For the 40th Chicago Jazz Festival, the theme seems to be “more.” More days, more artists, and more interaction with the local jazz infrastructure. Several local venues and presenters that work regularly with jazz—including the Green Mill, Constellation, the Hungry Brain, the Old Town School of Folk Music, and Elastic—have received financial support from the festival to present free satellite shows beginning Friday, August 24, extending its reach into neighborhoods around Chicago and lengthening its schedule by nearly a week. For years the fest has officially begun on the Thursday before Labor Day, but this year’s downtown action kicks off Wednesday at Pritzker Pavilion with Orbert Davis and his Chicago Jazz Philharmonic celebrating the history of jazz in the city.
Chicago Jazz Festival
Wed 8/29, 6:30-9 PM; Thu 8/30, 11 AM-9 PM; Fri 8/31, 11:30 AM-9 PM; Sat 9/1, 11 AM-9 PM; Sun 9/2, 11:15 AM-9 PM
Wed, Fri-Sun in Millennium Park, Michigan and Randolph; Thu in Millennium Park and the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington, jazzinchicago.org, free, all-ages
On Saturday night, Chicago jazz royalty Ramsey Lewis makes a rare Jazz Festival appearance (for years he’s been playing Ravinia early each summer, precluding a spot here), which will also be his final local performance before he retires from the stage later this year. And Friday’s Pritzker Pavilion bookings begin with a multigenerational, multipart memorial tribute to pianist, composer, and AACM cofounder Muhal Richard Abrams, with performances by pianists Myra Melford and Amina Claudine Myers and an ensemble led by reedist Mwata Bowden.
Update at Thu 8/30, 4:30 PM: Due to a family medical emergency, Nicole Mitchell will not perform at the Jazz Festival. The Black Earth Ensemble’s set will go on, led by cellist Tomeka Reid.
by Peter Margasak
