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Home , 24kGoldn, Arie Crown Theater, Ari Brown, Armor for Sleep, Bandstand, Billy Branch

Cracking the lid on a bottomless By R   

he Department of Cultural A airs and Special requiring proof of vaccination or a recent negative communities. Events (DCASE) originally planned to cele- COVID test for entry. If you’re going to a , Music brings people together unlike any other art brate the Year of Music in 2020. Then check with the venue fi rst to learn its current policy. form, but COVID-19 continues to make it complicated the pandemic diminished those festivities to Celebrating the Year of Chicago Music in 2021 is to gather. Breakthrough infections in vaccinated peo- the point that the city declared 2021 the Year certainly safer than it would’ve been in 2020, and ple are a minuscule fraction of new cases, but seeing Tof Chicago Music too. DCASE has declared a citywide monthlong festival live music necessarily carries at least a small risk. The ongoing surge of the Delta variant means the called Chicago in Tune that runs from Thursday, Au- It’s up to you to decide what you can tolerate: Packed U.S. won’t be rid of the pandemic this year. The New gust 19, till Sunday, September 19. None of the city’s into a club, or standing on your own in a ? In any York Times COVID-19 tracker says at least 620,000 usual downtown festivals is happening this year, but case, please bear in mind the danger you could pose to Americans have died of the virus, and that number DCASE will honor Chicago’s rich musical heritage everyone else, especially kids and others who can’t be will keep growing as the unvaccinated remain on the with plenty of programming at Pritzker Pavilion and vaccinated—get your shots, wear a mask, and encour- fence about a “personal choice” that a ects everyone. in other . Chicago in Tune also includes for- age people in your life to follow suit. In Cook County, 60 percent of residents ages 12 and profi t festivals such as , the Lyrical Lemon- The Reader’s guide to Chicago in Tune includes up are fully vaccinated, which mitigates but doesn’t ade Summer Smash, the Music Festival, and interviews with people in di erent parts of the local eliminate the danger to public health. . , essays on genres with deep roots in the city, Chicago officially reopened June 11, and with it In fact, Chicago in Tune includes every concert in and a dozen curated lists of . For information live music began a gingerly return. The city’s music every venue in the city for a month. It’s more a name on shows not included here, visit Do312’s Chicago in venues—where artists, fans, and live production than an event, and it’s an exhaustively inclusive Tune concert calendar. And however you decide to professionals convene for a few magical, impossible- name—which means this Reader guide couldn’t pos- celebrate, make safe choices so that everybody who to-replicate hours—have largely begun hosting shows sibly be complete. Instead it provides an entryway to can bask in the glory of live music will still have the again. In response to the Delta variant, most are the thrilling depth and diversity of the city’s music chance to do it tomorrow. v

ll AUGUST   - CHICAOREADER/CHICAGOINTUNE 1 PICTURED: Just a few of the 50 sites selected for the project.

MUSIC LIVES HERE a multi-media project by

Chicago graphic art studio Tania’s Sonnenzimmer and Maya The Earl of Old Town Bird-Murphy of Chicago Mobile Makers, will pay tribute to the spaces, places, Lyon & Healy Harp and people that have

shaped Chicago’s music landscape, past and present. Graphic markers, website, WVON performances and more ’ House launch August 29. #YEAROFCHICAGOMUSIC Blvd Art Center

Willie Dixon’s Yambo Records Curtom Rccords

Loop Roller www.MusicLivesHere.site Mendell Hall

2 CHICA OREADER/CHICAGOINTUNE - AUGUST   ll AMBER HUFF and concerts into the online space, helping folks learn salsa, swing, and line dancing local for-profi t and nonprofi t venues to apply wherever they were. at for $10,000 slices of a $1.2 million pie. “We Home replaced Pritzker Pavilion’s eclectic in- were able to make awards to over 100 organi- person shows with online sets from the likes zations,” Kelly says. “ it enough? No, but it of alt-country veteran Jon Langford and South helped keep everyone afl oat.” Asian soul-fusion artist Zeshan B. That initiative went public two months “In all this, we were just trying to hire local, after DCASE announced the recipients of get some money to musicians, put musicians its 2020 CityArts Program grants, which in front of an audience,” Kelly says. “I think distributed $2 million among 191 nonprofit our viewership was over a half a million, which arts organizations. The National Endowment is not a small number when there was a hell for the Arts chipped in too, providing DCASE of a lot of competition for eyeballs.” In the with $250,000 as part of the CARES Act. The fall, DCASE also partnered with the Chicago CityArts grants were split into two categories: Independent Venue League on CIVLization, general operating grants ranging from $2,000 a virtual concert series that benefited local to $30,000 (35 of which went to music orga- concert halls, their staˆ , and the artists who nizations), and special project grants aligned played in them. with the Year of Chicago Music, which ranged Supporting local musicians during the from $2,500 to $56,200. (Full disclosure: pandemic also meant helping them plan for the Reader received a special project grant.) what might come after the crisis. In April Among the recipients are 2021, DCASE opened applications for Chicago school Access Contemporary Music, urban- Presents through the Arts77: Arts Recovery arts -development program Kuumba Plan. Two rounds of recipients have been Lynx, and the Chicago Philharmonic. announced, and the department has so far DCASE also helped artists one at a time, and supported 52 cultural events taking place be- last year’s Individual Artists Program grants tween early July and of October with came through right when they needed to; the grants of anywhere from $5,000 to $30,000. How DCASE helped Chicago music city announced the grantees at the beginning “We realized that in order to do this safely, of April, just weeks into the pandemic. DCASE these might have to be micro-outdoor live bestowed grants on more than 160 artists to in-person events,” says DCASE performing survive the pandemic shutdown help them complete a specifi c piece of work. arts program director Mariam Thiam. “That “In a typical year, about 20 musicians would involves permitting, either with the city or The Department of Cultural Aff airs and Special Events couldn’t present many receive awards,” Kelly says. “But in the Year of the parks, depending on the location, and events, but it found lots of other ways to support artists and venues. Chicago Music, we got a lot more music appli- so we have to structure it so that people un- cations.” Nearly 60 musicians received grants derstood they have to have a COVID plan in By R    ranging from $850 to $5,000, including trans place—all these things that are really new for pop singer- Ellie “SuperKnova” presenters.” Kim, euphoric rapper Clinton “ShowYouSuck” DCASE and its volunteers on the Year of Sandifer, jazz saxophonist Dustin Laurenzi, Chicago Music steering committees have and multidisciplinary composer and perform- been scrambling to confront the pandemic for hen COVID-19 swept the country, COVID-19 of course threatened not just ven- er Ayanna Woods. almost a year and a half now, and all their tin- music venues were among the fi rst to ues but also the fan and artist ecosystems they “We also for the fi rst time had our Esteemed kering and retooling began to bear when Wshutter, throwing tens of thousands of foster and the people who form those com- Artist Awards,” Kelly says. “These are $10,000 local clubs started inviting local musicians live entertainment professionals out of work munities. Chicago’s Department of Cultural awards, and seven musicians in 2020 received back onto their stages a few months ago. If and sidelining artists who depend on touring Aˆ airs and Special Events (DCASE) did its part that award.” Only 13 people received this you’ve been going to shows at all, you’ve prob- income. The National Independent Venue As- to help the local arts community through this highly prized DCASE grant, and the seven mu- ably seen one organized by a DCASE grant re- sociation formed in April 2020 and currently era-defining turbulence—which fell during sicians among them were more than worthy: cipient or featuring a musician who’s recorded represents more than 3,000 performance what was intended to be the Year of Chicago jazz vocalist Dee Alexander, Radio Free Hon- with the department’s help. And if by chance halls, promoters, and festivals; it’s done Music. “The fi rst thing we wanted to do—and duras founder and guitarist Charlie Baran (aka you haven’t, you’ll have plenty of chances to much of the heavy lifting during the push for it surely wasn’t just for musicians, but with Carlos Barahona), veteran Katherine change that during the month of Chicago in government fi nancial support of these crucial a special emphasis in the Year of Chicago Davis, Dolly Varden bandleader Steve Dawson, Tune. community hubs. NIVA’s call to arms laid out Music—is to do everything we could to help contemporary classical pianist Mabel Kwan, “I think Chicago in Tune will be the great the stakes bluntly: independent venues were support arts relief for the Chicago arts land- jazz-scene linchpin , and blues sing- cultural coming-out party for the city,” Kelly the first to be closed and would be the last scape,” says outgoing DCASE commissioner er and drummer Larry Taylor. says. “It’s going to be everywhere, and music is businesses to reopen at the end of the pan- Mark Kelly. DCASE also helped organize and fund vir- going to be in every neighborhood—I think we demic. A June 2020 NIVA survey of roughly That included launching the Performing tual performances that gave local musicians excite Chicago and excite the world, and set a 2,000 music-industry professionals revealed Arts Venue Relief Grants Program with much-needed paydays, sometimes replacing new expectation for how we support music in that 90 percent of independent venue owners support from the only slightly less new Arts its beloved summertime series with Web-only Chicago.” v and promoters expected they’d be forced to for Relief Fund as well as the Walder events. SummerDance in Place, for example, close up shop permanently without aid. Foundation. In October 2020, DCASE invited moved SummerDance’s usual dance lessons  @Chicago_Reader ll AUGUST   - CHICAOREADER/CHICAGOINTUNE 3 CHICAGO SHOWS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IN THE WEEKS TO COME

SHOW CALENDAR b ALLAGESF

Chicago in Tune includes Quartet 8 PM, Green DJ Bvax 9 PM, Punch House, 21+ and more 9 PM, Concord Music Electec 6 PM, Pritzker Pavilion, every concert in and around Mill, 21+ SUN 8/22 F Hall, 21+ Millennium Park b F Chicago from August 19 Foons, Million Reasons, Deicide, Kataklysm, Internal Charlie Reed, Living Thing 9 PM, Impulsive Hearts, Present Eric Chial and friends 7 PM, Mon- till September 19. This Blondesnamedbritney 7:30 PM, Bleeding, Begat the Nephilim Sleeping Village, 21+ Company, Cloud Horses, Pete trose Saloon, 21+ F calendar presents a relatively , 17+ 6 PM, Reggies Rock Club, 17+ Griffi n Essin, DJ Skoli, and more Cautious 8 PM, Reggies Music Extraordinary Popular Delusions manageable selection of Orchestra and Chorus Final Frontier Land featuring 8 PM, the Point, 21+ Joint, 21+ 8 PM, Beat Kitchen, 21+ F those concerts, including 6:30 PM, Pritzker Pavilion, Millen- Prairie School DJs 5 and 8 PM, Freedom Hawk, High Reeper, Motoblot day two featuring , 6:30 PM, most of those mentioned nium Park F b Sleeping Village, 21+ Road, Uncouth 7 PM, Reg- Nekromantix, Slutter, Screamin’ b elsewhere in the Reader’s Inner Wave, La Doña 10:30 PM, Frequency Series presents Patti gies Music Joint, 21+ Rebel Angels, Aweful, and more Joel Paterson and friends 8 PM, guide to the festival. A more Cobra Lounge, 17+ Cudd 8:30 PM, Constellation, 18+ Jarochicanos, Joel Castellanos noon, Cobra Lounge b Green Mill, 21+ complete list is available via Renegade Circus Cheetah Evolu- Interplay featuring Sam Trump, 7 PM, FitzGerald’s, Berwyn F b R&B Only Live featuring DJ Tiara Swäm, Bonita Appleblunt 8:30 PM, Do312, whose calendar is tion featuring Mac Diesel, Juju, Dee Alexander, Maggie Brown, Matute 8:20 PM, Copernicus Monique 8:15 PM, House of Empty Bottle, 21+ F linked to the QR code below. Freakos Wavy 8:30 PM, the Point and more 3 PM, Center b Blues, 21+ Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn F b Ohmme, Ganser 8:30 PM, Thalia , , Men- TUE 8/31 Band, Secret Lives, Jeff Massey Queen! featuring , Hall, 17+ zingers 7 PM, Huntington Bank Bartenderz 8:30 PM, Empty 7:30 PM, Reggies Rock Club Michael Serafi ni, and Garrett Yatra, Into the Silo 8:30 PM, Pavilion b Bottle, 21+ Ruido Fest day one featuring David 10 PM, Smart Bar, 21+ Empty Bottle, 21+ Matthew Shipp 8:30 PM, Garden of Souls 8 PM, Fulton , Silverio, Los Amigos Ruido Fest day three featuring Constellation, 18+ Street Collective b Invisibles, and more 3 PM, Union Café Tacvba, Little Jesus, Ambar FRI 8/27 V Is for Villains, Bellhead, Code Honey Cellar 7 PM, Montrose Park b Lucid, and more 1 PM, Union Bongzilla 7:30 PM, Beat Kitchen b Name: Phoenix 7:30 PM, Bottom Saloon, 21+ F & Chicago Wind Park b Bully 10 PM, Empty Bottle, 21+ Lounge, 17+ Adam Ness, Ami, Mamii 7 PM, the 7:30 PM, Epiphany Center for El Shirota, Las Nubes 10:30 PM, Flee Lord, Lord Mobb, and more , Sleater-Kinney 6 PM, Pritz- Promontory, 21+ the Arts Cobra Lounge, 17+ 6:30 PM, the Promontory, 18+ ker Pavilion, Millennium Park b Orisun 9 PM, Hideout, 21+ Summer Smash day one featuring Source One Band 7 PM, Odyssey Chris Foreman 5 PM, Green Mill, Spiral Galaxy, Sip 6 PM, Hideout, ASAP Rocky, , , East, 21+ F 21+ F SUN 8/29 21+ , and more 3 PM, Dou- $not, Cochise, Hatesonny Guardrail, Wolf Rd, Weekend Run Bronzeville Blues: Checkerboard THU 8/19 glass Park b 10:30 PM, Subterranean, 17+ Club, and more 7 PM, Bottom Lounge featuring the Mojo Jam WED 9/1 Afro Fusion DJs 9 PM, Le Louie Vega 10 PM, Smart Bar, 21+ Summer Smash day three featur- Lounge, 17+ Session with Kenny “Beedy Modern English, Ganser 8 PM, Scan forNocturne the Chicago, complete 21+ ing , 24KGoldn, Benny Sterling Hayes, Reeseynem, HXLT, Eyes” Smith, & the SPACE, Evanston b Jon Anderson with the Paul SAT 8/21 the Butcher, and more 1 PM, theMIND, MFnMelo, Qari, and Real Deal Blues Band, Melody Kent Rose & the Remedies 7 PM, Green Rock Academy 7:30 PM, Alex Midi (DJ set), Kombi DJs, b more 7 PM, Chop Shop, 18+ Angel, Big James & the Chicago Montrose Saloon, 21+ F calendarReggies of Rock Chicago Club, 17+ In and more 9 PM, Simone’s, 21+ Molly Tuttle 3 and 7 PM, Maurer Rich Jones & Justice Hill, Lester Playboys, Nick Alexander noon, Chicha Roots 7 PM, FitzGerald’s, Black Is the New Black featuring Hall, Old Town School of Folk Rey, Radio Free Honduras outside near 423 E. 43rd F b THU 9/2 Berwyn F b Jefe 312, Heartbreak Homie, Music b featuring Charlie Baran 6 PM, Bronzeville Blues: The Forum fea- 8 and 10 PM, Jazz Tune eventsCloud Nothings, on Manas Do312! 9:30 PM, Kiraly Payne, and more 7 PM, Kosciuszko Park b F turing Joe Filisko & Eric Noden, Showcase b Empty Bottle, 21+ Bourbon on Division, 21+ MON 8/23 Kali Masi, Hi Ho, Telethon 9 PM, Greasy Gravy, Harmonica Hinds Bnny, Squirrel Flower, Divino Niño Hypnotic Brass Ensemble 8 PM, Cook Thugless, LAN Party, Extraordinary Popular Delusions GMan Tavern, 21+ noon, outside near the Forum 9:30 PM, Empty Bottle, 21+ the Promontory b Stranded Civilians 8 PM, Beat 8 PM, Beat Kitchen, 21+ F Alexander McLean Project 8 PM, F b Knocked Loose, Incendiary, and Jarochicanos 6 PM, Hermosa Park Kitchen, 17+ Joel Paterson and friends 8 PM, Green Mill, 21+ Bronzeville Blues: Park 43 fea- more 6:30 PM, Metro b F b , Juan MacLean Green Mill, 21+ Motoblot day one featuring Black turing , Mississippi Out of Space featuring , Little Bird, Dried Spider 8 PM, 10 PM, Smart Bar, 21+ Preservation of Fire featuring Sabbitch, Vaudettes, Boybrain, Gabe Carter, Gerry Hundt’s Twista 7 PM, Temperance Beer Schubas, 18+ Dwele 7 and 10 PM, City Winery Natural Information Society, Amazing Heeby Jeebies, and Legendary One-Man Band noon, Co., Evanston, 18+ do312.com/chicagointuneVino Louden, Joanna Connor  b  Drum Divas 6 PM, Pritzker Pavil- more 4 PM, Cobra Lounge b outside near Park 43 F b Zulema, Sones de México Ensem- 8 PM, Kingston Mines, 21+ Kurt Elling Quartet 8 PM, Green ion, Millennium Park F b Niika, Reno Cruz 9 PM, Hideout, Bully, Tweens 9:30 PM, Empty ble 6 PM, Pritzker Pavilion, Motherfolk, Hacky Turtles 7:15 Mill, 21+ 21+ Bottle, 21+ Millennium Park F b PM, Cobra Lounge b Erabella, Sora Kai, Speaking With TUE 8/24 OvejaNegra, MuTaTe, Mr. Funko, Colin Hay 7:30 PM, , 18+ Sonny Falls, Cold Beaches 8 PM, Ghosts, and more 6 PM, Bottom Future Crib 8:30 PM, Empty DJ Gildelgar Sanchez 10 PM, Immortal Guardian, Paladin, FRI 9/3 Golden Dagger, 21+ Lounge b Bottle, 21+ Wings Fire House Pilsen, 21+ F Knight of the Round, Acracy American Aquarium, Adeem the Trio Nexus 7:30 PM, Epiphany Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus Kara Jackson 9 PM, Hideout, 21+ 12th Planet, Phaseone, Guppi, 7 PM, WC Social Club, West Artist 9 PM, Lincoln Hall, 18+ Center for the Arts, 21+ 6:30 PM, Pritzker Pavilion, Millen- Thelma & the Sleaze, Beastii 7 PM, OG Nixin 9 PM, Concord Music Chicago b Gary Bartz 8 and 10 PM, Jazz Zoé 8 PM, , 17+ nium Park F b Liar’s Club, 21+ Hall, 18+ , Zappa Band Showcase b Nocturna featuring DJ Scary Vicious Attack, From Those Ashes 7:30 PM, Ravinia Pavilion, High- Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys FRI 8/20 Lady Sarah 10 PM, Metro, 18+ WED 8/25 8 PM, Bourbon on Division, 21+ land Park b 9 PM, FitzGerald’s, Berwyn, 21+ Between the Buried & Me Power Praise 2021 featuring Boundary Waters, Splits, OK Cool Yung Bleu, Ann Marie, Seddy Hen- Motoblot day three featuring Black Dahlia Murder, A er the 8:30 PM, House of Blues, 17+ Bishop Hezekiah Walker & Love 8 PM, Beat Kitchen, 21+ drinx, Noby 8 PM, Park West b Delta Bombers, Black Sabbitch, Burial 7 PM, Concord Music Bloom, Troigo 9 PM, Hideout, 21+ Fellowship Tabernacle, Donald A Deeply Rooted Evening for Crombies, and more noon, Cobra Hall, 17+ Blue Dream, Daisychain, Little Lawrence & Company, Mark Chicago’s Healing: A preview SAT 8/28 Lounge b Blockhead, Shrimpnose 9 PM, Church 8 PM, Reggies Music Hubbard, and more 7 PM, Cross of Goshen featuring Le’Andria AfriClassical presents Ayanna PorchFest Roscoe Village 1 PM, Schubas, 18+ Joint, 21+ Pointe Park, Hazel Crest b Johnson, members of the Tri- Woods and friends performing various outdoor locations Chicago in Tune: Gospel Music Chicago Gospel Fire Concert Ruido Fest day two featuring City Singers, and Zeke Locke & music from FORCE! An , throughout Roscoe Village F b featuring Lashon Brown Jr.; the featuring Gods Posse, Adrian Panteón Rococó, Mœnia, Ivy the NuXperience Julian Otis & Olivia Harris 8 PM, Joe Pratt & Source One Band Carson Sisters, Nicole Harris, B. King & Reverence, New Queen, and more 1 PM, Union 7:30 PM, Pritzker Pavilion, Millen- Elastic Arts b 6 PM, ’s Blues and Illiana Torres; the Tommies Direction, and more 7 PM, Christ Park b nium Park F b Elton Aura, Chris Banks 9 PM, Foundation F b Reunion Choir 5:30 PM, Pritzker Unity Evangelistic Church F b Silverio, Barragoon 10 PM, Reg- 81355, Juice Mazelee 6 PM, Tack Hideout, 21+ Research & Development featur- Pavilion, Millennium Park, 201 E. , Manas 10 PM, gies Rock Club, 17+ Room F b Bully 9:30 PM, Empty Bottle, 21+ ing Sassmouth, Miss Twink USA, Randolph F b Empty Bottle, 21+ Summer Smash day two featuring Ida y Vuelta 9:30 PM, Sleeping Jhay Cortez, Mora 9 PM, Radius Grey People, and more 6 PM, Greta Van Fleet 6:30 PM, Hunting- Brent Cobb, Nikki Lane 7:30 PM, , Baby Keem, , Village, 21+ Chicago, 18+ Sleeping Village, 21+ F ton Bank Pavilion b , 17+ and more 1 PM, Douglass Park b Zoé 8 PM, House of Blues, 17+ Emily Blue, SuperKnova, Carlile, Knocked Loose, Gatecreeper Julian Daniell, Soul Honey Victory Travelers, Pastor Thair 8 PM, Lincoln Hall, 18+ MON 8/30 6:30 PM, Metro b Records 8 PM, Schubas, 18+ Roosevelt Dixon Sr., Trina Rob- THU 8/26 Freestyle Forever presents Afrodjia Social Club featuring North Coast Music Festival day Electric Feels DJs 9:30 PM, inson 5 PM, New Friendship Mis- Barry & the Fountains, Khaliyah X, Edition III featuring DJ Sadie Woods and friends, one featuring , Louis the Concord Music Hall, 18+ sionary Baptist Church, Gary b Ausar 8 PM, the Promontory, 21+ Stevie B, DJ , Samantha, Proximity with Micah Collier & Child, San Holo, and more 2 PM,

4 CHICA OREADER/CHICAGOINTUNE - AUGUST   ll SHOW CALENDAR

SeatGeek Stadium, Bridgeview, Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation Corey Wilkes 8 and 10 PM, Jazz 7 PM, Bottom Lounge b , Matchess Imperials with , and 17+ F b Showcase b Special Interest, HIDE, Ariel 9:30 PM, Empty Bottle, 21+ more 5:30 PM, Pritzker Pavilion, Out of Space featuring Drive-By Sylmar, Avantist, Faux Furrs 8 PM, Zetina, Miss Twink USA 10 PM, Waltzer, Solar Poon 8 PM, Golden Millennium Park F b Truckers, JD McPherson 7 PM, Subterranean, 17+ FRI 9/10 Smart Bar, 21+ Dagger, 21+ Dinosaur Jr., Ryley Walker 11 PM, Temperance Beer Co., Evanston, Armor for Sleep, Never Loved, Starless, Anatomy of Habit, Bottom Lounge, 17+ 18+ MON 9/6 Silence of You, Cold Seas 7 PM, Lavisher, Sanford Parker 8 PM, THU 9/16 Ear Taxi Festival presents Kosmo- Plack Blague, Ozzuario, Him Hun Contemporary Indigenous Voices Metro b Reggies Music Joint, 21+ Ear Taxi Festival presents Rhythm logia Project 7:30 PM, PianoForte (DJ set) 10 PM, Empty Bottle, 21+ featuring Leonard Sumner, Lyla Bámbula: Afro-Diáspora en Chi- Tenci, Katy Kirby 10:30 PM, Hide- Is Image 8:30 PM, Constellation, Studios b Telekinetic Yeti, Blake 8 PM, Bour- June, Tall Paul 6 PM, Pritzker cago with Mancha ’E Plátano, out, 21+ 18+ Ferris & Sylvester 7:30 PM, Mar- bon on Division, 21+ Pavilion, Millennium Park F b Las Bompleneras Unplugged Corey Wilkes 8 and 10 PM, Jazz Eighth Blackbird with Karim tyrs, 21+ Tierra Roja, Los Sudakas 10 PM, Eli Winter, Jordan Reyes, Rebecca 3:30 PM, Kelvyn (William) Park Showcase b Sulayaman, J. Ivy, and Tarrey , Hinds 8 PM, Chi- Wings Fire House Pilsen, 21+ F Valeriano-Flores 8:30 PM, Empty F b Torae 6 PM, Pritzker Pavilion, cago Theatre b Bottle F Las Cruxes, Kelroy, Rai 10 PM, SUN 9/12 Millennium Park F b Instigation Festival presents SAT 9/4 Wings Fire House Pilsen, 21+ F Austin: West Side Blues featuring Guns N’ Roses, Mammoth WVH Kim Alpert, Jim Baker, Charles ARC Music Festival day one TUE 9/7 French 79 9:30 PM, Sleeping , , Mzz 6 PM, Wrigley Field b Rumback, James Singleton, Greg featuring Luttrell, DJ Pierre, and Microcosms, Serjeooh 8 PM, Gold- Village, 21+ Reese, , Mary Lane, Instigation Festival presents An Ward, and Ed Wilkerson 8:30 PM, more 2 PM, , 18+ en Dagger, 21+ 10 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Larry Taylor noon, Chicago Ave- Evening of Duos & Trios featur- Constellation, 18+ Gary Bartz 8 and 10 PM, Jazz Natewantstobattle, CG5, Vespera Il Divo 8 PM, nue and Mayfi eld b F ing Doug Garrison, Jeff Albert, , , Showcase b 7 PM, Lincoln Hall b b Bámbula: Afro-Diáspora en Chica- Paul Thibodeaux, Mikel Patrick Lolo 9 PM, Radius Chicago, 17+ Chicago in Tune: Jazz featuring Meshell Ndegeocello 7 and Lydia Lunch Retrovirus, No Men go with Mancha ’E Plátano, Las Avery, and more 8:30 PM, Elastic , Mr. Elevator 8:30 PM, , Marquis Hill, Lizz 9:30 PM, SPACE, Evanston b 8 PM, Beat Kitchen, 17+ Bompleneras Unplugged Arts b Thalia Hall, 17+ Wright 5:30 PM, Pritzker Pavilion, 8 PM, day one 3:30 PM, Senka Park F b , Luna Li Riot Fest day two featuring Run Millennium Park b F b featuring , Big Loose Ends 5 and 8 PM, City 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ the Jewels, , Drop- Drumcode featuring Adam Beyer, Thief, , and Winery b Psychedelic Furs, Josh Caterer kick Murphys, and more Layton Giordani 10 PM, Concord WED 9/8 more noon, Union Park b Vino Louden 6 PM, Willie Dixon’s 8 PM, the Vic, 18+ 11 AM, Douglass Park b Music Hall, 18+ Bomba con Buya, Mancha ‘E Pláta- Rod Tuff curls & the Bench Press Blues Heaven Foundation F b Torres, Ariana & the Rose Riot Ten, Must Die!, YDG 8 PM, In the Company of Serpents, Hive, no 8:30 PM, Maurer Hall, Old 9 PM, , 18+ Pitchfork Music Festival day three 9:30 PM, Empty Bottle, 21+ House of Blues, 17+ Roman Ring 9:30 PM, Empty Town School of F b RP Boo, DJ Taye, Jana Rush, DJ featuring , Flying , Starbenders 10 PM, Bottle, 21+ Chicago SummerDance in the Manny 10 PM, Smart Bar, 21+ Lotus, , and more FRIDAY 17 Reggies Rock Club, 17+ Jodi, Tenci 9 PM, Sleeping Village, Parks presents Quinto Imperio Sincere Engineer, Canadian Rifl e, noon, Union Park b Blue October 8 PM, House of Thursday 11 PM, Cobra Lounge, 17+ 21+ and more 5:30 PM, Davis Square Annabel, Foresight 8 PM, Cobra Ricky Skaggs & Thunder Blues, 17+ Too Many Zooz & Big Freedia MC Magic, Lil Rob, Jay Roxxx Park F b Lounge, 17+ 7 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town Conway the Machine, Stove God 11 PM, the Vic, 18+ 7 PM, the Vic b Kathleen Edwards, Mick Flannery Spencer Brown 11 PM, Concord School of Folk Music b Cooks 7 PM, Avondale Music Tropical Night featuring DJ Bruce, North Coast Music Festival day 8 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Music Hall, 18+ Skillet 6 PM, House of Blues b Hall, 18+ DJ Marz 9 PM, Simone’s, 21+ two featuring GRiZ, Ganja White Sam Fischer 7:30 PM, Lincoln 311, Iration, Iya Terra 6:30 PM, Joe Troop, Jake Blount 5 PM, Duke Dumont, Claptone 9 PM, Wizkid 8 PM, Riviera Theatre b Night, Diesel, Lane 8, and more Hall b b Szold Hall, Old Town School of Aragon Ballroom, 18+ 2 PM, SeatGeek Stadium, Homeboy Sandman, Nolan 8 PM, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Althea Folk Music b Instigation Festival presents the SUN 9/19 Bridgeview, 17+ Subterranean, 21+ Grace 8 PM, Park West, 18+ Corey Wilkes 4 and 8 PM, Jazz Instigation Orchestra, Aurora Asleep at the Wheel 7 PM, Maurer NRBQ 8:30 PM, FitzGerald’s, Corey Wilkes 8 and 10 PM, Jazz Showcase b Nealand 9 PM, Hungry Brain, Hall, Old Town School of Folk Berwyn, 21+ THU 9/9 Showcase b 21+ F Music b Rockwell Blues & Jazz Street A-Trak 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ MON 9/13 Mdou Moctar, Pure Adult 9 PM, Bayside, , Hawthorne Stroll featuring Delmark All CalenRaps, Price 7:30 PM, Subter- SAT 9/11 Durand Jones & the Indications, Lincoln Hall, 18+ Heights, Bombpops 9 PM, Con- Stars Band with Jimmy Johnson, ranean, 17+ Bámbula: Afro-Diáspora en Chica- 79.5 7:30 PM, the Vic, 18+ Sun, Girlfriends, Tyler Posey cord Music Hall, 17+ Jimmy Burns, , Blu DeTiger, Unusual Demont go with Mancha ’E Plátano, Las Angel Meléndez & the 911 Mambo 7:30 PM, Park West b Candlebox 8 PM, House of Blues, and more 1 PM, on Rockwell 9 PM, Lincoln Hall, 18+ Bompleneras Unplugged Orchestra, ÉSSO 6 PM, Pritzker Mr. Bungle, 10 PM, 17+ between Irving Park and Berteau Aaron Dorfman 5:30 PM, Martyrs, 3:30 PM, Julia de Burgos Park Pavilion, Millennium Park F b Radius Chicago, 17+ Ear Taxi Festival presents Kosmo- F b 21+ F F b Nouvelle Vague 10 PM, Empty logia Project 7:30 PM, PianoForte Strawberry Girls, Andres 8 PM, Flux Pavilion 9 PM, Concord Music Black Violin, Blind Boys of Ala- TUE 9/14 Bottle, 21+ Studios b Beat Kitchen, 17+ Hall, 18+ bama 7:30 PM, Ravinia Pavilion, Duckwrth 7 PM, Reggies Rock Osees, Mr. Elevator 8:30 PM, Eddie From 8 PM, City ¡Súbelo! featuring Molotov and CIVL presents Neal Francis and Highland Park b Club, 18+ Thalia Hall, 17+ Winery b more 1 PM, Harrison Park, 18+ F more 6 PM, Pritzker Pavilion, Chicago in Tune: House featuring , Violent Femmes, Riot Fest day one featuring Fi h House Ensemble 2 PM, Blacklizt, Eli & Fur 10 PM, Radius Millennium Park, F b Roy Davis Jr., Sanitize Your Soul Me First & the Gimme Gimmes, Smashing Pumpkins, Coheed and Brushwood Center at Ryerson Chicago, 18+ International Connections: 50 with Mark Hubbard & DJ Terry Thick 7 PM, Aragon Ballroom, 17+ Cambria, , and more Woods, Riverwoods b Years of the Segundo Ruiz Hunter, DJ Lady D 5:30 PM, Thurston Moore, Macie Stewart & 11 AM, Douglass Park b Fourth Coast Ensemble 4 PM, SUN 9/5 Belvis Cultural Center featuring Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park Lia Kohl 9:30 PM, Empty Bottle, Spirits Having Fun 8 PM, Golden Newberry Library b ARC Music Festival day two fea- Bomba con Buya, Mancha ’E F b 21+ Dagger, 21+ Frequency Series presents Shi-An turing Camelphat, DJ Heather, Plátano 7 PM, Segundo Ruiz Devourment, Ringworm 8 PM, Struts 7:30 PM, Riviera Theatre b Third Eye Theatre Ensemble Costello 8:30 PM, Constellation, and more 2 PM, Union Park, 18+ Belvis Cultural Center b Cobra Lounge, 17+ performs The Infi nite Energy of 18+ Gary Bartz 4 and 8 PM, Jazz Mabel Kwan & Tim Daisy, Trio Red Carol Genetti 2 PM, Lake Forest WED 9/15 Ada Lovelace and Petticoats & Instigation Festival presents Ben Showcase b Space 8:30 PM, Elastic Arts b College, Lake Forest F b Avatar, Magic Sword, Tallah Sliderules 7:30 PM, the Edge LaMar Gay & Aurora Nealand; Geof Bradfi eld, Russ Johnson, Megadeth, Lamb of God, Trivium, Level Up, Ace Aura, Space Wizard, 7:30 PM, House of Blues, 17+ Theater b Jeff Albert, Katinka Kleijn, Steve Matt Ulery, and Quin Kirchner 6 PM, Hollywood Syzy 9 PM, Concord Music Hall, Chicago SummerDance in the Marquette, and 9 PM, Hungry Brain, 21+ Casino Amphitheatre, Tinley 18+ Parks presents Chicago Latin SAT 9/18 9 PM, Hungry Brain, 21+ F North Coast Music Festival day Park b Pitchfork Music Festival day two Groove and more 5:30 PM, Por- Above & Beyond, Andrew Bayer, John Primer 6 PM, Willie Dixon’s three featuring , Rezz, Phora 7:30 PM, House of Blues b featuring St. Vincent, Angel tage Park F b Gardenstate 7 PM, Huntington Blues Heaven Foundation F b Bonobo, Chris Lake, and more Threads featuring Gabriela Lena Olsen, Kim Gordon, and more Ghost-Note, Sungazer 7 PM, City Bank Pavilion b Riot Fest day three featuring Nine 2 PM, SeatGeek Stadium, Frank, Jonathan Russell, Nadia noon, Union Park b Winery b Kioto Aoki 2 PM, Lake Forest Col- Inch Nails, Pixies, Machine Gun Bridgeview, 17+ Sirota & Liam Byrne performing Quinn XCII, , Tai Japanese Breakfast, Luna Li lege, Lake Forest F b Kelly, and more 11 AM, Douglass NRBQ 8:30 PM, FitzGerald’s, the work of Donnacha Dennehy Verdes 7 PM, Huntington Bank 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Chicago in Tune: Blues featuring Park b Berwyn, 21+ 7:30 PM, Davis Theater b Pavilion b Oux, Orisun, Bonita Appleblunt Cash Box Kings with Shemekia 11 PM, Metro, Sheryl Youngblood 6 PM, Willie Turnstile 7:30 PM, Metro b Real Friends, Action/Adventure 9:30 PM, Sleeping Village, 21+ Copeland, Lil’ Ed & 18+ v ll AUGUST   - CHICAOREADER/CHICAGOINTUNE 5 Jonn Wallen, aka Oui Ennui OSVALDO CUEVAS

of a hermit. I just stay in my house and obsess about records and music, which was probably exacerbated by quarantine. Other than being really sick, I think I was able to handle the iso- lation better than people that are more social than I was or am. But it defi nitely sharpened my skill set. I’m able to be a lot more e” cient now because I was practicing my craft. If I practiced the gui- tar the amount I produced , I’d be a much better guitarist—this made me a much better producer, songwriter, and arranger. After somebody wrote me a note about the liner notes for Sirius Bismuth, I started intentionally making music about something. I began to write music with intention, knowing that I’d need to have liner notes describing my process and support what it was about. It began to be an ouroboros e‰ ect. I don’t as- sume that everyone will read them. It’s instru- mental music, so it’s going to create its own Jonn Wallen of Oui Ennui has released 18 records meaning for the listener. My approach is like, “This is what I’m going through. This is what I’m thinking about.” However the listener in- since contracting COVID terprets it is out of my hands. It’s counterintuitive for someone who’s an Spurred by a brush with death, he’s sharpened his skills and become part of a larger music scene. artist to not particularly like attention. But for most of my musical career—if you want to call As told to J L it that—my musical life has been 99 percent private. It’s only been in the last year where people are reaching out to me and wanting to Chicago multi-instrumentalist and producer times that I can recall feeling so bad I thought, long-haul COVID, and there were several times hear more, or wanting to know what I think Jonn Wallen, who records and performs as “This is the beginning of when I’m dying.” I throughout my process of releasing an about things. It’s defi nitely a strange experi- Oui Ennui, has been writing music since he was alone in my apartment, sweating through every month where I thought that I wasn’t ence, but feedback has been amazing. When was five. Working mostly with synths and com- sheets—I couldn’t eat a bite of food for the going to make it for the next one. I felt like shit you sell stu‰ on , you get an e-mail, puters, he makes maximalist compositions he fi rst seven days. I lost 20 pounds. I was shak- for 13 or 14 months in a row. It was as bad as and just seeing some of the e-mail addresses describes as “paintings.” In September 2019, ing. I was awake 22 hours a day with ridiculous when my fi rst COVID symptoms started, and from Cape Town or , I’m like, “Wow, he gave his first public performance in more fatigue. I couldn’t even move to writhe in pain. I didn’t know if it was going to happen again. Where are these people fi nding it?” It’s been than a decade as part of the Plantasia event I couldn’t do anything but lay there. I didn’t My mental state was on the edge of a knife. humbling. at the Conservatory, and he was even listen to music. There was just silence in Releasing that much music is kind of ridicu- It doesn’t really do anything to assuage the looking forward to more. Instead the pandem- my house. My friend Scott brought me some lous, but it kept me sane in some respects. As imposter syndrome, but it feels great that ic hit. In April 2020 Wallen became gravely rice when I began to have an appetite again, soon as I released an album, I’d take a couple people are reacting to the music. I’ve always ill with COVID-19. While recovering from his and my manager dropped o‰ a thermometer days off, and then I’d start making the next thought that if my music helps a single person, initial symptoms, he set himself the task of and Tylenol, but I don’t have any family in one. I had my nose to the grindstone, which then I can die knowing that I did something, releasing one album per month—a challenge Chicago so I was very much alone. kept me from wallowing in fear about what even if I don’t ever “make it” in music. A num- that got even bigger once he realized he was It started on April 15. It was probably nine was happening to my body. I was on medical ber of people have literally said, “Your album battling long COVID. The most recent, at the or ten days before I could get out of bed. The leave for a long time. For the first several helped me get through quarantine or COVID.” time of this writing, is the August 6 album Eros whole time when I thought I was going to , I was sick all day and doing it when People have been so incredibly kind and Largesse. die, I was thinking, “All of this music that I’ve I could. In September 2020, I went back to generous. I’m very happy to now be part of a been making for the last 30-plus years—no work full-time, but my symptoms got worse scene; I’ve been in Chicago for 11 years, but I’ve knew something was very wrong when the one’s going to know about it.” The fi rst thing and I wound up going on medical leave again been here alone. The friendships that are now COVID symptoms started. As someone who I did when I could think about anything other in January 2021. In April I fi nally went back to in their infancy, who knows what those could I has had chronic illness and had been sick than how terrible I felt was to go to my synths work for real. turn into? That’s probably been my favorite quite a bit, this was next level. It was so bad I and my computer. I started making my album The experience hasn’t changed my approach thing about releasing all this music—being called 911. They said, “Shelter in place, or we Sirius Bismuth. That was probably the 22nd or to music as a whole—I’ve been in a codepen- able to connect with people, new friendships, can send an ambulance. That’s all our guid- 23rd of April, and the album came out May 1, dent symbiotic relationship with music for and community. v ance.” So I sheltered in place. Bandcamp Friday. most of my life. I’ve been trying to change, but It was horrifying. There were two or three I just wanted to leave something. I had for most of my life I’ve been a loner and kind  @unlistenmusic 6 CHICA OREADER/CHICAGOINTUNE - AUGUST   ll Mallory McClaire and Chantala Kommanivanh DANIELLE SIMONE CHARLES

CHANTALA I grew up in the northwest side, start was getting our LLC and our tax ID in in Albany Park, and I lived there from 1983 till February. We would do one little thing a week last year. until we hit the point where we were like, “Well, all there is left to do now is fi nd the spot, MALLORY I grew up in Beverly. We moved to sign the lease.” I’ve done work in operations down here in fall 2019—we knew when we before, so that part felt familiar to me, except were buying a house we’d either end up close for the fact that I was now doing it for myself. to Chantala’s family or close to mine. We ended up down here, right around the corner CHANTALA We found a location on 1808 W. from my childhood home and a block away 103rd Street, and we got keys last week. We are from where I went to elementary school. in the midst of building out the shelves and the We met on Tinder. I maintain that we prob- bins, and a little painting and things like that. ably crossed paths and didn’t know it—we We should be open come mid- to late August. would go to the same shows and hang out in I always tell my students—there’s 24 hours the same places. in a day. You just have to prioritize how much of those hours you want to use on your own CHANTALA I have an art studio on the south interests. side, and I’m from the north side, so if I didn’t swipe when I was in my studio, we wouldn’t MALLORY Yeah, work after work—and week- have matched. ends. I think we’ll eventually find ways to balance that, cause we’ll also be the presence MALLORY It was a very long, long fi rst date, in the shop too. It’s great to have examples of and the second half of it was probably all just people who have done it in our lives, and just talking about what we listen to and what we see that it’s doable. like to do. We also like to travel and started doing that pretty early on; when we travel, we CHANTALA Miyagi Records has been a huge eat and we buy records. catapult for us, helping us get our recognition We’d always had an interest in building a —they’ve always reached out, invited Beverly Phono Mart works to business of our own centered around commu- us to collaborate with them in these pop-ups nity and our own personal interest in some that they’ve been doing. way, and I think it took us a while to fi gure out boost record-store culture on the what that angle was. Part of it was also just MALLORY The Beverly Area Arts Alliance, looking at what we wanted in our own commu- they’re really good supporters of all types nity. Coming down to Beverly—when you’re of creatives in the neighborhood—they’re far south side a kid growing up here . . . I can’t speak for ev- all folks who actually run the Arts Alliance Mallory McClaire and Chantala Kommanivanh came out of lockdown with a eryone, but for me it was like, you feel like it’s outside their own full-time jobs. We’re doing brick-and-mortar space on 103rd Street. so far from all the action, and it’s so quiet. You a pop-up with the Beverly Area Arts Alliance get older and you want di– erent things. I never this upcoming weekend. And then there are As told to L G imagined that I would actually be back here. folks like Shady Rest Vintage & Vinyl. Now that we are here, it’s like, “Well, why do we have to go to the north side to have a really CHANTALA Who also have full-time jobs. Mallory McClaire and Chantala Kommanivanh also collecting records since I was maybe 12 cool record shop?” There is a neighborhood work as an artist and educator and as an arts or 13 gave me the knowledge. Owning a record shop, Beverly Records, they’ve been here for MALLORY We talk a lot about that community administrator, respectively—but the couple shop in my late 30s is sort of the icing on the a long time. Beyond their presence here, you’d element; we want the shop to be approach- also run Web-based record shop Beverly cake. have to hit Hyde Park Records and then Pilsen. able. We’re hoping to have performances and Phono Mart. In August they plan to open a We felt like there was space for a store that DJ sets and things like that in the space too, so brick-and-mortar location at 1808 W. 103rd in MALLORY I grew up with a lot of music in could bring in elements of art and food and just other elements of culture. We’ll have art Beverly. This interview was conducted July 26. the home. My parents, they took us to all the things that we love, and also just be a place for up as well; we’re hoping to open with a group big city festivals growing up; I grew up on people with similar interests to gather. art show in the space. We hope that it’s like a CHANTALA I’m the youngest of four broth- Jazz Fest and Blues Fest, and it’s just always starting point for people to explore all types of ers—my brothers were into hip-hop, and been around. My dad in particular—he’s from CHANTALA Getting a loan, that’s the cultural interests, but with music as an anchor. into music a lot, so having music in the house Harlem—listens to a lot of soul, a lot of jazz, part. Putting our personal collection in the was an everyday thing. My older brother Sid a lot of Afro-Latin jazz, and thankfully was shop is a great help, and also a great start, and CHANTALA And also explore the south side, dabbled in DJing. As a young kid, I was really really mindful to expose me and my sisters to having e-commerce prior to the shop open- the far south side. The south side has been mesmerized by the records—taking them out that. I’ve always been going to live shows and ing—it’s also helpful to get a jump start into going up north for so long. Maybe it’s time for of the jackets, putting them on the record exploring music my whole life. Like Chantala, the business. the north to come down. v player, and rubbing them back and forth was it just feels like the shop is a pretty natural intriguing. So for me, dabbling in DJing and course. MALLORY It’s really scrappy. I think our fi rst  @imLeor ll AUGUST   - CHICAOREADER/CHICAGOINTUNE 7 Reba Cafarelli in the Third Coast Percussion our own staff time. It wasn’t anywhere near studio KRISTAN LIEB FOR CHICAGO READER the amount we would bring in for a typical touring season, but every dollar was able to stay with us. And we did a lot of education diences, and to educate. So we all just realized work compared to what we would normally that digital was gonna be the way to go. do. There are some organizations that hire We already had high-quality HD video Third Coast Percussion specifi cally to do K-12 equipment in our studio, because when the en- classroom visits. This way we don’t have to semble goes on tour, they tour with cameras, be already flying to to work with so that the audience can see projections of students in California. what they’re doing with their hands. We used Everything that we do with our education that same strategy with digital. Our studio program is very specifi cally built so that it’s manager, Colin Campbell, took it upon himself 100 percent participation—the ensemble will to learn how to be a livestream producer over- do a clapping game with the kids, get them up night, basically. We upgraded our Internet in out of their seats doing something, even when the studio, and one week after our last live per- it’s remote. formance, we had our fi rst public livestream. One day early on in the pandemic, DCASE We wanted it to be as close to a concert ex- gave us a call, and they were working really perience as possible. Like, the “doors” opened hard to draw attention to the Arts for Illinois a few minutes before the concert so people Relief Fund—it was clear that a free fall was could start chatting. My colleague Rebecca happening. And they asked if Third Coast McDaniel and I would monitor the chat and would do a live performance on the mayor’s answer people’s questions, and then we would Instagram story. collect questions for the ensemble to answer We had a couple of presenters who paid us at the end. to do a livestream, and it wasn’t necessarily One of the coolest things is that percussion appropriate for us to ask for donations since music is such a new thing that almost every we were being compensated. So we asked for composer and music creator we work with is donations for New Music USA’s relief fund for alive, and we could get video messages from people who are hurting in the contemporary the composers to speak directly to the audi- classical music world. ence about their piece. Prior to the pandemic, everyone who We really thought it through, like, we have worked with Third Coast Percussion on a new to make this livestream world as engaging piece of music would visit the studio, come and interesting as possible. We knew at some in and kind of do a sandbox session. It’s hard point people would get tired of looking at their for anyone to wrap their brain around what Third Coast Percussion evolves screens. But at the time, we were like, here’s an Third Coast Percussion has in their arsenal of opportunity, let’s make the most of it. We so- instruments—there’s just so many different along with the pandemic licited donations from our audiences, but we ways to create sound on the wildest objects decided early on that we would not go behind you can imagine. Using this great technology Managing director Reba Cafarelli describes how the ensemble and its staff any paywalls. that we’ve built, composers can work with the adapted to the suspension of live music. Two times we did have fundraisers online, ensemble remotely instead of coming all the where we did have a ticket. We used to have way over to Chicago to get their hands dirty, so As told to P M in-person fundraisers that would be about to speak. $100 a ticket, and a small group of people who We will definitely continue to embrace could afford a $100 ticket would come. But digital. The education programming that we Reba Cafarelli is managing director for Third Performance is one major activity. Another now our ticket structure for the fundraiser is do—we can prerecord something really high Coast Percussion, working primarily in book- one is commissioning new music for per- pay-what-you-can, starting at $5. quality and then license it to schools and pre- ing, marketing, and day-to-day operations. cussion. The third would be education, from We beat our goal by going online and doing senters. We’ve started releasing a new video The ensemble is incorporated as a nonprofit, preschool to adults. Because we’re a nonprofi t, it that way. It made more than an in-person every Thursday. To have a high-quality video and it has a board of directors and three there’s grants that we can apply for to help fundraiser! Another reason for that is the to accompany all the new music that we’re full-time employees in addition to its four support commissioning. We release an aver- expenses—for in-person events, sometimes developing, it reaches so many more people. members. In May 2022 Third Coast Percussion age of one major commercial recording per we have to rent the venue and rent a truck to This ensemble, they built it really slowly plans to release its next album, which will year, mostly on Cedille Records. move percussion instruments around. and they built it right. Careful fi nancial plan- include Perspective, a seven-movement piece With the pandemic, many things changed. We had booked our 2020-2021 season prior ning was important—the board of directors created in 2020 by innovator Jlin. I started my job in October 2019, so I was just to everything shutting down, and we were has been very hands-on in helping us build a getting into the groove of booking the ensem- able to convert several canceled engagements. reserve and making sure we have an emergen- he primary role that I play with Third ble. Of course, the rug got ripped out from And then new ones came about—one of the cy backup plan for any scenario. Without their Coast Percussion is booking. So I repre- under us very swiftly. We have a mission state- great things about the livestreams that we did support and guidance, it could’ve been a very Tsent Third Coast Percussion to potential ment that we looked at, and we said, how can was they were public, so people were able to di› erent story. v presenters, partners at universities, perform- we stay on mission? Which is to bring exciting see for themselves that they were high quality. ing arts centers. and unexpected musical performances to au- Again, no expense on our side other than  @pmontoro 8 CHICA OREADER/CHICAGOINTUNE - AUGUST   ll C TG M Hosted by Jonathan McReynolds, Sonya Blakey, and DeAndre Patterson. Featuring Lashon Brown Jr.; a musical tribute to the Reverend Dr. Clay Evans, Pastor Maceo Woods, and Archbishop Lucius Hall with Chicago celebrates a century of Black gospel the Carson Sisters, Nicole Harris, and Illiana Torres; and the Tommies Reunion Choir. A free Chicago in Tune showcase in Millennium Park links the music’s history to its future. Fri 9/3, 5:30 PM, Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph, free, all ages By R M  NOTABLE GOSPEL EVENTS hicago has earned bragging rights as the specifically the successful debut of a gospel launched the careers of superstar vocalists DURING CHICAGO IN TUNE birthplace of Black gospel music. It was chorus that Dorsey and Mississippi-born Sam Cooke and Johnnie Taylor. Gospel’s roy- Gospel Industry Network Summit Featuring Chere that gospel was fi rst composed, sung, singing evangelist Theodore Frye had estab- alty—, James , and Adrian B. King, Gods Posse, New Direction, and played, published, promoted, recorded, broad- lished at Ebenezer Baptist Church—for the Albertina Walker—called Chicago home. others. Fri 8/20, 7 PM, Christ Unity Church, 208 E. cast, and formalized—the last via a national new music to breach the imposing stone walls Chicago television and record companies 61st, free, all ages convention with regional chapters. Migrants of local Protestant churches. Pastors surely brought gospel music into living rooms Power Praise 2021 Featuring Bishop Hezekiah to Chicago from the south in particular found realized that it would help build membership, and onto turntables. From 1963 to 1984, Sid Walker, , Mark Hubbard, Krystal comfort in it, because it articulated their increase donations, and ultimately help them Ordower’s Jubilee Showcase on WLS-TV Sykes, and LeNasia Tyson. Sat 8/21, 7 PM, Cross shared experiences as strangers in a strange burn the church mortgage faster. soundtracked Sunday-morning church prepa- Pointe Park, 2801 W. 167th, Hazel Crest, $40, $30 land and reminded them of their southern Soon hundreds of gospel choruses were ration rituals. Labels on Chicago’s Record group rate for ten or more, $65 VIP, all ages roots. popping up all over the south and west sides Row—Vee-Jay, Halo, Chess and its Checker ChicaGO REACH Gospel Workshop With Felicia The seeds of gospel took root in Chicago and around the midwest, and to train them subsidiary, United and its States subsidiary— Coleman-Evans, Dr. Lou Della Evans-Reid, Lonnie with the planting of Pentecostal and Holiness Dorsey, Frye, and Magnolia Lewis Butts (di- released the latest gospel hits. A gospelized Norwood, and others. Via Zoom at lonnienorwood. churches on the south and west sides in the rector of the W.D. Cook Gospel Chorus at Met- version of “Hello Sunshine” by Chicago’s own com/chigoreachpopshops. Sat 8/21 and Sun 8/22, 1910s and 1920s. These “sanctifi ed” churches ropolitan Community Church in Bronzeville) Reverend Maceo Woods & the Christian Tab- noon till 7 PM both days, $75 ($50 for students), amplified their spirited, communal music formed the National Convention of Gospel ernacle Concert Choir hit the pop charts in all ages with the beat (and sometimes by the instru- Choirs and Choruses. The first convention, 1969, rivaling Edwin Hawkins’s contempora- A Deeply Rooted Evening for Chicago’s Healing: mentation) of the city’s blues and jazz scenes. in 1933, was held at Pilgrim Baptist Church, neous smash “Oh Happy Day” as the harbinger Goshen A preview of a Deeply Rooted Dance The fi rst commercial recording of this hybrid where Dorsey served as music minister. Under of contemporary gospel—a sound that intro- Theater performance based on Goshen by Donald religious music was in 1926 by the leadership of -born gospel singer duced elements of rock, jazz, R&B, and folk Lawrence, featuring Le’Andria Johnson, mem- Pentecostal pianist Dranes. Her barrel- Sallie Martin, the convention established a into the traditional organ- and -led style. bers of the Tri-City Singers, and Zeke Locke & house style and extroverted singing foretold nationwide network of gospel choruses and On the evening of Friday, September 3, the NuXperience. Wed 8/25, 7:30 PM, Pritzker the coming of gospel’s polyrhythms, improvi- local chapters. By the end of the 1940s, gospel Millennium Park will showcase the city’s Pavilion, Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph, free, sations, and call-and-response structure. choirs coast to coast were emulating their Chi- pioneering and contemporary contributions all ages At that time, very early in the Great Mi- cago counterparts and singing Dorsey songs to gospel in a three-hour program emceed by Calvin Bridges Live recording with guests Dr. Walt gration, the Black community in Chicago was such as “Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” “Peace Chicagoan Jonathan McReynolds, one of the Whitman, Dr. Yvonne Ruff , Ann Bridges, Pastor majority middle class, and the music in Black in the Valley,” and “Highway to Heaven.” genre’s current leading lights. Radio person- De Andre Patterson, and others. Sat 9/7, 6 PM, middle-class churches—mostly Baptist and Chicago radio stations further expanded alities Sonya Blakey and DeAndre Patterson Apostolic Faith Church Chapel, 3823 S. , African Methodist Episcopal—was decidedly the gospel audience through live broadcasts from Inspiration 1390 will join him to present free, all ages different. Congregants used hymnbooks of local Sunday church services. One of the three musical segments. Black Violin, Blind Boys of Alabama Sat 9/11, compiled by their white denominational fi rst and most popular broadcasts emanated Lashon Brown Jr. is a young south-side 7:30 PM, Pavilion, , 200 Ravinia counterparts. There was no improvisation, no from Chicago’s First Church of Deliverance, vocalist who, like McReynolds, plays acous- Park Rd., Highland Park, $33-$80, all ages barrelhouse piano, no handclaps or hallelu- beginning in 1935. The massive listenership tic and delivers fresh songs of praise jahs. Choirs sang formal hymns and anthems, of the Spiritual church’s midnight service and worship in an intimate tenor voice. His the congregation listened and didn’t sing prompted to pitch gospel songs thoughtful, melodic religious music resonates along, and unspoken norms discouraged spon- to its choir in hopes of an overnight hit—the especially with younger churchgoers who, taneous emotionality. Bewildered migrants 1940s equivalent of YouTube virality. In the like the fi rst generation of gospel fans, want a tuaries of these three towering religious and accustomed to less formal worship stole away 1950s and 1960s, the constellation of Sunday sound of their own. civic leaders were veritable conservatories to the extroverted services at churches such service broadcasts in Chicago supported the The Tommies Reunion Choir will honor its for emerging gospel artists. Musical guests as Elder Lucy Smith’s All Nations Pentecostal practice of “broadcast hopping.” Groups of roots as America’s first community gospel will include the Carson Sisters, siblings of the or Bishop William Roberts’s Church of God in congregants traveled from one church to the choir (unlike conventional church choirs, late Billy Carson, who know their subject well Christ, both in Bronzeville. next, visiting successive on-air services from community choirs welcome singers from dif- (as did their brother—Billy made frequent This gap began to narrow in the late 1920s, morning till midnight, just to experience the ferent churches and denominations). Formed appearances at Evans’s Fellowship Missionary when Thomas A. Dorsey, a blues and jazz spiritual electricity. in 1948 by the Reverend Milton Brunson, the Baptist Church and played drums on Woods’s pianist who’d come here from Georgia, began Many other gospel artists also did foun- Thompson Community Singers lent new songs “Hello Sunshine”). They’ll be joined by con- writing gospel songs that blended Baptist and dational work in Chicago. The ensemble that and distinctive to generations temporary gospel singers Illiana Torres and Pentecostal elements. At fi rst, he was shown Arkansas-born singer and pianist Roberta of grateful church choirs. Members of the Nicole Harris, who’ll put their own spin on the the door—sometimes not so politely—by Martin founded in 1933 would set the standard Reunion Choir include stalwarts Leanne Faine, traditional music of Evans, Woods, and Hall. Protestant pastors who declared his music too for piano-led gospel groups. Sallie Martin Kim McFarland, and Kevin Brunson as well as Gospel enthusiasts will remember Harris from worldly for sacred spaces. At the 1930 Nation- (no relation) and Kenneth Morris operated songwriters Percy Bady and Darius Brooks. her vocal contribution to the 2018 hit single al Baptist Convention, held in Chicago, Dorsey the Martin & Morris Music Studio, which for A tribute to the Reverend Dr. Clay Evans, “You’re Doing It All Again” by Maywood native was surprised by an upwelling of enthusiasm decades was the most successful Black-owned Pastor Maceo Woods, and Archbishop Lucius Todd Dulaney. v for one of his songs, which gave him a glimmer music publishing company in the world. Hall will memorialize the golden years of of hope. But it still took two more years—and Chicago-based quartet the Soul Stirrers church radio broadcasts. The south-side sanc- @journalofgospel ll AUGUST   - CHICAOREADER/CHICAGOINTUNE 9 CTJ Featuring ensembles led by Ari Brown, Marquis Hill, and Lizz Wright. Sat 9/4, Chicago has nurtured jazz since its infancy 5:30 PM, Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, The Chicago in Tune jazz showcase in Millennium Park reaches from 1940s to present-day avant-garde 201 E. Randolph, free, all ages experiments and pop hybrids. By BM

here’s been jazz in Chicago for nearly as provided schooling to aspiring musicians on played in soul and blues combos in the early NOTABLE JAZZ EVENTS DURING long as there’s been jazz. While jazz is the south side. The group has been a beacon 1960s. CHICAGO IN TUNE Tcommonly said to have ridden the rails for generations of musicians who refuse to be Born in 1944, Brown is a lifelong resident Hypnotic Brass Ensemble Thu 8/19, 8 PM, Promon- to Chicago around 1916, when the Great Mi- confi ned by genre or business barriers. Many of the city, and since the mid-70s he’s worked tory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. West, $20-$32, all ages gration of African Americans from the south early participants, such as as an educator as well as a musician. He shifts Extraordinary Popular Delusions Mondays (8/23, to the north kicked into gear, Dixieland band- and , left Chicago to between straight-ahead and avant-garde ver- 8/30, 9/6, 9/13), 8 PM, Beat Kitchen, 2100 W. Bel- leader Wilbur Sweatman had played gigs on pursue opportunities elsewhere, but other naculars with an easy fl uency that comes from mont, free, 21+ the city’s south side as early as 1908, and Jelly former and current members, including Fred understanding their commonalities. Brown Matthew Shipp Sat 8/28, 8:30 PM, Constellation, Roll Morton fi rst landed here in 1914. Anderson and , stayed and gigged mostly as a sideman for decades, 3111 N. Western, $25, $20 in advance, 18+ So while it’s undeniably a shame that the became invaluable mentors. playing with the likes of , Kahil Garden of Souls Geof Bradfi eld, Nick Mazzarella, citywide festivities called Chicago in Tune, During the 1970s, Grant Park hosted sum- El’Zabar, and McCoy Tyner. He didn’t make , and perform the 1980 originally scheduled for spring 2020, have mer festivals honoring and his fi rst album as a leader, the Delmark release live recording Playing by Old and New Dreams. been diminished and delayed, the resilience . In 1979, the city combined Ultimate Frontier, until 1995. Since then, he’s Tue 8/31, 8 PM, Fulton Street Collective, 1821 W. and longevity of Chicago jazz ensure that the those events with a new one proposed by the recorded three more, each time leading the Hubbard, $15 donation requested, all ages music will swing right out of the pandemic. Jazz Institute of Chicago to create the first same sympathetic combo: his brother Kirk Gary Bartz Quartet Thu 9/2-Sat 9/4, 8 and 10 PM; Chicago has incubated a series of trans- . Held annually until Brown on piano, Yosef Ben Israel on bass, and Sun 9/5, 4 and 8 PM, Jazz Showcase, 806 S. Plym- formative developments in jazz. Louis Arm- COVID-19 put a lethal stick in the spokes, the Avreeayl Ra on drums. outh Ct., $20-$40 (matinee free for 12 and under), strong moved here in 1922 and devised a new fest has remained free to the public and com- Like Brown, Hill was born and raised in Chi- all ages approach that transformed the music into a mitted to programming actual jazz, unlike so cago. He went to school at Kenwood Academy Geof Bradfi eld, Russ Johnson, Matt Ulery, and virtuoso soloist’s art. Around the same time, many similar festivals in other cities that have and learned on the bandstand at jam sessions Quin Kirchner Sun 9/5, 9 PM, Hungry Brain, 2319 the Austin High School Gang, a group of high drifted so far that they’re jazz in name only. conducted by , Ernest Dawkins, W. Belmont, donation suggested, 21+ schoolers smitten with the King Oliver Creole And even in the leanest times, clubs such as and . Hill moved to in Mabel Kwan/Tim Daisy Duo, Trio Red Space Jazz Band and the Rhythm Kings, and the Green Mill have 2014, the same year he won the Thelonious Thu 9/9, 8:30 PM, Elastic Arts, 3429 W. Diversey, formalized an up-tempo variant of hot jazz continued to book jazz and nothing else, as Monk Institute of Jazz prize for trumpet, but $15, all ages into something known as the Chicago Style. they’ve done for decades. he’s continued to work with Chicago musi- Corey Wilkes Thu 9/9-Sat 9/11, 8 and 10 PM; After World War II, the city’s name was ap- Since the 1990s, a succession of musician cians—most notably bassist Junius Paul and Sun 9/12, 4 and 8 PM, Jazz Showcase, 806 S. Ply- plied to a muscular, bebop-steeped mode of organizers, including Ken Vandermark, Dave drummer-bandleader Makaya McCraven. On mouth Ct., $20-$40 (matinee free for 12 and under), playing identifi ed with Gene Rempis, Mike Reed, and Josh Berman, have Hill’s recent recordings for Concord Jazz, his all ages Ammons, Johnny Griffin, Von Freeman, and forged alliances with the city’s rock and fl eet melodies weave through slinky rhythms Instigation Festival New Orleans musicians Jeff Cliˆ ord Jordan. experimental-music communities, pooling derived from contemporary soul. Judging by a Albert, Mikel Patrick Avery, Doug Garrison, Aurora In the 1950s, keyboardist and arranger creative and material resources. The venues YouTube preview of his next album, New Gos- Nealand, James Singleton, and Paul Thibodeaux used Chicago as the launchpad for his where they operate are a big part of the eco- pel Revisited, due via Edition Records in 2022, collaborate in mixed groups with Chicagoans. Arkestra, a -cum-commune whose system where jazz lives, breathes, and evolves; next he’ll achieve that mix with an entirely Thu 9/16-Sun 9/19, various times and venues (Elas- mind-blowing music incorporated swinging do yourself a favor and look into them as you acoustic band. tic Arts, Hungry Brain, May Chapel, Constellation), rhythms, atonal compositions, free improvi- tune in to Chicago in Tune. Singer Lizz Wright grew up in Georgia, prices and age restrictions vary. See instigation- sation, early electronics, and science fi ction- Chicago in Tune also includes four Pritzker the daughter of a minister and the church’s festival.com. inspired themes. Its all-inclusive approach Pavilion concerts devoted to genres with deep music director. Her albums for and suggested a world freed from the racial and roots in the city. The jazz concert, on Septem- Concord labels have included jazz, blues, and social strictures of mid-20th-century America. ber 4, features ensembles led by saxophonist American folk songs, and she’s recorded with Ra’s example of self-determination and Ari Brown, trumpeter Marquis Hill, and vocal- Joe Sample, Meshell Ndegeocello, and the insistence on artistic freedom wasn’t lost on ist Lizz Wright (performing in that order). band Calexico. But no where she gets the musicians who convened on the south side Brown’s robust tone, self-assured command her material, she gives it a spiritual vibe with in 1965 to organize the Association for the of bebop fundamentals, and patient lyricism the low swoop and broad vibrato in her voice. Advancement of Creative Musicians. Formed place him squarely in Chicago’s rich tenor In her oˆ stage guise as a chef, she’s developed in reaction to the diminished opportunities saxophone tradition. He’s just as profi cient on the menu for Carver 47 Food & Wellness resulting from a generation of youth picking the soprano saxophone, which he sometimes Market, part of the Little Black Pearl learning rock and soul over jazz, the AACM evolved into plays at the same time as his tenor to become a center on 47th Street. v a cadre of mutually supportive artists who one-man horn section, and on the piano, which helped one another perform new work and was his fi rst professional instrument when he 10 CHICA OREADER/CHICAGOINTUNE - AUGUST   ll C  T H Roy Davis Jr. headlines; DJ Lady D opens, reshaped pop around the globe and the Sanitize Your Soul gospel house choir with Mark Hubbard and DJ Terry Hunter performs second. Sat 9/11, 5:30 PM, Chicago in Tune showcases decades of house-music history in a three-hour concert. Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, 201 E. By R    Randolph, free, all ages

ouse-music culture developed in Chica- wave in the 1990s. She took up DJing in 1995, likes of and Jennifer Hudson. NOTABLE HOUSE-RELATED go’s Black gay clubs in the 1970s, and it and in 1997 she teamed up with Colette, DJ In 2018 his T’s Box label issued “Move of the EVENTS DURING CHICAGO IN Howes as much of its soul to the people who Heather, and Dayhota to form Superjane, a Spirit,” a smooth gospel-house collaboration TUNE gathered to dance as it does to the DJs whose collective that championed women in a scene between Hunter and vocalists Jocelyn Brown Louie Vega Fri 8/20, 10 PM, Smart Bar, 3730 N. innovative mixes of disco, funk, R&B, and pop that frequently marginalized them; they threw and Inaya Day—a demonstration that he Clark, $25, $20 in advance. 21+ kept late-night partiers moving till long after their fi rst party at the defunct Funky Buddha understands the spiritual and emotional en- Freestyle Forever: Mixtape Edition 3 Featuring sunrise. In the seven years or so between Lounge. ergies that house and gospel have in . Stevie B, DJ Funk, Samantha, D’zyre, Mark Milan, the emergence of key artists such as Frankie In her recorded output, Lady D favors sharp, Closing out the evening is veteran producer Lucy Love, Amazin’ Records, Pain. Sat 8/28, 9 PM, Knuckles, Michael Ezebukwu, and direct percussion that drives insistent grooves. Roy Davis Jr., who took his fi rst in the Concord Music Hall, 2047 N. , $20-$60. and the arrival of what’s usually recognized as On the 2015 single “All Night Long,” she lends world of as a teenager living in 21+ the fi rst house record, ’s 1984 her sparse vocals a velvety touch that teases the south suburbs in the late 1980s. He be- Research & Development: Sassmouth, Miss cut “On and On,” thousands of house heads out the thumping track’s tantalizing feel, friended DJ Pierre of pioneering acid-house Twink USA, Grey People, Patrixia, JS Alvarez, dedicated themselves to the culture. Since which the late Paul Johnson further played up group and helped write “20 Below,” Makeen Sun 8/29, 6 PM, Sleeping Village, 3734 W. then, the vast influence of house has circled in his disco-fueled . Lady D’s influence an R&B-infl ected jam released under the name Belmont, free. 21+ the globe several times over—, garage, in extends beyond DJing and Pierre’s Phantasy Club on the sixth volume Blacklizt, Eli & Fur Sat 9/4, 10 PM, Radius, 640 W. , juke, gabber, IDM, footwork, dub- producing: after working in A&R for northwest of the Jack Trax series. In the 1990s Davis Cermak, $50. 18+ step, and EDM have all sprung from the soulful suburban label Afterhours (where she brought replaced Pierre in Phuture for a spell, while RP Boo, DJ Taye, Jana Rush, DJ Manny Fri 9/10, seed of classic, four-on-the-fl oor house music, on one of Chicago’s most successful dance simultaneously releasing his own records as 10 PM, Smart Bar, 3730 N. Clark, $20, $15 in and it’s irrevocably transformed the landscape producers of the past 20 years, Kaskade), she part of a blossoming solo career. New York advance. 21+ of pop. cofounded D’lectable Music in 2004. dance label Strictly Rhythm put out Davis’s House is as much a part of Chicago’s cultur- This concert also doubles as the debut of debut 12-inch in 1992, Learn to Live (credited al DNA as gospel, blues, and jazz. The city’s Sanitize Your Soul, a collaboration between to the Roy Davis Project), and later recruited Department of Cultural Affairs and Special gospel veteran Mark Hubbard and long- him to work in A&R. Davis has released plenty Events debuted the Chicago House Music grinding DJ Terry Hunter. Hubbard formed of music in the decades since, but he remains Festival in 2018, after dabbling in large-scale the United Voices of Christ choir in 1985, and best known for a gospel-infl ected 1996 collab- house parties over Memorial Day weekend, seven years later he released his debut album oration with Peven Everett called “Gabriel” (a and though it’s the youngest of DCASE’s big with the Voices, Trust in Jesus. Their fifth remix of his tune “Gabrielle”), which buoys its annual fests, it’s already established itself as album together, 2004’s Blessin’ Waitin’ on Me, gently rippling groove with light hand drums one of the best showcases for dance music in won a Stellar Award for Traditional Choir of and sparse, sultry horns. The following year the city. In the Chicago House Music Festival’s the Year in 2006, and in 2017 he was elected XL Recordings reissued the 12-inch in Britain, fi rst two years, it became a friendly counter- president of the Chicago chapter of the Re- where it became a chart hit and a touchstone part to the Chosen Few Picnic (“the cording Academy, the organization behind the for the budding UK garage movement. of House Music”), with lineups demonstrating Grammys. Chicago in Tune’s house programming ex- house’s reach across generations. The second Hunter’s history in music is just as long. He tends beyond this Pritzker Pavilion concert. festival—the last one before the pandem- picked up DJing in the early 1980s and broke In July DCASE launched “House City,” a series ic—booked juke pioneer Gant-Man, footwork out later in the decade spinning parties for of ten dance-music events in neighborhoods dance collective the Era, and house veteran promoter Marvin Terry. In 1990, he released around the city’s south, west, and north sides. Gene Hunt, who issued his fi rst 12-inch in 1989. his first 12-inch, Madness, a collection of Four of the events fall within the span of Chica- The Chicago in Tune house-music showcase slyly funky tracks for respected Chicago label go in Tune, and the series closes in Bronzeville in Millennium Park this September is just a Muzique Records. Hunter’s skills are so high- on September 19 with an afternoon show fea- few hours long, but even within those con- ly regarded in the house community that in turing DJs Mike Dunn of the Chosen Few, Daryll straints, DCASE has built a lineup that speaks 2006 he became the fi rst DJ in nearly 30 years Mellowman, and JStar. Two of the ten events to the genre’s history and its creators’ ability invited to join the Chosen Few collective. As have been postponed as of publication time, to continue shaping the culture decades later. a producer, he’s also a favorite of stars across and the exact location of the Bronzeville show Darlene Jackson, better known as DJ Lady D, the pop spectrum who want to put a new spin has yet to be announced—so it’s best to check emerged as part of Chicago house’s second on their work, and he’s made for the the DCASE House City page for updates. v ll AUGUST   - CHICAOREADER/CHICAGOINTUNE 11 C TB Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Alligator The blues has become part of Chicago’s DNA Records. headline, with guest Shemekia Copeland; Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials play second, with guest Billy The pandemic couldn’t sever the music’s deep roots, and Chicago in Tune’s Millennium Park concert showcases its Branch; the Band and Dennis thriving variety. Gruenling open, with guest Wayne Baker Brooks. Sat 9/18, 5:30 PM, Pritzker Pavilion, By J P Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph, free, all ages

lues music thrives on live interaction Ricky Allen and . “Joe, You Ain’t From Chicago.” NOTABLE BLUES EVENTS DURING between performer and audience, but The 1950s can be considered the golden Shemekia Copeland (who makes a guest CHICAGO IN TUNE Bfor nearly a year and a half, that’s been age of , but that doesn’t mean appearance on Hail to the Kings!) became a Bronzeville Blues: The Forum With Joe Filisko & in short supply. Clubs are caught between the music hasn’t kept thriving. The six artists contender for Queen of the Blues at age 19, Eric Noden, Greasy Gravy (Matt Hendricks and “waiting to reopen” and “slowly coming back,” showcased at September’s Pritzker Pavilion when her 1998 debut, Turn the Heat Up, hit Rick Sherry), and Harmonica Hinds. Sun 8/29, and Millennium Park has been largely quiet— concert continue to extend and expand blues the streets. And at the 2011 Chicago Blues noon-6:30 PM, near the Forum, 318-324 E. 43rd, for two Junes running, the city has canceled traditions. And they all have releases on Festival, the city and state formally granted free, all ages the . Our blues artists , except for Wayne Baker the New York-born singer that title—and none Bronzeville Blues: With haven’t shown any serious signs of decline, Brooks—and he’s the son of Alligator artist other than Cookie Taylor (daughter of the late the Mojo Jam Session (featuring Kenny “Beedy though, even in these grim circumstances, . Queen of the Blues, ) bestowed Eyes” Smith), John Primer & the Real Deal Blues and we’ll get a sampling of what they have to Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials have been with the crown onstage. Over the course of nine al- Band, Melody Angel, Big James & the Chicago o er when the city’s Chicago in Tune festival Alligator the longest (their fi rst album for the bums, Copeland has incorporated soul, classic Playboys, and Nick Alexander. Sun 8/29, noon- presents a free Pritzker Pavilion concert on label came out in 1986), and they’ve had the rock, and Americana into her blues, along with 6:30 PM, near the original location of the Checker- September 18 to mark the 50th anniversary of same lineup for most of that time. Guitarist a generous dose of social commentary. board Lounge, 423 E. 43rd, free, all ages Alligator Records. and front man Ed Williams is the nephew of Harmonica master Billy Branch fi rst started Bronzeville Blues: Park 43 With Bob Stroger, Many important Chicago blues labels pre- slide-guitar wizard J.B. Hutto, who taught him making the rounds in the 70s, and by the end Mississippi Gabe Carter, and Gerry Hundt’s Leg- date Alligator, founded in 1971 by Bruce Iglau- the basics in the late 60s, and his high-energy of that decade he’d founded the long-running endary One-Man Band. Sun 8/29, noon-6:30 PM, er, but few can match its long track record of playing refl ects his uncle’s sound as well as his band Sons of Blues as well as the Blues in the Park 43, 540 E. 43rd, free, all ages releasing what it calls “Genuine Houserockin’ own identity. The Imperials were recording a Schools program, which teaches this uniquely Record Row Series At the former Chess Records Music.” In its first decade alone, it released track for the 1987 Alligator compilation The American art form to schoolkids across the building that now houses Willie Dixon’s Blues music by the likes of , Son New Bluebloods, and Iglauer was so impressed country. Building a decades-long legacy in a Heaven Foundation. Sundays (8/29: Joe Pratt & Seals, Koko Taylor, Albert Collins, and Lonnie he o ered them a contract on the spot. By now scene where artists come and go seemingly One Band, 9/5: Sheryl Youngblood, Brooks. Alligator continues to prove to the Williams, guitarist Mike Garrett, drummer overnight is an accomplishment in itself, and 9/12: Vino Louden, 9/19: John Primer duo), 6 PM, world that Chicago blues is no museum piece— Kelly Littleton, and bassist James “Pookie” Branch has also shared his gifts with collab- 2120 S. , free, all ages it’s as alive as any ten rock bands put together. Young are one of the longest-running tradi- orators in and out of the blues—they include Chicago Blues Club City Tour Twenty shows at The city’s distinctive blues tradition ex- tional blues acts in the city, alongside Lurrie , Mexican rock band El Tri, and jazz ten clubs, including appearances by Jimmy John- tends at least as far back as the 1930s, with Bell, John Primer, Jimmy Johnson, and Jimmy guitarist George Freeman. son, Joanna Connor, Erwin Helfer, Billy Branch, important pioneers such as , Burns. Chicago loves its , judging from Mud Morganfi eld, the Kinsey Report, Tail Dragger, Washboard Sam, and . An un- Nick Moss worked his way up as a bassist the audiences that line up to see the likes of and Jamiah Rogers. Wed 9/1 through Mon 9/6, countable number of blues musicians came to with before joining Willie Toronzo Cannon, Melvin Taylor, and Joanna various times and venues (B.L.U.E.S. on Halsted, Chicago from the south during the Great Mi- “Big Eyes” Smith’s band, where he switched Connor. Wayne Baker Brooks falls solidly GMan Tavern, Golden Dagger, the Hideout, Mar- gration, which began in the 1910s: they includ- to guitar. He began leading his own group in in that bag. Playing with his father, Lonnie tyrs’, the Promontory, the Quarry, Reggies, Rosa’s ed Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Jimmy Reed, 1997 and released a long string of albums on Brooks, gave him invaluable experience—he Lounge, Taylor Street Tap), all shows free, 21+ , Koko Taylor, J.B. Hutto, and his own Blue Bella label before debuting on joined Lonnie’s band in 1990, the year he Austin: West Side Blues Featuring Lurrie Bell, Willie Dixon, and later , , Alligator in 2018. For the past four years or so, turned 20—and over the past couple decades Vance Kelly, Mzz Reese, Jimmy Burns, Mary Lane, , , and . he’s been working with harmonica player Den- he’s made his own mark. and Larry Taylor. Sun 9/12, noon-8 PM, Chicago The addition of drums and amplification nis Gruenling, who has one of the driest, most As wide-ranging as this lineup is, it only Avenue and Mayfi eld, free, all ages helped create what we now know as Chicago full-bodied tones I’ve ever heard. Moss’s own hints at the diversity of Chicago blues. And blues—one of the most significant develop- sound spices up traditional Chicago blues with whatever form the music takes—the jazzy ments in the genre’s history. It’s a big sound, a streak of urbane . strides of guitarist , the soulful and from its origins it made plenty of room for The Cash Box Kings also have a small-combo strokes of singer Gerald McClendon, the gos- variety. Jazz-infl uenced pianists such as Eddie jump-blues feel, albeit a little rowdier and pel inflections of guitarist Mississippi Gabe Boyd and Willie Mabon helped shape the with a touch of Memphis . Founded Carter—not even a pandemic can shut it down. scene as well, and they’d been preceded by the in 2001 in Madison, , by singer and Across the decades, through all its comings likes of Little Brother Montgomery, who fi rst harmonica player Joe Nosek, the Kings added and goings, hosted by countless record labels, moved to the city in 1928 and settled here for south-side Chicago vocalist Oscar Wilson as club stages, outdoor festivals, street corners, good in 1941. The success of in the coleader in 2007. Much like labelmates Rick and subways, the blues has become part of the early 60s added a new flavor to the Chicago Estrin & the Nightcats, they use plenty of city’s DNA. It’s just too indigenous to die. v sound (and a new way for gospel to infl uence humor—on the 2019 Alligator album Hail to the blues) via the stylings of vocalists such as the Kings!, you can hear it loud and clear on @JamesPorterCHI 12 CHICA OREADER/CHICAGOINTUNE - AUGUST   ll ROUNDUPS

Ohmme ASH DYE DJ Manny COURTESY THE ARTIST

hicago in Tune is a diffi cult festival the fearless Sputnik’s moody garage group, and Manae Hammond, who make music as Oux, spitfire storyteller Femdot, the dryly cool Nina to describe, since it includes basi- Waltzer (Wed 9/15), and quirky indie heads Spirits will deliver a set of their soulful, synth-dipped, Tech, and Hurt Everybody MCs Qari and Supa Bwe Ccally all live music happening in the Having Fun (Fri 9/17). electro R&B (Wed 9/15)—when their songs “Rise,” performing solo sets. The Summer Smash lineup city from August 19 till September 19. How For the second night of the festival, the Hideout “Queer Like Me,” and “Mood” wash over you, vibe also showcases artists who’ve worked with Lyri- that looks to you depends heavily on which presents the punched-up of Bloom and like no one’s watching. cal Lemonade founder-turned-videographer Cole shows are on your radar. The Reader has Troigo (Fri 8/20) on its patio stage. The beloved Given the depth of Chicago’s pool of musical tal- Bennett, among them Lil Skies, Ski Mask the Slump provided you with a number of assists: a small venue has great outdoor shows booked ent, you should never sleep on opening acts here— God, and Lil Tecca. also nods at hip-hop’s show calendar spanning the entire month; throughout, of course, including poet and - you never know who might blow you away. Avan- breadth, fi nding a through line that connects Atlan- lists of gospel, jazz, house, and blues con- writer Kara Jackson (Tue 8/24), Niika & Reno Cruz tist, the grossly underrated rock band of broth- ta screamer , Los Angeles phi- certs; and these roundups by genre, com- (Fri 8/27), grungy funk punks Orisun (Tue 8/31), and ers Erick, David, Luis, and Fernando Arias, and losopher , and Buff alo underground piled by Reader staff and freelancers with pop singer Katy Kirby with the hypnotic alt-country dream-pop fi ve-piece Faux Furrs will both get the veteran Benny the Butcher. special expertise in each area. We’ve defi - stylings of Tenci (Sat 9/11). crowd moving ahead of rockers Syl- Watching what’s happening in Chicago’s clubs nitely le some genres out, in the interest Ohmme, the experimental duo of Macie Stew- mar (Subterranean, Sun 9/5). Full of noise, rage, will also teach you how far hip-hop’s cultural of avoiding hairsplitting, and the festival art and Sima Cunningham, will perform material and bass, No Men will get all up in your face sup- imprint extends beyond what’s traditionally con- roundup is of course not about a genre at from their stunning 2020 album, Fantasize Your porting no-wave legend Lydia Lunch and her band sidered hip-hop. Chicago footwork producer DJ all. Plenty of events could’ve ended up fi led Ghost (in addition to some older fan favorites), at Retrovirus (Beat Kitchen, Fri 9/10), who are sure Taye, who began adding verses to his hyperactive, in several categories, so we just had to pick a CHIRP Radio-sponsored Thalia Hall show with to do the same. You’ll probably need earplugs for zigzagging dance music on 2018’s Still Trippin, will one: the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash goth punks Ganser opening (Thu 8/26). this one, and be sure to help your fellow show- perform at Smart Bar alongside footwork pros DJ is under hip-hop, not festivals, and Ruido In a near re-creation of the show- goer if the mosh pit gets too chaotic—safety fi rst! Manny, Jana Rush, and RP Boo (Fri 9/10). Chica- Fest leads off the Latinx roundup. The best case dubbed Iconic that they presented at Schubas —J R go producer and singer Elton Aura creates sup- way to be sure you’re hearing about every- in 2019, the powerhouse pop lineup of Emily Blue, ple, graceful songs from a soothing blend of R&B, thing that might interest you is to read all of Thair, SuperKnova, and Carlile reunite at Lincoln funk, hip-hop, and pop; he plays a patio show at the these, I reckon. But of course I was going to Hall (Sat 8/28)—with any luck, Blue and Thair will Hideout with DJ Chris Banks (Sat 8/28). And Ster- say that anyway. —P M surprise fans with a live rendition of their take on HIP-HOP ling Hayes, a hard-grinding member of Chicago and Ariana Grande’s “Rain on Me.” hip-hop collective Save Money, celebrates his new That same night, surfy pop-rock oddballs Impul- So far this summer, three albums by Chicago rap- album, Beam Scale, at Chop Shop (Fri 8/27). ROCK, POP, sive Hearts headline a show at Reggies Music Joint pers have hit the top five of the . Touring hasn’t resumed at anything like pre- with alt-rockers Present Company, ’s 25 landed at number five on July 17, COVID levels, but quite a few out-of-town hip-hop ET CETERA six-piece Cloud Houses, and the shimmery a few weeks a er ’s Hall of Fame took the acts will come through in the next month, includ- songs of Pete Cautious (Sat 8/28). top spot on June 26, displacing The Voice of the ing hip-hop fusion crew Cook Thug- Chicago musicians keep the city in tune year Closing out August, folk band Honey Cellar Heroes, a collaboration between ’s Lil Baby less (Beat Kitchen, Fri 8/20) and New York pro- round, and they’ve even done it through a pandem- bring their delightfully buzzing harmonies to Mon- and Chicago’s . But as entertaining as chart ducer Blockhead, who’s playing a release show ic—so the month of programming that DCASE has trose Saloon (Tue 8/31). watching can be, it can’t tell you much about what’s for Space Will Be the End of Us All designated Chicago in Tune was bound to feature Singer-songwriter Jess Viscius and her new out- made the local scene so vital and unique over the (Schubas, Fri 9/3). Subterranean hosts two great stellar talents. It includes loads of can’t-miss pop, fi t, Bnny, play a record-release show at the Empty past decade. Keeping an eye on the city’s concert hip-hop acts back-to-back: underground champi- rock, and punk shows where you might just discov- Bottle to celebrate their debut LP, Everything, listings will get you a lot closer. on Homeboy Sandman (Wed 9/8) and rising artist er your new favorite artists. which comes out August 20 on Fire Talk Records The Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash returns CalenRaps (Thu 9/9). Los Angeles MC Duckwrth On the opening night of Chicago in Tune (Thu 9/2). And the latest signee to Sooper Records, to Douglass Park this year (Fri 8/20-Sun 8/22). A brings his smooth, lighter-than-air tunes to Reggies (Thu 8/19), lo-fi rockers Sonny Falls and Cold multi-instrumentalist Jodi, brings the convention- big part of the festival’s draw comes from its mar- Rock Club (Tue 9/14), and dyed-in-the-wool under- Beaches hit the stage at coffeehouse and music defying music and queer country tales of their inti- quee names—ASAP Rocky, Lil Baby, Lil Uzi Vert— ground rapper Conway the Machine—a member venue Golden Dagger, formerly known as Tonic mate new album, Blue Heron, to Sleeping Village but much of the rest comes from Chicago acts. of prolifi c Buff alo crew Griselda, alongside Benny Room. The venue also hosts alternative trio Micro- (Sat 9/4). Among the highlights are up-and-comer OG Stevo, the Butcher—headlines Avondale Music Hall (Fri cosms and pop-rock vocalist Serjeeoh (Tue 9/7), Also at Sleeping Village, Indigo Hope Finamore the masterful , nonchalant fl exer Queen Key, 9/17). Hip-hop moves quickly, and even the biggest ll AUGUST   - CHICAOREADER/CHICAGOINTUNE 13 ROUNDUPS

Starless COURTESYTHEARTIST Lido Pimienta DANIELLAMURILLO stars sometimes drop albums just days a er reveal- line two stacked bills at Metro (Thu 9/2-Fri 9/3), synth-pop artist Lido Pimienta, and tropical disco- ing Afro-Puerto Rican culture, Segundo Ruiz Bel- ing their existence, or announce shows just a cou- with Gatecreeper opening the latter. Chicago/ funk band Los Amigos Invisibles (Union Park, Fri vis Cultural Center presents an all-bomba gather- ple weeks in advance. So it’s always a good idea to Gothenburg mini fest Scorched Tundra returns 8/20-Sun 8/22). ing (Thu 9/9) with Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre, keep checking concert calendars. —R    to with a single-night showcase The Ruido a erparties are equally great: high- -based group Mancha ’E Plátano, and (Sat 9/4) featuring western-infused doom outfi t In lights at Cobra Lounge include Las Nubes, who Bomba con Buya (the two bands also play Wed 9/8 the Company of Serpents, Minneapolis D-beat/ conquered ’s heart in (Sun 8/22), at the Old Town School). The festivities continue crust punks Hive, and local death metallers Roman and the radical of La Doña paired with with Bámbula: Afro-Diáspora en Chicago, a series METAL Ring. Iowa doom merchants Telekinetic Yeti and the chill jams of Inner Wave (Fri 8/20). Silverio will of outdoor bomba dance parties (, Fri local Lovecra ian instrumental duo Plague of Car- pounce on synths to create dark 9/10; Julia de Burgos Park, Sat 9/11; Senka Park, Pandemic shutdowns seemed destined to sideline cosa share a four-band bill at Bourbon on Division at Reggies Rock Club (Sat 8/21), while Alex Midi of Sun 9/12). —S T metal and hardcore bands for longer than their (Fri 9/3). Mœnia will spin at Simone’s (Sat 8/21). peers in other genres. A er all, where would you The following week, Reggies Music Joint hosts Two free shows at FitzGerald’s present relative- feel more likely to contract a respiratory virus: a lineup of boundary-breaking local artists, head- ly traditional Latinx music: Chicha Roots honor the at a coffeehouse show by an acoustic singer- lined by doomy band Starless, who are golden age of Andean cumbia (Thu 8/19), and Jaro- CLASSICAL songwriter, at a seated concert by a chamber quin- celebrating the release of the album Hope Is Leav- chicanos and Joel Castellanos present a night of tet, or in a circle pit watching a band of thunder- ing You; opening are dark experimental group son jarocho (Thu 8/26). Jarochicanos also teach the Chicago in Tune overlaps the Grant Park Music ously loud hell-raisers screaming their faces off? Anatomy of Habit, heavy rockers Lavisher, and zapateado that accompanies son jarocho at a fan- Festival on one end and the Ear Taxi Festival on As in-person shows have come back, though, metal musician and audio engineer Sanford Parker (9/11). danguito in Hermosa Park (Thu 8/19). The following the other. Grant Park closes its season just as Chi- has been well represented, and the local circuit is On the same night, Cobra Lounge gets brutal with week, Ida y Vuelta explore folk sounds from Vera- cago in Tune begins, with a program that includes stacked throughout Chicago in Tune. death metallers Devourment and Cleveland cruz at Sleeping Village (Fri 8/25). Handel’s choral-orchestral whammy Dettingen Te There are a few stadium shows and festivals, of hardcore titans Ringworm. In Pilsen, Tierra Roja and Los Sudakas perform Deum (Pritzker Pavilion, Fri 8/20-Sat 8/21). Pritz- course: Megadeth and Lamb of God at Hollywood The past year and a half has proved that Chica- Andean folk, boleros, son cubano, and son jarocho ker Pavilion also hosts a Grammy Legacies con- Casino Amphitheater (Thu 9/9), Guns N’ Roses go’s metal scene can’t be stopped by a submicro- at Wings Fire House on Western at 25th, a second- cert (Thu 9/16) featuring Eighth Blackbird, tenor at Wrigley Field (Thu 9/16), Faith No More and scopic infectious agent. (To quote 3rd Rock From fl oor restaurant that hosts live music (Fri 9/3). Karim Sulayman, performance poet J. Ivy, singer- at Riot Fest (Douglass Park, the Sun on viruses: “They are stealthy, but they are Other upcoming lineups at Wings Fire House songwriter and actress Tarrey Torae, and a world Fri 9/17-Sun 9/19). But if you like it heavy, the club stupid.”) With vaccinations on the rise and clubs include Latinx funk, , and soul with OvejaNegra, premiere by Pamela Z. shows are every bit as exciting. instituting stricter COVID-19 safety policies, we MuTaTe, Mr. Funko, and DJ Gildelgar (Fri 8/27); Lat- That same day, Ear Taxi kicks off its Spotlight death-metal pioneers Deicide play Reg- can aff ord to hope the city will never know a time inx rock with Las Cruxes, Kelroy, and Rai (Fri 9/10); series with the debut of Rhythm Is Image, focus- gies Rock Club with Canadian death-metal legends without live metal again. —R    and an homage to Mexican pop group RBD called ing on works that treat sound as a tactile phenom- Kataklysm and reunited slam unit Internal Bleeding Tributo Celestial that’s sure to please lovers of enon (Constellation, Thu 9/16). Later that weekend (Sun 8/22), and Nashville scuzz rockers Thelma & cheesy 90s Latinx pop (Sat 9/11). Chicago- based Kosmologia, the brainchild of com- the Sleaze play Liar’s Club with Chicago-based The city’s ¡Súbelo! showcase (Harrison Park, Sat poser Carmen-Helena Téllez, brings Téllez’s own intergalactic weirdos Beastii (Tue 8/24). LATINX 9/4) will feature Mexican rap-rock band Molotov piano works into with Bach’s (PianoForte, The end of the week provides a hesher’s bounty of and other Latinx performers. SummerDance in the Sat 9/18-Sun 9/19). doom and stoner-rock bands: Freedom Hawk, High Ruido Fest falls on the first weekend of Chicago Parks includes cumbia by Quinto Imperio (Davis Fi h House Ensemble mounts an outdoor con- Reeper, Black Road, and Uncouth at Reggies Music in Tune, featuring smooth City dance-pop Square Park, Wed 9/8) and salsa by Chicago Latin cert in collaboration with the American Indian Cen- Joint (Thu 8/26) and midwestern stoner-metal vet- band Little Jesus, local retro-pop trio the Mini Groove (Portage Park, Wed 9/15). ter’s Big Drum Ensemble, featuring commissions by erans Bongzilla at Beat Kitchen (Fri 8/27). If power Projects, Miami-based Venezuelan singer Maye, Kombi hosts Kumbiaholics at Simone’s (Sat 8/28), Shawn Okpebholo and Patrick O’Malley; the water- metal and laser light shows are your thing, you can and many more. Old-school Latin-alternative icons but if you’re looking for a diff erent fl avor, DJ Flores cycle-themed program also includes “In Wiscon- rev up for the week ahead with Immortal Guardian Café Tacvba, Panteón Rococó, and Caifanes head- Negras (vocalist for doom-metal band Rosaries) sin Woods” by composer and Lenape Center co- and Paladin at WC Social Club (Sun 8/29). line, along with Puerto Rican reggaeton star Ivy and DJ MaddJazz host a goth cumbia night at Sub- director Brent Michael Davids (Brushwood Center The onslaught continues over Labor Day week- Queen. Don’t miss producer Camilo Lara and his terranean (Fri 8/27). at Ryerson Woods, Sun 9/19). The same a ernoon, end. Noisy hardcore group Knocked Loose head- group Mexican Institute of Sound, Afro-Colombian Celebrating 50 years of promoting and preserv- vocal quartet Fourth Coast Ensemble premieres

14 CHICA OREADER/CHICAGOINTUNE - AUGUST   ll ROUNDUPS

Sterling Hayes COURTESYTHEARTIST Negative Scanner VITAPHOTO

A Brush With Our Time, based on the poetry of Zen pop troubadours , and beloved when its exhibits are still open. The fi rst show to Fans of motorcycles and hot rods unite at Moto- artist Kazuaki Tanahashi; Tanahashi will paint large- psychedelic act Animal Collective. Former Sonic fall within Chicago in Tune features reedist Mwata blot (outside Cobra Lounge, Fri 8/27-Sun 8/29), scale enso calligraphy around the space (Ruggles Youth bassist Kim Gordon plays on Saturday (with Bowden (Tue 8/24), a second-generation member whose musical component includes Hall at Newberry Library, Sun 9/19). a solo date Fri 9/10 at Thalia Hall), and prismatic of the Association for the Advancement of Cre- legends Nekromantix, Las Vegas rockers the Delta Access Contemporary Music’s season start- glam-rock star Yves Tumor plays on Sunday (with ative Musicians (AACM), a Chicago institution Bombers, and Chicago punk and ska acts such as er includes guests Nadia Sirota (the violist and an a ershow that night at the Empty Bottle). Thur- founded in 1965 to support the autonomy of exper- Mystery Actions, the Crombies, and Aweful. podcaster of Meet the Composer fame) and Liam ston Moore, also a former member of , imental Black artists. The following week’s concert PorchFest Roscoe Village (Sun 8/29) presents Byrne (bass viol) playing Donnacha Dennehy’s Tes- has two shows at the Bottle later that week (Tue (Tue 8/31) is by the Alexander McLean Project, a live music on 15 porches around the north-side sellatum (Davis Theater, Thu 9/9). The Frequency 9/14-Wed 9/15). group led by vocalist Dee Alexander and guitarist neighborhood, with a full lineup and porch map Series at Constellation remains reliably intrepid: At Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion, Exper- John McLean. —J MK provided to those who register online. percussionist Patti Cudd delivers a live rendition imental Sound Studio presents a series of wide- Labor Day weekend is stacked with big music of her decadent still motion, released by new local ly varied 30-channel sound installations that take events. Delmark Records, Earwig Records, and the label Sideband Records (Sun 8/22), and pianist Shi- full advantage of the gridlike trellis of overhead Rockwell Business & Residents Association present An Costello transforms famous collectively impro- speakers spanning the lawn. The installations FESTIVALS the Rockwell Blues & Jazz Street Stroll (Sat 9/4), vised pieces (Terry Riley’s In C, Julius Eastman’s will be active roughly one day per week through- a daylong fest on Rockwell between Irving Park Stay on It, and Louis Andriessen’s Workers Union) out Chicago in Tune, for two hours each day; the Last summer’s festival season was canceled before and Berteau; the headlining set by the Delmark All into solo arrangements (Sun 9/19). six 20-minute works are by Whitney Johnson it began, but as vaccines tamped down new infec- Stars Band includes appearances by Jimmy John- If you have to be choosy this summer, though, (aka Matchess), I Gusti Ngurah Kertayuda & Bill tions this spring, it felt like we might be head- son, Jimmy Burns, Sharon Lewis, and others. The choose opera. Elastic Arts’ AfriClassical series Parod, Stephan Moore, Kitundu, Kioto Aoki, and ing out of the woods. Then the Delta variant took new ARC Music Festival hosts two days of elec- passes the baton to Ayanna Woods, whose ensem- Natalie Chami (aka TALsounds). ESS also hosts a over and undid what we thought we knew about tronic music (Union Park, Sat 9/4-Sun 9/5), with sets ble performs music from FORCE!, Anna Martine concert series at Lake Forest College that cele- COVID. Mixed signals from politicians and public from house and techno luminaries such as Derrick Whitehead’s collaborative “punk opera” about brates ephemeral but powerful experiences. Art- health offi cials fueled the confusion: Masks or no Carter, DJ Heather, and Hiroko Yamamura. In case women and femmes of color sharing a prison wait- ists include avant-garde vocalist Carol Genetti (Sat masks? Are outdoor events still safer than indoors? that’s not enough dancing, the North Coast Music ing room (Sat 8/28). And Third Eye Theatre Ensem- 9/11) and taiko drummer Kioto Aoki (Sat 9/18). How likely is a vaccinated concertgoer to get a Festival features the likes of Kaskade, Louis the ble phoenixes itself from pandemic ash with a Elastic Arts reliably books experimental music breakthrough infection standing in line for a porta- Child, Zeds Dead, and GRiZ (SeatGeek Stadium, bewitching double bill: the midwest premiere of in many genres, and the month of Chicago in Tune potty—or to pass that infection along? Fri 9/3-Sun 9/5). Kamala Sankaram’s The Infi nite Energy of Ada Love- is no exception. JG Thirlwell of Foetus will deliver Every photo of a sea of fans at The Pitchfork Music Festival descends on Union lace and a commission by Elizabeth Rudolph called an electroacoustic audiovisual performance called fueled fears that the fest would be a superspread- Park (Fri 9/10-Sun 9/12) with an impressive mix of Petticoats & Sliderules (Edge Theater, Fri 9/17- “Silver Mantis” (Sat 9/11), and the underrated Ohio er. As of this writing, its impact remains unclear, , rap, soul, and experimental music, fea- Sun 10/3). —H  E  trio of Jayson Gerycz, Jen Powers, and Matthew but new COVID cases are rising steeply. That said, turing headliners Phoebe Bridgers, St. Vincent, Rolin will improvise a set of folk-jazz (Fri 9/3). there are still reasons to be optimistic about music and Erykah Badu. During the fi nal weekend of Chi- The Empty Bottle will present Nebraska’s festivals during Chicago in Tune. Vaccination, in cago in Tune, Riot Fest returns to Douglass Park favorite queer electro-industrial leather maniac, combination with precautions such as masking, (Fri 9/17-Sun 9/19), bringing a roster of cult favor- EXPERIMENTAL Plack Blague, sharing the bill with local no-wave social distancing, testing, and self-quarantining, ites (including a reunited Mr. Bungle) and a slate punk-metal duo Ozzuario and a DJ set from Him alleviate a huge amount of risk. of headliners that mixes hip-hop and rock: Run the “Experimental” is more a how than a what, and Hun (Fri 9/3). A few days later (Mon 9/6) it hosts a The eclectic Millennium Park Summer Music Jewels, Lupe Fiasco, Smashing Pumpkins, Coheed most of the shows here could’ve fit in at least night of performances from three Chicago natives: Series continues through mid-September at Pritz- and Cambria. one other category. The Pitchfork Music Festi- young guitarist extraordinaire Eli Winter, synthe- ker Pavilion. It includes Contemporary Indigenous In 2021, every music festival is subject to val (Union Park, Fri 9/10-Sun 9/12), one of the best sist Jordan Reyes, and Rebecca Valeriano-Flores, Voices, cocurated by Sicangu Lakota rapper Frank change. But with a little luck—and a lot of commu- such events in Chicago, features a slew of great guitarist and vocalist for postpunk band Negative Waln and featuring Leonard Sumner, Lyla June, and nity eff ort—Chicago’s festival season will give us a experimentalists on Friday’s lineup—including Scanner. Tall Paul (Mon 9/6). Afrodija Social Club (Mon 8/30) chance to create once-in-a-lifetime memories that sound-collaged dance-music project the So Pink The Museum of Contemporary Art presents its is a multidisciplinary performance by DJ Sadie can help us get through whatever comes next. Truth, frenetic postpunk mavericks Black Midi, art- Tuesdays on the Terrace jazz series at 5:30 PM, Woods that explores diasporic music and culture. —R    v ll AUGUST   - CHICAOREADER/CHICAGOINTUNE 15 Scan for the complete calendar of Chicago In Tune events on Do312!

do312.com/chicagointune   

16 CHICA OREADER/CHICAGOINTUNE - AUGUST   ll