Paquito D’Rivera’s last of three Millennium Park concerts across a week’s time is also the opening of the park’s free summer jazz series, “Made in Chicago: World Class Jazz.” Taking a cue from the late Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nation Orchestra, of which D’Rivera was a member, D’Rivera leads a cast of Chicago musicians including Fareed Haque, Howard Levy, Liam Teague, Mark Walker, Tito Carillo, Angel Melendez, Jose Rendon, Willie Garcia and others to celebrate Gillespie’s cross-fertilization of Latin American and Caribbean music into the bebop sound that he originated with Charlie Parker. D’Rivera’s fellow United Nation Orchestra alumnus and Chicago Jazz Ensemble artistic director Jon Faddis will appear with that orchestra along with special guests and former Chicagoans Mark Walker and Dave Samuels in a program that will also include other Latin American-inspired jazz, including a piece by Chicagoan Elbio Barilari.
(Dennis Polkow)
June 22 at Pritzker Pavilion, Michigan between Randolph and Monroe, (312)742-7638. 6:30pm. Free.
Music 45: Who Keeps Chicago In Tune 2020 This year’s Music 45 arrives at an unprecedented moment. Our city’s musicians have responded to these crises with ingenuity, vigor and creative brio.
Cool Aid: A Review of Situation Chicago 2 The album does an outstanding job of bringing home the staggering sonic and stylistic range we deny ourselves when we return too often to the same genre well.
Wholly Holly: Christmas Music Blankets Chicago Pretty much every Blind Boys of Alabama gig feels like Christmas, so their holiday show at City Winery should pretty much tear the joint down.
