Continuing the celebration of its 75th season, the Grant Park Music Festival has released Sounds of Chicago's Lakefront: A Celebration of the Grant Park Music Festival, a 219-page look back at the history of both the Festival and the downtown lakefront area. For a coffee table-ish book, there's plenty of food for your noodle. The first part of the book is a history of "Chicago's frontyard," from the 1850s, when outdoor concerts began in Lake Park (as it was known then), through the countless landfill and construction jobs that brought Grant Park and Millennium Park to the museum- and concert-filled expanse of today. The second and larger section is a decade-by-decade look at the Festival's development, major events, and guest artists, with quotations from musicians, concert-goers, city officials, and other local notables, as well as archival excerpts from newspapers and magazines. more ›

The Grant Park Music Festival's 75th season gets started tomorrow evening at 6:30 p.m. at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. The anniversary celebration kicks off with concerts on Wednesday and Friday at the Pritzker Pavilion and on Saturday in the Harris Theater. more ›

Despite being one of the city’s most notorious warm-weather tourist hubs, Millennium Park just keeps bangin’ out some rather impressive locally oriented programming. This week is no exception, as the Park celebrates Blockbuster Week, a celebration of some of Chicago’s “most beloved cultural gems.” Two highlights, both of which come at no charge to you: more ›

Get lost in jazz master Sonny Rollins' sweet saxophonic stylings tonight at Millennium Park. more ›

One week from today we’ll be sitting in the sun (hopefully) listening to The Polyphonic Spree. We know everything doesn’t end and begin with Lollapalooza, so here are some concerts that are happening locally after the madness is over. Wilco in the Park – that should be the album they record when we, their fans, are past our prime and sit on park benches reminiscing about the good old days of mp3 players. Instead, Sky... more ›

The power of 300 voices rocked the Jay Pritzker Pavilion during “An Evening of Elegance” at the Chicago Gospel Festival last night, and that was just one act. We heard from Otis Clay, the Bady Brothers, and the Brown Sisters. "The Professor Thomas A. Dorsey Tribute" closed the evening and recognized Chicago’s own Thomas Dorsey, who is considered the Father of Gospel. Dorsey developed gospel music by combining Christian praise with the rhythms of jazz... more ›

Today’s modern world presents us with problems that we can’t even begin to fully comprehend. From scares ranging from bird flu to terrorism, we often find ourselves lost and seeking comfort. Fear not, dear Chicagoans. Help is on its way. Alderman Burton Natarus (42nd) is here to spare us from a plague that seeks to threaten all that is good in this world. That’s right, street performers. more ›

Chicagoist knows you dig architecture. And we also know that, sometimes, one heavyweight architectural event just isn't enough to scratch your architectural itches. Lucky for you, Millennium Park will be double-fisting it this evening with two high-profile architectural goings on: the awarding of the 2005 Pritzker Prize and the unveiling of the plans for the Art Institute of Chicago's new wing. We've told you a couple times about the Pritzker Prize, the architectural world's... more ›

Sunday cools things off a bit, but you can still catch a live taping of . Music events will continue throughout the day. Feeling ambitious? See all the weekend's events here. The weather is supposed to be nice, so slap on some sunscreen and head downtown. more ›