Without a doubt the most successful group to come from the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians was the Art Ensemble of Chicago. The quintet's classic lineup — Roscoe Mitchell, Joseph Jarman, Lester Bowie, Malachi Favors Maghostut and Famadou Don Moye — was a powerful musical force with a unique stage presence unseen in free jazz musicians. As recently as 2006, the AEC was still a concert draw, even after the deaths of Bowie in 1999 and Favors in 2004. more ›

This weekend brings the 31st installment of the Chicago Jazz Festival, packing Grant Park with its usual solid mix of local, national, and international acts. The Festival is broadly split into daytime and nighttime slates, with the afternoon performances spread over three stages: Jazz on Jackson, the Jazz Heritage Stage, and the first new stage added in a decade, the Young Jazz Lions stage, which will feature high school and college groups from the metropolitan area. Once the clock strikes 5:00 p.m., things will switch over to the Petrillo Music Shell for the headliners. Check out this map for help with navigation. The full schedule is available on the websites of the City of Chicago and the Jazz Institute of Chicago, but make sure to check out the handy-dandy grid that the City provides for the best sense of what's happening where. more ›