It's a nice and balmy day outside, at least for November. But that doesn't mean that snow's not right around the corner - and with snow comes traditional Finnish blues. Rock out, Chicago! more ›

Is it still a royal ball if someone brings a beer-helmet? Funk / jazz all-stars Soulive and Lettuce held court at the Vic Theatre Saturday night. more ›

The iconic guitarist was struck with an unnamed illness that originally required surgery, but is now being treated with medication. more ›

Most Monday night's Patricia Barber holds down the fort at Green Mill. But Barber is on tour and filling in for her tonight and next Monday is none other than Yoko Noge's Jazz Me Blues. We're biased about Yoko and the pairing of her long-running band of jazz raconteurs with Chicago's most romanticized jazz club are a match made in heaven. You might even see some swing dancers in attendance, since the dance floor will be open. more ›

We felt like we needed a kick in the pants today, what with the cold and cabin fever and all. What better boost than to play some Albert Collins. Here's the Master of the Fender Telecaster with one of his signature tunes, "Iceman." more ›

We found some inspiration today just down I-57 to Memphis and Bobby Blue Bland. It's his birthday today and we've had this, probably his signature song, in our head all day. It just conjures up settings of walking through a deserted, rain-slicked downtown. more ›

The first time we saw Koko Taylor in concert was in the late 80's. Over the next two decades until her death, we saw her at least a half-dozen times; she played the same set every time. more ›

Back in the summer of '64, The Rolling Stones spent some time in the Chicago studios of Chess Records and its subsidiary, Checker, laying down tracks for the EP that would become Five By Five. The EP — the second-ever by the band — featured an A-side instrumental track "2120 South Michigan Avenue," the title an homage to the record labels and their studios where the Stones recorded. more ›

For some background music this morning we put in an album called "Funky Funky Chicago." This compilation of singles from 1968-1977 on various local labels has a few gems on it, including a song called "43rd Street Bus Stop," a song by Jimmy Mitchell and a harmonica player named Mack Simmons. more ›

Pretty certain we featured this video years back. As the saying goes, however, "one good turn deserves another." more ›

One of my favorite things about Halloween is tuning in to Steve Cushing's long-running radio program on blues, jazz and blues heritage, Blues Before Sunrise. Cushing's annual Halloween program, spanning an incredible five hours from midnight to 5 a.m., is a marathon that I rarely miss, even though he plays the same songs every year. It runs a close second to Cushing's annual Christmas program in keeping my attention. more ›

• The search is on in Wisconsin for a 9-year-old girl from Chicago who fell into Lake Michigan while kayaking.
• Responding to Stedman's comments from last week, Mayor Daley insists that the city really really does like Oprah.
• Two teens were wounded in an overnight shooting in Gage Park.

Blackhawks Hold Off Blues more ›

Derrick Rose predicted the Bulls would make the playoffs where they would play doormat to face LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavs. Those hopes took a shot last night when the Bulls hung tough but got burnt by the Phoenix Suns 111-105. Despite falling behind by double-digits in the first quarter, the Bulls fought back to take a halftime lead and a back-and-forth affair ensued in the second half. The Bulls actually led by four with under five minutes to play, but Phoenix hit clutch shots to finish the game on an 18-8 run and slide past the Bulls. Derrick Rose had 23 points to lead the Bulls' starters, but the bench also put in a great effort with 23 points from Ronald Murray, a 12-10 from Joakim Noah, and 12 points from Jannero Pargo. The Bulls are 1.5 games back of Toronto for that final playoff spot with eight games left to play. Next up is a trip to DC on Friday to take on the Wizards (6 p.m., CSN). more ›

The Blackhawks snapped a three-game losing streak as they skated past the St. Louis Blues 2-1 on Saturday night. Patrick Sharp scored his 17th goal of the season early in the first period and Jonathan Toews scored his 19th later in the period to give the 'Hawks a 2-0 lead. The lead held until late in the third period when St. Louis scored a power-play goal. Antti Niemi had a sterling night in goal, making 34 saves on 35 shots faced. The game also had some spicy moments, including a nice little tussle in the first period. The 'Hawks still trail the Sharks by four points for first place in the Western Conference. Next up is Dallas on Tuesday night (7 p.m., CSN). more ›

Just like the Bulls, the Blackhawks had their United Center homecoming spoiled by losing as the St. Louis Blues got the best of the 'Hawks 3-2. Patrick Kane got the 'Hawks off to a good start and a 1-0 lead with a backhand goal a little over seven minutes in to the game. But a bad second period sunk the 'Hawks as the Blues scored three straight goals in an eight minute span to take a 3-1 lead heading into the third period. Marian Hossa cut into the lead with a short-handed goal early in the third, but the 'Hawks weren't able to get any closer and the Blues held on for the win. The 'Hawks nearly doubled the Blues up on shots, 34-19, but the Blues made theirs count; Huet got the nod in goal with an ill Antti Niemi sitting out a scheduled start. The Phoenix Coyotes come skating into town Friday as the 'Hawks look to bounce back into the win column (7:30 p.m., CSN+). more ›

Don't look now but the Bulls have won four in a row after dusting Orland 101-93 last night. Derrick Rose led the Bulls with a solid 30-6-7, three other Bulls starters - Deng (14), Noah (10), and Hinrich (11) - scored in double figures and John Salmons scored 15 off the bench. The Bulls found themselves down by eight halfway through the second but went on a 15-2 run to the end the half up by four and started the second half on an 11-2 run to extend the lead. A 10-0 Orlando run in the fourth cut the lead to 5 and the Magic found themselves within 3 with less than 30 seconds to go but the Bulls hit 5 of 6 free throws to put the game away. Also put away - for now? Talk of Coach Vinny being canned. But, rest assured, we'll hear something at the next rough patch for the team. But the Bulls hope to avoid that when they welcome the OKC Thunder tomorrow night (7 p.m., CSN). more ›

Christmas day is just around the corner, and honestly we're a little anxious to get it over with. Nothing against good tidings and all that, but after a long day with the family and the fifth or sixth run of A Christmas Story, it's hard to fight the urge to sneak out the bathroom window and run to the nearest bar for some holiday-free fun. Even though most places will be closed down for the holy night, you can still head over to B.L.U.E.S. for a few non-eggnog drinks and a performance by Chicago favorite Big Time Sarah. more ›

Cristobal Huet locked things down in goal for the Blackhawks as they skated to a 3-0 shutout victory over the St. Louis Blues. The game was Huet's 2nd shoutout of the year and the 22nd of his career as he stopped all 27 shots he faced. Troy Brouwer scored late in the first and Brian Campbell followed a few minutes later with a power play goal to put the 'Hawks up 2-0 at the first intermission. Marian Hossa netted his fifth goal of the season late in the second and the 'Hawks cruised the rest of the way for the victory. Jonathan Toews had two assists on the night. Now at 21-8-3, it's the best start for the 'Hawks after 32 games since the '82-'83 season. The 'Hawks host the Bruins tomorrow night (7:30 p.m., CSN). more ›

Jesse Fortune, known the "Fortune Tellin' Man" and a contemporary of many Chicago's most famous blues legends has died. Fortune, 79, collapsed on stage during his first performance at Gene's Playmate Lounge (4239 W. Cermak). Fortune was pronounced dead at Mt. Sinai Hospital at 12:51 a.m. According to his biography, he performed with many of Chicago's all-stars, including Otis Rush and Buddy Guy. Fortune is one of several notable blues deaths this year including Koko Taylor on the eve of Bluesfest. more ›

After the death of blues legend Koko Taylor at age 80 this year, we were struck by Chicago's (arguably) most famous musical form can too easily slip between the cracks in favor of things like, well, Lollapalooza. So after Bluesfest, we took to the clubs - and we've been photographing bluesmen hard at work, all over the city, ever since. This week: the dueling bands at Kingston Mines.
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We know it's Obama's birthday today but we can't forget about those other famous Chicago Leos. Buddy Guy, one of the city's most famous living bluesmen celebrated his 73rd birthday in style last night at his blues club, Buddy Guy's Legends, 754 S Wabash. (See the rest of the night's photos.) more ›

There may only be three chords in a typical blues song - but that was no limit to musical variety this weekend. More than 600,000 people were expected to attended the annual free festival in Grant Park. And no matter what stage (or what club) the house was rocked. The best concert we saw (of the more than 60 acts who performed) was blues icon Bettye LaVette. Now 63, LaVette has been in the music business for more than 45 years, a fact she spent several minutes discussing as she transitioned through her set. Age has not proved a barrier though - LaVette even dropped the mic to sing unaided at some points Saturday night. more ›

The NHL announced today that the Chicago Blackhawks would be one of four teams opening the 2009-2010 season in Europe as part of a special series. The 'Hawks will head to Helsinki, Finland to take on the Florida Panthers in a two-game "home and home" series while the Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues will tangle in a pair of games in Stockholm, Sweden. Not so coincidentally: Finland and Sweden are the top two countries in terms of non-North American visitors to the NHL's website. While the Panthers have never played a game outside of North America in their existence, the 'Hawks have skated on the other side of the pond before. In September 1992, the Blackhawks and the Montreal Canadiens faced off in a pair of exhibition games at London's Wembley Arena. It will be the third straight year the NHL has opened a season overseas. more ›

The Blackhawks dug themselves an early hole, allowing two goals in the first seven minutes and finding themselves down to St. Louis 3-1 just a hair over halfway through a fight-marred first period. They fought back and forced overtime, but the Blues pulled out the victory in overtime, 4-3. Down 3-1, Dave Bolland brought the 'Hawks back with a short-handed goal in the second period, and then the equalizer in the third, his first two goals of the season. But a controversial hooking penalty called on Bolland in overtime led to the game-winner from St. Louis' Andy McDonald. Coach Quenneville said, “It was a tough call there at the end. I don’t think [Bolland] did anything wrong on the play. It was just a hard play.” Jonathon Toews reflected on the 'Hawks stumble out of the gate: “I think we dug ourselves a hole tonight. We battled back and had a chance to win. We can’t blame anybody but us for the slow start and the penalties that we took. It’s pretty simple to see what we didn’t do tonight.” Nikolai Khabibulin was in goal, allowing all four goals out of 30 shots. more ›

the shift is abrupt. more ›

We don't know about you, but if we managed to escape 63 counts of involuntary manslaughter after being hanged in the court of public opinion, we might try to go back to our lives, shut the hell up, and count our lucky stars. more ›

If you saw a haze hanging over downtown this morning...nevermind, that joke's too easy. The Doggfather kicked off a two-night stand at the House of Blues last night on his current tour promoting his new record, Ego Trippin' (due out March 11th), and left our ears ringing. more ›

Two years ago, in our review of Eleven City Diner on South Wabash, we compared Brad Rubin's tribute to classic Jewish delis and diners to the Blues Brothers. We said it was "too good to be a parody, not good enough to be the real thing." That still holds true, which is a blessing and a curse. Shortly after ours and other reviews started pouring in, Rubin pulled the plug on all night weekend service, which would have brought Eleven City closer to the genuine article. The prices are nothing to laugh at, either. We've had more than one friend chew us out on the prices after recommending the place. more ›

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