Chicago Jazz Fest Laid Back For The Hepcats

By Staff in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 5, 2013 4:45PM

Summer’s fading fast, and we decided to spend part of our Labor Day weekend soaking up a little music, so we headed to Millennium Park for the 35th Annual Chicago Jazz Festival. This marked the first year the festival stages were all contained entirely within Millennium Park, and we thought that that was a nice change. Information was easily accessible; each stage area had its own staff, seating was more plentiful than expected, and concession lines moved smoothly, with a fair amount of options for food and drink.

One of our stops was the Chicago Cultural Center, where we enjoyed a little air conditioning and a cushy seat to find out “What Is This Thing Called Jazz?” The event took on the characteristics of a discussion panel, and while poorly attended, we found it a good refresher for seasoned musicians and a good introduction for the uninitiated. It gave us a chance to get into the brains of several of Chicago’s finest jazz minds, with Paul Wertico and the “Rhythm Method” showing us some new technological toys, like the tc-11 iPad instrument and BeBot, and giving us some insight into how jazz musicians collaborate.

Properly cooled and primed for jazz, we headed to the Heritage Stage and caught the rest of Chévere de Chicago’s set. Their high-energy Latin jazz and talented soloists made us wish we’d had more time with them. The proximity of the stages made it easy to drift though, and drift we did, to a front seat at the Pritzker Pavilion for Stafford James’ String and Percussion Ensemble featuring M’BOOM. It had a decidedly more formal feel, but the strings and talented rhythm section were not to be missed. We capped off the day with Gregory Porter before heading out.

Overall, we found this a laid-back festival that was fun to explore. It offered something for everyone from the jazz cat to the jazz kitten and was well organized within the confines of Millennium, making it no work at all to enjoy great jazz in the gorgeous weather.

By: Marielle Shaw