Isotope 217 Returns To Chicago

  I  

The jazz/funk/dub/rock group Isotope 217 will perform its first concert in four years at Chicago’s Empty Bottle on June 18. Isotope features cornetist Rob Mazurek, bassist Matt Lux, guitarist Jeff Parker, and drummers John Herndon and Dan Bitney.

Mazurek’s Exploding Star Orchestra will also perform in Chicago on May 31 at Hideout, June 3 at Dank German Cultural Center and June 7 at the Chicago Cultural Center.

For more information go to thrilljockey.com.



  • Jack_DeJohnette_by_Steve_Sussman.jpg

    ​Jack DeJohnette boasted a musical resume that was as long as it was fearsome.

  • Don_and_Maureen_Sickler_by_Richard_Halterman_copy_2.jpg

    Don and Maureen Sickler serve as the keepers of engineer Rudy Van Gelder’s flame at Van Gelder Studio, perhaps the most famous recording studio in jazz history.

  • Trio_aRT_courtesy_Trio_aRT_copy_3.jpg

    Trio aRT with its avalanche of instrumentation: from left, Pheeroan akLaff, Scott Robinson and Julian Thayer.

  • KurtElling_6.2.25_by_ElliotMandel-REV-6.jpg

    “Think of all the creative people I’m going to meet and a whole other way of thinking about music and a challenge of singing completely different material than I would have sung otherwise to my highest level in dedication to the moment,” Elling says about his Broadway run.

  • Pat_Metheny_Side-Eye_III_Jimmy_Katz.jpg

    Pat Metheny will perform with his Side-Eye III ensemble at ​Big Ears 2026 in Knoxville, Tennessee, next March.