This is a past event.
Umbrella Music Festival
Phone: 312-744-6630
Price: Prices vary
umbreallmusic.corg
When I wrote about the Umbrella Music Festival last year, I compared it to the Empty Bottle’s defunct Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music, which in the late 90s helped attract sustained attention to the Chicago scene. But Umbrella Music—a relatively new but increasingly ambitious local collective that books concerts year-round at the Hideout, the Hungry Brain, and Elastic, as well as this five-day extravaganza—isn’t just picking up where the Bottle left off. In fact Umbrella’s accomplishments may turn out to be more important. The collective presents more shows and has a more inclusive aesthetic, and because more people are involved in its programming—musicians Dave Rempis, Mike Reed, Josh Berman, and Ken Vandermark, plus fan-turned-organizer Mitch Cocanig—its infrastructure should be better able to cope with long-term change.
Last year the Umbrella Music Festival concluded with a showcase called “European Jazz Meets Chicago,” and this year—again with the help of the Cultural Center and various consulates and international arts organizations—it’s kicking off with a similar blowout, featuring musicians from Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, Germany, and the Netherlands. All but one are playing other gigs too, either before or after, and with only two exceptions they’re all collaborating with Chicagoans during their visits.
The rest of the schedule includes representatives of the AACM, top-shelf local working bands, and ad hoc groups built around visiting artists. There are also a few out-of-town or overseas acts not playing on day one, including brilliant Danish-born saxophonist John Tchicai and the superb sextet led by New York cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, making its Chicago debut.
A festival like this does more than give local musicians the chance to play with foreign luminaries—it also makes it easier for the locals to return the favor. Last year Umbrella organized its first European tour, sending the Rempis Percussion Quartet and Loose Assembly abroad for several weeks; it’s working on a package tour of the Balkans for spring 2009, and five Umbrella-affiliated bands are going to Europe on their own in the next few months. Of course veterans like Vandermark and guitarist Jeff Parker have been playing overseas regularly for years, but now the younger generation is getting the chance to show the rest of the world the exciting things they’re doing with Chicago jazz—and that only bodes well for the future. —Peter Margasak
wednesday5
Chicago Cultural Center
78 E. Washington, 312-744-6630, free, all-ages
Claudia Cassidy Theater
6:00 Christian Weber, Caroline Davis, Jeb Bishop, and Tim Daisy
7:30 Mikolaj Trzaska, Kent Kessler, and Michael Zerang
9:00 Zu
Preston Bradley Hall
6:45 Elisabeth Harnik, Taylor Ho Bynum, and Jeff Parker
8:15 Alexander von Schlippenbach & Paul Lovens
Randolph Street Cafe
10:00 Michiel Braam, Wilbert de Joode, and Michael Vatcher
thursday6
Velvet Lounge
67 E. Cermak, 312-791-9050, $15
9:00 Dave Rempis, Kent Kessler, and Michael Vatcher
10:00 Josh Berman Quintet
11:00 Alexander von Schlippenbach
friday7
Elastic
2830 N. Milwaukee, second floor, 773-772-3616, $15 requested donation, all-ages
9:00 Elisabeth Harnik, Matt Bauder, and Jason Roebke
10:00 John Tchicai
11:00 Bik Bent Braam (Chicago version)
saturday8
Hideout
1354 W. Wabansia, 773-227-4433, $15
9:00 Mikolaj Trzaska, Evan O’Reilly, Christian Weber c, and Tomas Fujiwara
10:00 John Tchicai & Hamid Drake
11:00 Douglas Ewart & Inventions
sunday9
Hungry Brain
2319 W. Belmont, 773-935-2118, $15 suggested donation
9:00 Jim Baker, Mars Williams, Brian Sandstrom, and Steve Hunt
10:00 Taylor Ho Bynum, Nicole Mitchell, Matt Bauder, Evan O’Reilly, Mary Halvorson, and Tomas Fujiwara
11:00 John Tchicai, Nicole Mitchell, Aaron Getsug, Jaimie Branch, Mary Halvorson, Josh Abrams, and Mike Reed
Last year the Umbrella Music Festival concluded with a showcase called “European Jazz Meets Chicago,” and this year—again with the help of the Cultural Center and various consulates and international arts organizations—it’s kicking off with a similar blowout, featuring musicians from Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, Germany, and the Netherlands. All but one are playing other gigs too, either before or after, and with only two exceptions they’re all collaborating with Chicagoans during their visits.
The rest of the schedule includes representatives of the AACM, top-shelf local working bands, and ad hoc groups built around visiting artists. There are also a few out-of-town or overseas acts not playing on day one, including brilliant Danish-born saxophonist John Tchicai and the superb sextet led by New York cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, making its Chicago debut.
A festival like this does more than give local musicians the chance to play with foreign luminaries—it also makes it easier for the locals to return the favor. Last year Umbrella organized its first European tour, sending the Rempis Percussion Quartet and Loose Assembly abroad for several weeks; it’s working on a package tour of the Balkans for spring 2009, and five Umbrella-affiliated bands are going to Europe on their own in the next few months. Of course veterans like Vandermark and guitarist Jeff Parker have been playing overseas regularly for years, but now the younger generation is getting the chance to show the rest of the world the exciting things they’re doing with Chicago jazz—and that only bodes well for the future. —Peter Margasak
wednesday5
Chicago Cultural Center
78 E. Washington, 312-744-6630, free, all-ages
Claudia Cassidy Theater
6:00 Christian Weber, Caroline Davis, Jeb Bishop, and Tim Daisy
7:30 Mikolaj Trzaska, Kent Kessler, and Michael Zerang
9:00 Zu
Preston Bradley Hall
6:45 Elisabeth Harnik, Taylor Ho Bynum, and Jeff Parker
8:15 Alexander von Schlippenbach & Paul Lovens
Randolph Street Cafe
10:00 Michiel Braam, Wilbert de Joode, and Michael Vatcher
thursday6
Velvet Lounge
67 E. Cermak, 312-791-9050, $15
9:00 Dave Rempis, Kent Kessler, and Michael Vatcher
10:00 Josh Berman Quintet
11:00 Alexander von Schlippenbach
friday7
Elastic
2830 N. Milwaukee, second floor, 773-772-3616, $15 requested donation, all-ages
9:00 Elisabeth Harnik, Matt Bauder, and Jason Roebke
10:00 John Tchicai
11:00 Bik Bent Braam (Chicago version)
saturday8
Hideout
1354 W. Wabansia, 773-227-4433, $15
9:00 Mikolaj Trzaska, Evan O’Reilly, Christian Weber c, and Tomas Fujiwara
10:00 John Tchicai & Hamid Drake
11:00 Douglas Ewart & Inventions
sunday9
Hungry Brain
2319 W. Belmont, 773-935-2118, $15 suggested donation
9:00 Jim Baker, Mars Williams, Brian Sandstrom, and Steve Hunt
10:00 Taylor Ho Bynum, Nicole Mitchell, Matt Bauder, Evan O’Reilly, Mary Halvorson, and Tomas Fujiwara
11:00 John Tchicai, Nicole Mitchell, Aaron Getsug, Jaimie Branch, Mary Halvorson, Josh Abrams, and Mike Reed
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Chicago Cultural Center
- Loop 78 E. Washington
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312-744-6630
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