The Chicago Jazz Festival returned after a year of live streamed performances in 2020 and taking last year off entirely. This triumphant return featured the eclectic and diverse range you'd expect to see from the famed Chicago Jazz Festival. Day one of the festival was highlighted by local artists, emphasizing our city's contribution to the jazz scene!
The Chicago Cultural Center on Randolph and Michigan once housed the main library of Chicago. I cannot think of a more fitting place to kick off the Chicago Jazz Festival 2022. I have enjoyed many fine concerts and art shows at the center. Preston Bradley Hall sits under a Tiffany dome and has hosted every kind of music from gamelans to the Dame Myra Hess concerts. On Thursday, the Marlene Rosenberg Quartet jammed under the dome for an appreciative crowd. Marlene Rosenberg is a world renowned bassist who has played with Marian McPartland, Stan Getz, and other luminaries of the jazz world. Her band consisted of some serious players on the world stage. Mark Feldman on violin added shades of the avant garde reminiscent of Stephane Grapelli and Jean Luc Ponty. Scott Hesse on guitar added harmony and rhythm with on-point improvisation. Paul Wertico of Pat Metheny Group fame added solid drum beats and his usual improvisational flair. Rosenberg can jam on that bass doing melody and rhythm. The quartet played a solid and satisfying set of original compositions by Ms. Rosenberg like the gorgeous "American Violet", and some classics like Thelonious Monk's "Let's Cool One." The Marlene Rosenberg Quartet was sponsored by the Hyde Park Jazz Festival, which is in its 16th year and will kick off September 24 and 25 in various venues around the University of Chicago in Hyde Park.
Down the ramp from Preston Bradley Hall is the Claudia Cassidy Theater and the David Scott Quintet graced the stage courtesy of the South Side Jazz Coalition (SSJC). David Scott is a journeyman guitarist who played at one of my old haunts the Jazz Bulls with the group Insight. He has been on the West Coast for 30 years and has toured all over the world playing pop, rock, R&B, and of course—jazz. Scott put together a tight ensemble of Chicago players: Roger Harris on piano, Pete Ingram on bass, Malcolm Bates on drums, and the brilliant Audley Reid on tenor sax. A special treat was a fiery version of Gershwin's "Summertime" featuring vocalist and SSJC executive director- Margaret Murphy Webb. This was no mournful song from Catfish Row, but a merengue-beat exaltation of the season. Music by Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, and others were made their own with Scott's improvisational style on a gorgeous D'Angelico guitar. The South Side Jazz Coalition works to bring the legacy of jazz forward with free converts in the neighborhoods on the South Side. Under Murphy-Webb's guidance, SSJC has brought free concerts to the parks and porches of the South Side. It was a real pleasure to get a taste of what SSJC has given to the people of Chicago's South Side.