Howard Reich

Sure, hearing Mariah Carey belt out "All I Want for Christmas Is You" or Bing Crosby croon "White Christmas" over and over again can be tiring, but people who spout out this phrase get sick of Christmas music <a href="https://www.theactivetimes.com/featured/top-song-year-you-were-born">after listening to the radio</a> for half an hour. It must stink to be a Scrooge.

From Irving Berlin’s ‘White Christmas’ to James Brown’s ‘Santa’s Got a Brand New Bag’: Why Christmas classics never get old

December 21, 2020 at 1:00 p.m.

Why do we love Christmas music? We know all the obvious reasons: It conjures treasured memories of holidays past; it allows us to revel in the season's spirit simply by...

A Christmas salute to Chicago jazz legends Geraldine and Eddie de Haas from their son — a singer on ‘Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’

December 15, 2020 at 5:48 p.m.

It would be difficult to overestimate how much Geraldine and Eddie de Haas – a married couple – have given Chicago jazz. Singer Geraldine de Haas nurtured the long-gone (and...

Opera review: Lyric’s virtual ‘Pasion Latina’ celebrates music sung in Spanish

December 14, 2020 at 1:30 a.m.

The Spanish-speaking world has given singers a great deal to be thankful for, from high-flown operatic arias to easily accessible popular song. Both those idioms, and repertoire that fell somewhere...

Gerri Oliver, who made the Palm Tavern a nexus of Black culture in Chicago, dies at 101

December 10, 2020 at 7:58 p.m.

Louis Armstrong relaxed there between shows. So did Duke Ellington and Lena Horne, Muddy Waters and Count Basie, Quincy Jones and Nat King Cole, James Brown and Dinah Washington, and...

How Jeff Tweedy’s book inspired ‘Comfort and Joy’ from singer Liz Callaway

December 8, 2020 at 6:07 p.m.

One of this year's unlikeliest Christmas albums also happens to be one of its most endearing. Singer Liz Callaway certainly hadn't been planning on spending recent months recording, executive producing...

People view the annual ZooLights display at the Lincoln Park Zoo on Monday, Dec. 7, 2020.

The best classical recordings of 2020: CSO, Kevin Cole and James Lentini

December 16, 2020 at 2:59 p.m.

The pandemic did not stop artists from releasing important classical recordings in 2020. Here are the best: Kevin Cole: "Gershwin: Concerto in F" (Naxos). Until now, pianist Oscar Levant's historic...

Best jazz recordings of 2020: Maria Schneider, Matthew Shipp and Sharel Cassity

December 16, 2020 at 3:02 p.m.

Recorded music has been more important than ever during the pandemic, with most jazz clubs closed and only a few streaming performances. Following are the best jazz recordings of 2020:...

For Chicago’s classical and jazz scenes, rays of hope amid the despair of music in 2020

December 16, 2020 at 2:59 p.m.

For music lovers, this was a year of monumental losses and occasional triumphs, vast silences and sorely needed bursts of sound. Though there's no way to claw back the music...

‘Billie’ documentary offers eyes-wide-open look at the darker side of singer Holiday’s life

December 1, 2020 at 7:41 p.m.

Billie Holiday's tumultuous life story surely has been told more often, and in more ways, than that of any other female jazz singer. Books, films, plays, articles – the avalanche...

A holiday treat: Jorge Federico Osorio’s piano recital

November 25, 2020 at 12:00 p.m.

Here's something worth celebrating during the holiday weekend: a recital by the superb pianist Jorge Federico Osorio. Not in person, of course, but online via "Symphony Center Presents: On Demand."...

All Stories