Chicago Jazz Fest 2012 Preview
By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 31, 2012 4:15PM
Ken Vandermark (Photo Credit: Peter Fay)
The 2012 Chicago Jazz Festival kicked off Thursday with a host of performances at the Chicago Cultural Center and a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald at Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion. The fest moves over to Grant Park this weekend with artist-in-residence Ken Vandermark ready for his weekend close-up.
Vandermark, the tireless reedist and 1999 MacArthur Fellowship awardee who helped lay the foundation for the city's vibrant modern free jazz scene, will perform with his idol and mentor Joe McPhee 5 p.m. today at Roosevelt University's Ganz Hall (430 S. Michigan Ave., 2nd Floor); in a duo setting with Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love 2 p.m. Sept 1 at the Cricket Jazz and Heritage Stage; with his Resonance Ensemble 6 p.m. Sept. 1 at the Petrillo band shell; and with his Made to break Quartet at the Jazz on Jackson stage 2:20 p.m. Sept. 2.
The Jazz Institute of Chicago has managed once again to balance the festival’s programming between popular artists to attract casual jazz fans and progressive acts touted by the die-hard jazz-bos. The jazz musicians of tomorrow will have a place to hone their skills at the Chicago Community Trust stage. The big name acts will hold down the Petrillo Band Shell all weekend. Here are some of our picks to click.
Chicago Latin Jazz Ensemble
Co-founder Darwin Noguera’s move last year to New York to pursue a master’s degree in jazz performance at Manhattan School of Music hasn’t hurt his involvement with this Grammy-nominated group in the slightest. Noguera and Victor Garcia have brought CALJE a long way since their “Jazz en Clave” series at HotHouse, fusing a litany of Latin rhythms with youthful energy to create something that pays respects to artists like Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente and Danilo Perez while charting a course for the future of Latin Jazz. (6:30 p.m. Aug. 31, Pritzker Pavilion)
Dianne Reeves
Jazz Fest needs at least one singing diva for the canapéés and white wine crowd and Reeves is one of the most popular of her generation of singers. She isn’t my normal cup of tea but her smooth delivery, strong pipes, commanding stage presence and arrangements that border perilously close to smooth jazz territory will appeal to those who tend to only listen to jazz when they attend a Sunday brunch. (8:30 p.m. Sept. 1, Petrillo)
Pierre Dørge and New Jungle Orchestra
This Danish ensemble takes what Duke Ellington did with his Jungle Orchestra and adds a litany of international influences to their sound, drawing inspiration from China, Africa, the Middle East and Africa. (6 p.m. Sept. 2, Petrillo)
Steve Coleman and Five Elements
Steve Coleman, the leader of New York’s M-Base collective, does for jazz what Vernon Reid did for black rock musicians with the Black Rock Coalition: mashes elements of rock, jazz, and funk into a wholly original. Just don’t let Coleman hear you call it a style; he insists it’s a different way about creating music. He and his band Five Elements will serve as a bridge between Dørge and the festival’s closer, Allen Toussaint's "The Bright Mississippi" with guests Marc Ribot and Don Byron. (7:10 p.m. Sept. 2, Petrillo)