Four new exhibits worth a look

The Chicago Cultural Center is worth visiting at any time but try to get there to see an exhibit up now that brings back Chicago's musical legacy.
The Chicago Cultural Center is worth visiting at any time but try to get there to see an exhibit up now that brings back Chicago’s musical legacy.

You know Chicago’s heart beats in time to jazz, blues and ragtime and turns dramatic with modern gospel. So a new exhibit, starting this weekend at the Chicago Cultural Center, that brings back the history of the city’s music legacy is an exciting event.

Up north in Glencoe, an important exhibit is going up next weekend at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It paints eye-catching, environmentally-driven botanical stories.

Also next weekend, a world renown painter’s disturbing views of the human condition opens at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Then, another picture of life in Chicago, the good, the bad, the real, opens the following weekend at AIC.

 

“Bronzeville Echoes: Faces and Places of Chicago’s African American Music”

Located in the Chicago Cultural Center’s Garland and Landmark Chicago Galleries, “Bronzeville Echoes” is filled with such artifacts as 1920s records, old sheet music and even a telephone booth. Up April 28, 2018 through Jan. 6, 2019,the exhibit is an excellent way to become acquainted with the city’s musical history. Presented by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, entry is free. The Chicago Cultural Center is at 78 E. Washington St. BTW The building itself is worth a visit. For more information visit DCASE Events.

“Against Forgetting”

The show is a non-forgettable statement by Santa Barbara-based artist Penelope Gottlieb on what is happening in the plant world. The works, representative of the three groups: Extinct Botanicals, Vanishing Series, and Invasive Series, range from vibrant to reflective. The exhibit is up in the Joutras Gallery in Chicago Botanical Garden’s Regenstein Center, May 4 to Aug. 12, 2018. The Chicago Botanic Garden is at 1000 Lake Cook Rd., Glencoe. Entry to the Garden is free but there is a parking charge. For more information visit CBG Exhibitions.

“Ivan Albright”

A retrospective of this Chicago native known for his nightmarish paintings will be at the Art Institute of Chicago’s Gallery 273, May 4 through Aug. 5, 2018. Considered controversial, fascinating and macabre, his works made him the perfect artist to have painted “The Picture of Dorian Gray” for the 1945 movie. For more information visit Albright.

Along with visiting old favorite works see a couple of new exhibits at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Along with visiting old favorite works see a couple of new exhibits at the Art Institute of Chicago.

“Never a Lovely So Real: Photography and Film in Chicago 1950-1980”

The exhibit, whose title was taken from a Nelson Algren description of the city in Chicago: City on the Make, opens May 12 at the Art Institute of Chicago. Up in Galleries 1-4, the show reveals different sides of city during the second half of the 20th century. “Never a Lovely So Real” is part of Art Design Chicago sponsored by the Terra Foundation for American Art and the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. It runs through Oct. 28, 2018. The museum’s admission is fee based with some free days and times. The Art Institute of Chicago is at 111 N. Michigan Ave.. For more information  visit ARTIC/exhibition.

Enjoy!

Jodie

 

 

 

This Weekend: Entertainers perform for hunger relief

Heads up jazz fans.

The Green Mill features Chicago and touring jazz artists. Photo by Jodie Jacobs
The Green Mill features Chicago and touring jazz artists. Photo by Jodie Jacobs

It’s not too late to get over to a terrific jazz event. The 8th Annual Chi-Town Jazz Festival Supporting Hunger Relief ends this weekend. Tickets are only $20.

Tonight, Friday March 10, the Typhanie Monique Group with  the Sarah Marie Young Quartet and Aaron McEvers Quntet are performing at Winter’s Jazz club, 465 N. McClurg Ct.

Also tonight, Erwin Helfer is at the First Unitarian Church of Chicago, 5650 S. Woodlawn.

Tomorrow, Saturday March 11, Tammy McCann and Jeremy Kahn are at PianoForte, 1335 S, Michigan Ave. and the Ron Perrillo Quartet plus Bakerzmillion and Jon Deitemyer are at the Green Mill, 4802 N. Broadway.

For more info check ChiTown Jazz Festival’s facebook page.

Hot music for cold nights

 

The Green Mill features Chicago and touring jazz artists. Photo by Jodie Jacobs
The Green Mill features Chicago and touring jazz artists. Photo by Jodie Jacobs

The Green Mill is always a good choice for hot jazz on a cold winter night. But who would have thought to add the Civic Opera House to the mix?

 

The Green Mill

The Bruce Barth Trio Tour is landing at the Green Mill, Feb. 3-4, 2017. Barth on the piano, Dave Baron on the bass and Montez Coleman on drums will be heating the Green Mill Jazz Club from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and 8 p.m. to midnight Saturday. Green Mill is at 4802 N. Broadway Ave., Chicago, IL 60640 (773-878-5552. Cover is $15.

 

Civic Opera House

You know “Hamilton” pulls together hip hop, jazz, blues and pop. But you can thank opera star Renée  Fleming for showing Chicago that indeed, the city spawns great jazz, blues, pop, rock, gospel, folk, hip hop and classical music. To hear all that in one place snag a ticket to Chicago Voices. Saturday. On stage will be Kurt Elling, Shemekia Copeland, Jessie Mueller, Lupe Fiasco, Renée Fleming Michelle Williams, The Handsome Family, Matthew Polenzani, and John Prine. Fleming has been working with the Lyric’s outreach arm to encourage more Chicagoans to express themselves in music.  Click Chicago Voices to find out more.

For ticket information visit Lyric Opera/Concert or  call (312) 827­-5600. The Civic Opera House is at 20 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60606.