Discovering the treasures of the Chicago Jazz Archive

by Eric Benson

“There are things in there that only have been rumored to exist,” a record collector once told Deborah Gillaspie, the curator of the University’s Chicago Jazz Archive. After peering into the archiv...

Vandermark’s driving force keeps Powerhouse Sound in the groove

by Eric Benson

Chicago saxophonist Ken Vandermark is the great populist of avant-garde jazz. When most listeners think of the diverse music grouped under the avant-garde umbrella, grating dissonance, atonal impro...

Vail Film Festival: a celebration of excess

by Eric Benson

I lay silently on my back—eyes closed, mouth slightly open—as a tall blond woman massaged moisturizing oils into my face. Next to me, Ben Kolak, erstwhile Fire Escape chairman and Crime Fiction pro...

Shortcuts—Wynton Marsalis's From the Plantation to the Penitentiary

by Eric Benson

Wynton Marsalis has never been interested in just making music. From the beginning of his career, he’s delivered his jazz with a message—savaging jazz-rock fusion, exploring the legacy of segregati...

Shortcuts—Kenny Werner's Lawn Chair Society

by Eric Benson

Kenny Werner’s Lawn Chair Society is a hard album to pin down, other than to say that it’s ambitious and creative. The album is a swirl of styles and moods, moving between trippy planetarium music,...

Visting professor seeks obsessed writers

by Eric Benson

No one seems to know exactly how to categorize Ron Rosenbaum, the incoming Vare Writer-in-Residence at the University. Is he a narrative journalist, a creative nonfiction writer, or a cultural essa...

Voices STD (Stuff to Do)—March 2, 2007

by Eric Benson

Friday/ March 2 The chic and trendy will descend on Ida Noyes Hall for Moda’s Spring Fashion Show, a showcase of the work of Chicago- and campus-based designers. In addition to cutting-edge haut...

Potter Quartet forges harmony out of conflict

by Eric Benson

Saxophonist Chris Potter might be the hardest working musician in jazz. When he’s not touring with his own group or the Dave Holland Quintet—the jazz supergroup in which he’s played for close to 10...

Voices STD (Stuff to Do)—February 23, 2007

by Eric Benson

Friday/ February 23 The psychotherapeutic treatment of Beau Willie Brown, a black Vietnam War veteran, serves as the dramatic foundation of UT’s production of but i cd only whisper. The play, wr...

Voices STD (Stuff to Do)—February 16, 2007

by Eric Benson

Friday/ February 16 University Theater presents two short and innovative plays as part of “Lost and Found,” its second and final workshop week of the quarter. The first play, The No Way Home, is...

Shortcuts—Stefano Bollani's Piano Solo

by Eric Benson

Stefano Bollani’s Piano Solo might be the most lushly recorded album ever produced. Each time Bollani strokes a note, it glows with dark timbre, lingering with haunting resonance as it fades to sil...

For Caine, there are no borders

by Eric Benson

Jazz and classical music have a lot in common these days—a niche market, strong institutional support, sagging record sales—but when it comes to rhythm and harmony, they’re often far apart. While t...

Voices STD (Stuff to Do)—February 2, 2007

by Eric Benson

Friday/ February 2

Mississippi bluesmen, Carolina bluegrass players, bayou fiddlers, gospel divas and more will make their way to Mandel Hall for the U of C Folklore Society’s annual Fol...

Voices STD (Stuff to Do)—January 26, 2007

by Eric Benson

Friday, January 26

The Hilliard Ensemble, a world-renowned vocal group, has specialized in early music since its beginning in 1974. Yet the Ensemble is also an adventurous and flexible u...

The Uncommon Interview: Bob Saget

by Eric Benson

In recent years, comedian Bob Saget has transformed his image from Danny Tanner, the good-guy father figure on the long-running sitcom Full House, to a raunchy comedian who recently made waves with...

Voices STD (Stuff to Do)—January 19, 2007

by Eric Benson

Friday/ January 19

Clue, the 1985 film based on the infamous Parker Brothers board game, is a freewheeling, kitschy ride of a movie that didn’t impress too many critics but has gained an...

Voices STD (Stuff to Do)—January 12, 2007

by Eric Benson

Friday/ January 12

Director Darren Aronofsky kicks off Doc Films’ 75th anniversary celebration with a Q&A session and a screening of his latest film, The Fountain. Aronofsky directed the...

Top 5 Albums of 2006–Eric Benson

by Eric Benson

Odean Pope Saxophone Choir, Locked & Loaded: Live at the Blue Note There are few sounds as bounteous as nine saxophones roaring and swooning in joyful unison. Yet it’s the striking precision o...

STD (Stuff to Do)—November 17, 2006

by Eric Benson

Friday / November 17 Trio Mediaeval, the much-lauded Scandinavian threesome, brings its precise interpretations of early choral works to Rockefeller Chapel. The trio will present early Norwegian...

STD (Stuff to Do)—November 10, 2006

by Eric Benson

Friday / November 10 Classical music ensembles usually don’t have to worry about losing members to injury, but the Emerson Quartet faced that very predicament after violist Lawrence Dutton went ...

STD (Stuff to Do)—November 3, 2006

by Eric Benson

Friday / November 3 Broken Bride, the hot UT event of the week, is a half hour–long rock opera that features dragons, zombies, demons, and a heartwarming love story. Tickets have been going fast...

Borat make funny glorious nation of U.S. and A.

by Eric Benson

Part road movie, part absurdist documentary, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan is an outrageous travelogue, celebrating the sideshows of our Americ...

STD (Stuff to Do)—October 27, 2006

by Eric Benson

Friday, October 27 In the summer of 2005, a group of seasoned U of C filmmakers shot a wildly ambitious feature-length project entitled Crime Fiction. Over the next year and a half, they spent c...

Stanko smolders, HotHouse only lukewarm

by Eric Benson

The Tomasz Stanko Quartet walked onto the stage Wednesday night with characteristic poise and quiet intensity. This was perhaps the biggest stop on their 12-city American tour—Poland’s greatest jaz...

STD (Stuff to Do)—October 20, 2006

by Eric Benson

Friday, October 20 Christmas Eve is rarely fodder for absurdist dark comedy. Leave it to 2005 Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter to transform that silent night into a Kafkaesque tale of a government p...

STD (Stuff to Do)—October 13, 2006

by Eric Benson

Friday, October 13 COUP is holding Blues and Ribs, its annual festival of tunes and chow, featuring Charlie Love, The Nightburners, and Nellie “Tiger” Travis and her Men in Black. The evening wi...

Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin drones on as Ralph Towner finds spiritual inspiration

by Eric Benson

Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, Stoa, ECM Stoa, the major label debut album of Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, is a precise and pretentious attempt to unify minimalism, funk, jazz, and world music with a Zen aesthetic....

Friends with Money explores the bonds between women and their pocketbooks

by Eric Benson

In college, if we’re lucky, many of us will make friends whom we will have for the rest of our lives. Our lives will change, without a doubt, but hopefully some of these treasured bonds will remain...

Vandermark Quartet finds inspiration, perfect sound at the Empty Bottle

by Eric Benson

Playing to a sparse but attentive Tuesday night crowd at the Empty Bottle, the awkwardly named—but pristine sounding—Kessler/Lonberg-Holm/McBride/Vandermark Chamber Quartet balanced improvisational...

Jazz legends Coltrane and Monk exchange lively dialogue at Carnegie Hall

by Eric Benson

Jazz, like all art forms that become institutionalized, is always at risk of being engulfed by its own history. I know people who consider themselves jazz fans, but whose knowledge of the music abr...

Jarrett's Radiance shines through in latest endeavor

by Eric Benson

Keith Jarrett has never aspired to modesty. At the age of 26, Jarrett recorded an album of completely improvised solo piano, shunning the safety nets of accompaniment and song structure in order to...

Lloyd's Creek adds new facet to long career

by Eric Benson

Charles Lloyd's career has been a drama of many acts. In 1966, Lloyd's quartet with Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette, and Cecil McBee was the most popular group in jazz, slaying audiences from Monter...

Ahmad Jamal enlivens normally reserved jazz crowd

by Eric Benson

Jazz audiences are not usually the ecstatic sort. Even when in the presence of a legend, jazz audiences tend toward respectful appreciation rather than raucous adoration. Any musical audience's beh...

Like Clint Eastwood—or a fine wine— -- Tomasz Stanko just gets better with age

by Eric Benson

Jazz is often celebrated as a quintessentially American art form, but from its very beginning, it has captivated an international audience. Throughout the years, this global audience has helped sup...

Motian's trio builds Room with innovation, not rust

by Eric Benson

Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, and Joe Lovano are three of the most intriguingly adventurous players on today's jazz scene. All of them have crafted careers based on their versatility, moving between p...

Same Mother bears two sides of the same soul

by Eric Benson

If one were to study the tastes of jazz critics across the country and then attempt to use that information to create the ideal musician, that musician would probably be a lot like pianist Jason Mo...

Shortcuts - Jeff Parker

by Eric Benson

Over the past ten years, Chicago-based guitarist Jeff Parker has worked with artists from disparate sectors of the jazz world, moving between the mainstream and the avant-garde and fusion fringes. ...

Neither sonic terrorist nor the Holy Ghost, Brotzmann is simply sax dazzler

by Eric Benson

Albert Ayler, the dynamic and short-lived tenor saxophonist, famously embodied his part in what he considered the "Holy Trinity" of free jazz tenors: He was the Holy Ghost, Pharaoh Sanders was the ...

Dave Holland Quintet are musical mind readers

by Eric Benson

At its best, jazz music fosters a synergy of disparate elements. It is a medium through which the wailing melodies of a saxophone and the deep-grooved rhythms of the drums can understand each other...

Brad Mehldau evolves on latest jazz experiment

by Eric Benson

Over the past 10 years, Brad Mehldau has created a body of piano trio music to rival some of the most hallowed names in the jazz canon. When Mehldau broke onto the jazz scene in the early '90s, he ...

Mitchell and company: simplicity in improvisation

by Eric Benson

The Roscoe Mitchell Quartet crafted an evening of complex, ethereal music last Friday at HotHouse. It would be impossible to pigeonhole the group into a specific genre; certainly it is heavily inde...

Jazz torch passed to next generation at HotHouse

by Eric Benson

Von Freeman and Jason Moran, jazz stars of different eras, co-headlined an epic on Saturday night, October 18, at HotHouse. Jazz's past, present, and future were all celebrated with equal vigor. Th...