group the Exterminators, which morphed into a new group he christened the Scientists....

Ever since I saw the wonderful 1996 documentary When We Were Kings, about the legendary 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in the Congo (formerly Zaire), I’ve been curious about the prefight concert, which took place over three nights in Kinshasa. The fight itself ended up delayed by five weeks after Foreman sustained a cut near his eye while sparring, but the music went on as planned on the original dates, September 22 through 24, drawing a crowd of 50,000....

courtesy of Surefire Agency Brian Shimkovitz World Music Festival: Chicago wraps up this weekend, with loads of terrific shows happening all over the city. Oddly, one of the most exciting international music events occurring this weekend isn’t a part of the festival: on Friday night Evanston native Brian Shimkovitz, best known as the man behind the blog and label called Awesome Tapes From Africa, will DJ at Smart Bar from his voluminous collection of African music cassettes....

Yesterday I ran an interview with Daniel Notkin, oyster marketer and conservationist from Montreal, whom I met at Shaw’s Oysterfest last week. Today, from the other end of North America’s oyster habitats, I speak with Tommy Cvitanovich, who runs Drago’s Seafood, a New Orleans restaurant with three locations (the original is in Metairie; there’s also one in the Central Business District and one in Jackson, Mississippi). Drago’s, named for Cvitanovich’s father who started it in 1969, is most famous for a dish Tommy himself invented in 1993: the charbroiled oyster....

Just Death Tomorrow (Tue 11/4) Shaved Women, an intense noise-rock/hardcore hybrid from Saint Louis, comes to town, playing at Logan Square DIY space Club Rectum. The band, who’ve been tearing it up for years, released their latest LP Just Death at the end of this summer, and today’s 12 O’Clock Track, “I Don’t Belong Here,” is one of the album’s heaviest, gnarliest songs. The band combines hardcore punk’s speed, aggression, and tough-guy breakdowns with the feedback-laden swing of bands like Scratch Acid and Rapeman....

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images Bode Miller Thanks to Google, Facebook, and the NSA, personal privacy has become almost too complicated to think about. On the one hand, we prize privacy more than ever; on the other, we throw it away. “I mean, it’s unbelievable,” Weibrecht began, as surprised as everyone else. “I always feel like I’m capable of winning medals,” Miller said. “But as you can see in these Olympics, it’s not that easy....

It’s the time of year when theater critics gird themselves for their nth annual Nutcracker/Christmas Carol/Wonderful Life cycle. That’s not a complaint. Necessarily. I once described the yuletide season as a “psychic pogrom,” but I’ve mellowed since then. For one thing, I get to enjoy holiday shows like Strawdog’s The Long Christmas Ride Home that aren’t out to deck anybody’s halls—or wreck them, either—but to tell an interesting story really well....

It’s July, which can mean only one thing: summer is in full swing. With concerts, street fests, and art events galore, there’s no shortage of activities to keep you distracted from the overwhelming heat. Here are ten can’t-miss events, and be sure to check out our Summer Guide for a complete rundown of midwest road trips, beer gardens and alfresco restaurants, and everything else that’s happening. Wed 7/8-Sun 7/12: Wed-Fri 11 AM-9 PM, Sat-Sun 10 AM-9 PM, Grant Park, Columbus and Jackson, cityofchicago....

On the third day of rehearsal for the Goodman Theatre’s new production of Ayad Akhtar’s Disgraced, the director Kimberly Senior took her cast and stage managing crew on a field trip to the Art Institute. “The landscapes are very fertile,” says Bernard White, who plays Amir, as he examines a drawing by Constable. It’s a line from the play, and everyone snickers. “In the museum, there’s this idea of continuity,” says Senior....

There’s absolutely no way I’ll be able to describe the Chicago Women’s March today in any authoritative fashion. The closest I could get to the stage was still a quarter of a mile away, so I didn’t see or hear any of the speeches or speak to the organizers. I couldn’t get Internet access on my phone, so I didn’t learn the march part had been canceled until I’d marched with the crowd for several blocks up the middle of Michigan Avenue and a stranger with better service told me....

Chicago dance-music collective Tied (aka Mantas Steles, Max Jacobson, and Ari Frank) have kept busy as DJs, producers, podcasters, and party starters for three years now. This year they were named “Best nomadic collective for weird, druggy, hard-hitting underground techno” in the Reader‘s Best of Chicago issue—no small feat, considering how lonely nomadic lifestyles can be. Just ask your nearest wolf! Tied throw an anniversary party Saturday, November 28—they haven’t announced the location—where they’ll spin and host a five-hour set from Berlin-based house and techno wizard Shaun Reeves....

State representative Ken Dunkin says Mayor Rahm Emanuel and police chief Garry McCarthy have shown “abysmal ineptitude” in dealing with violence. State rep Ken Dunkin says he’s had enough and so have his constituents. “After three years now, this mayor and this so-called chief of police can’t figure out what the hell to do,” he says. “The least the mayor could do is terminate Garry McCarthy immediately and get a superintendent who knows this city and is moving toward some strategies that will save it....

Leave Home Every few years I wind up completely immersing myself in the Ramones’ discography. I’ve been doing it all this week, triggered by the news on Friday that founding drummer Tommy Ramone has passed away. That means all four original Ramones are now dead, which is a total bummer. Every time this happens to me, I’m reminded of how completely perfect the band is, creating incredibly melodic pop tunes at hyperspeed with the most minimal approach....

For me, Saint Patrick’s Day has never been an occasion to wear awful green clothing and go bar hopping until I vomit. My vision of Saint Patrick’s Day is informed by the mystical Celtic folk-blues of one of my favorite singers and artists, Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. For today’s 12 O’Clock Track, rather than go with something off of one of Morrison’s more popular works (such as Astral Weeks or Moondance or even a cult classic like Veedon Fleece, my personal favorite album), I’m going to go with a deep cut from Morrison’s 80s work....