Oct 28, 2025 10:47 AM
In Memoriam: Jack DeJohnette, 1942–2025
Jack DeJohnette, a bold and resourceful drummer and NEA Jazz Master who forged a unique vocabulary on the kit over his…
Chicago harmonica ace Little Arthur Duncan died Aug. 20 at Kindred Hospital in Northlake, Ill. He was 74.
Born Feb. 5, 1934, in Indianola, Miss., Arthur moved to Chicago at age 16, where he heard and befriended Little Walter, who inspired him to take up the harmonica. While holding down a construction day job, he began performing around Chicago with John Brim, Floyd Jones, and Hip Lankchan. He would later own and operate the Artesia Lounge on Lake Street, which moved to West Madison Street and reopened as Backscratcher’s Social Club. Owning a club gave Arthur a regular place to perform, and he became a popular neighborhood attraction on the West Side. Twist Turner produced some of Arthur’s first recordings, which appeared first on cassette and then on Cannonball Records’ Blues Across America series.
As Arthur’s stature grew in Chicago, he recorded more, cutting two CDs for Delmark (Singin’ With The Sun and Live At Rosa’s Blues Lounge
Jack DeJohnette boasted a musical resume that was as long as it was fearsome. Oct 28, 2025 10:47 AM Jack DeJohnette, a bold and resourceful drummer and NEA Jazz Master who forged a unique vocabulary on the kit over his… 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. Sep 3, 2025 12:02 PM On the last Sunday of 2024, in the control room of Van Gelder Studio, Don and Maureen Sickler, co-owners since Rudy Van… Trio aRT with its avalanche of instrumentation: from left, Pheeroan akLaff, Scott Robinson and Julian Thayer. Sep 3, 2025 12:03 PM Trio aRT, a working unit since 1988, shockingly released its very first studio recording this summer. Recorded in… “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. Sep 9, 2025 1:18 PM Kurt Elling was back at home in Chicago, grabbing some family time in a late-June window between gigs. Sporting a smile… Pat Metheny will perform with his Side-Eye III ensemble at Big Ears 2026 in Knoxville, Tennessee, next March. Sep 9, 2025 12:19 PM Big Ears has announced the lineup for its 2026 festival, which will take place March 26–29 and include 250…
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