Evanston’s arts community has a new place to congregate, create and eat oven-baked pizza. The three-part collective on Chicago Avenue is comprised of an already bustling restaurant (Union Pizzeria), an event and performance spot (the S.P.A.C.E.) and a top-notch recording studio and membership club (the League of Creative Musicians). The triumvirate is the brainchild of jazz guitarist Dave Specter, restaurateur Steven Schwartz, real estate mogul Craig Golden and Stuart Rosenberg, former NPR radio personality. Rosenberg hopes the venue will become a home where Evanston’s artistes can show off their creative chops. “There’s a lot of great talent right in the area, but we all have to go out of town to find gigs. Why not have a place where the community can come together? Dance, drama, the spoken word, music, visual art… this is where we want it to happen.”
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.
