Taxi to ‘Tizita,’ Ethiopian-born musician Hailu Mergia has always put his music first
The virtuoso keyboardist is in town for Pitchfork concerts this next weekend.
All Stories
Remembering Ramsey Lewis, a remarkable Chicago jazz musician and story
Ramsey Lewis, one of the world's most prominent jazz pianists, died in his Chicago home on Monday at the age of 87. His career ranged from his trio's club gigs...
Op-ed: Free community college is an investment in the future. Unfortunately, the government disagrees.
Most mornings at 9:30, my laptop is on and I am speaking via Zoom to the arrangement of boxes that comprise my online class at Wilbur Wright College, City Colleges...
The beauty of new music is the many forms it takes — and that you can hear it all at Chicago’s Frequency Festival
The term "new music" connotes many things: Some of its works are improvised, other pieces are elaborately composed. Performers can create meaningful sounds through minimal gestures on familiar instruments or...
WITCH is back, and the magic of its wild Zambian funk-rock, ‘Zamrock,’ is intact
Once in the early 1970s, the Zambian band WITCH spent a weekend in prison. The incarceration was not its fault. The group was performing away from the capital, Lusaka, and...
Chuck Barksdale, singer for The Dells and a bass voice for the ages, dies at age 84
As The Dells' voices carried them from Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Ill., to global soul stardom, they became one of Chicago's most versatile, accomplished and enduring R&B groups....
Micah E. Salkind chronicles the rise of house music in Chicago
This May, the city will stage its annual House Music Festival in Millennium Park, and, if attendance matches last year’s event, 60,000 people will turn out to celebrate Chicago’s substantial...
Ramsey Lewis delivered a masterful farewell — maybe — at Jazz Fest
Just before pianist Ramsey Lewis’ Chicago Jazz Festival set on Saturday, he stood quietly and let one utterance set the tone for his milestone appearance. Mark Kelly, commissioner of the...
Lowrell Simon, famed Chicago soul singer-songwriter, dies at 75
Lowrell Simon, one of Chicago soul music’s foremost singer-songwriters, died Tuesday of multiple health complications in Mississippi at 75. He may be most recognized for leading the late-1960s/early-’70s vocal group...
Your guide to the World Music Festival
Songs, languages and instruments from around the planet will be heard on stages citywide during the annual World Music Festival Chicago. Among the array of classical ensembles, dance bands and...