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…
Soul singer Mavis Staples is set to headline the 2018 Chicago Blues Festival.
(Photo: Courtesy Chicago Blues Festival)Mavis Staples tops the bill for this year’s Chicago Blues Festival at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.
The festival, which began in 1984, is set to run June 8-10 and features Delmark Records marking its 65th anniversary with a spate of performances on Friday. A tribute to Little Walter is on tap for Saturday. And Fantastic Negrito, who won NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Contest in 2015, is among the Sunday performers, with Staples headlining the evening. The Chicago soul singer issued If All I Was Was Black on ANTI- Records in November.
A more detailed line-up is below.
Friday (65th anniversary of Delmark Records Celebration)
5:30-6:15 p.m.: Corey Dennison Band
6:30-7:15 p.m.: Mississippi Heat with guests Billy Flynn and Giles Corey
7:30-9:30 p.m.: Tribute to Those Who Came Before and Bob Koester
Saturday
5:30-6:30 p.m.: Selwyn Birchwood
6:45-7:45 p.m.: Willie Clayton
8-9:30 p.m.: Little Walter Tribute (featuring Billy Branch, Corky Siegel, Rick Estrin, Sugar Blue and more)
Sunday
5:30-6:30 p.m.: Fantastic Negrito
6:45-7:45 p.m.: Kenny Neal
8-9:30 p.m.: Mavis Staples
For more information about the festival, visit
its website here. DB
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…
Always a sharp dresser, Farnsworth wears a pocket square given to him by trumpeter Art Farmer. “You need to look good if you want to hang around me,” Farmer told him.
Sep 23, 2025 11:12 AM
When he was 12 years old, the hard-swinging veteran drummer Joe Farnsworth had a fateful encounter with his idol Max…
D’Angelo achieved commercial and critical success experimenting with a fusion of jazz, funk, soul, R&B and hip-hop.
Oct 14, 2025 1:47 PM
D’Angelo, a Grammy-winning R&B and neo-soul singer, guitarist and pianist who exerted a profound influence on 21st…
Kandace Springs channeled Shirley Horn’s deliberate phrasing and sublime self-accompaniment during her set at this year’s Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival.
Sep 30, 2025 12:28 PM
Janis Burley, the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival’s founder and artistic director, did not, as might be…
Jim McNeely’s singular body of work had a profound and lasting influence on many of today’s top jazz composers in the U.S. and in Europe.
Oct 7, 2025 3:40 PM
Pianist Jim McNeely, one of the most distinguished large ensemble jazz composers of his generation, died Sept. 26 at…
