blues – Chicago Theater and Arts

Around Town revisits Millennium Park concerts and takes a field trip to MSI

Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park hosts summer concerts. (JJacobs photo)

DCASE Millennium Park Concerts

Yes concerts across Chicago have been cancelled or postponed so the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events is doing “Home,” a concert series you can catch on DCASE’s Youtube and Facebook pages..

It starts this weekend, May 22-23, with a DJ House mix that would have been in the city’s 5^th Annual House Music Festival.

Next up, Gospel singers will be on the series May 29-30 because of Chicago’s 35^th Annual Gospel Music Festival. That will be followed by blues, June 5-7 for what would have been the 37^th Annual Blues Fest. For more information on the concerts, visit youtube/com/ChicagoDCASE.

Museum of Science and Industry. City of Chicago (MSI photo) — The Clarence Darrow Bridge is behind the Museum of Science and Industry. (MSI photo)

HitPlay Chicago Museum Series

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s field trip goes to the Museum of Science and Industry

The field trip went live at HitPlay on Wednesday, May 20 and will be on WTTW the PBS TV station today, May 22 and again midday Monday, May 25.

An impressive building dating to the 1893 Columbian Exposition, MSI is known for, among other things, its coal mine experience. However, on this visit viewers will come across science experiments they may not be familiar with,and the popular indoor tornado section they may know of in the science Storm exhibit.

One stop that viewers may find fascinating and very current, is the Wanger Family Fab (fabrication) Lab that can make face shields.

Stay with the video to the Big Train Story where model trains go from Chicago to Seattle past well-known city buildings and mountain scenery.

For past field trips scroll down on HitPlay Chicago to see the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum and the National Museum of Mexican Art.

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.

“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 20^th 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

Hot music for cold nights

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.

Unique concert salutes the musical culture of Chicago

UPCOMING

You won’t have to ask what opera star Renée Fleming, Broadway star Jessie Mueller, folk singer/writer John Prine, R&B/gospel artist Michelle Williams, New Queen of Blues Shemekia Copeland, tenor Matthew Polenzani and The Handsome Family husband-wife duo have in common.

Chicago Voices concert features several stars and music genres.

Merely, snag a ticket to their concert, Feb. 4, 2017 at the Civic Opera House, to see them perform.

You will experience a blend of styles and hear the program is a tribute to Chicago’s musical influence.

Mixing genres might sound unusual but think ‘Hamilton,’ a blockbuster musical that uses several styles (it’s not just rap or hip hop).

Led by Music Director Doug Peck, a five-time Jeff Award recipient, the eclectic program features and mixes musical styles.

Fleming, a creative consultant for the Lyric Opera, has been working with Lyric Unlimited, an outreach branch, to encourage Chicago residents to tell their stories through a variety of musical and rhythmic genres.

The legendary opera singer and Lyric Unlimited call the program Chicago Voices. Click on it to find out more.

“When violence in Chicago and a divided America are the headlines, Chicago Voices offers an example of unity, ” said Fleming. “On Feb. 4, we raise our voices to honor the musical heritage and rich diversity of the city we love,” she said.

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