Oct 18 2008
My Pick Jazz Show of the Weekend
There are a lot of shows going on this weekend for jazz fans in Chicago. I wanted to pick one and recommend that one among the list graciously provided by WDCB radio. Of the list my pick for the weekend, if you have to get out and see one show (and I feel you do), check out the Douglas Ewart Inventions at the jazz club the Velvet Lounge.
The Velvet Lounge is now at a new location, so I can’t say for sure it is quite as cool as it once was, but the place is run by a jazz legend named Fred Anderson. The clubs is the quintessential jazz club that you imagine. It is small, and at one time it was smoke-filled. The band plays on a tiny stage only a few inches off the ground at the far end of a room about the size of a boxcar.
Well, at least, that is the way the club used to be. I have to confess that I have yet to get to the new location. The club is located at 67 E. Cermak Road Chicago, Illinois 60616.
It’s going to be cold this weekend here in Chicago. The time for outdoor festivals is pretty much over. Now is the time to pull out the sweaters and sweatshirts and begin to cocoon ourselves inside. In short, this is the time of year I love more than any other.
Well, you can’t find a better place than the Velvet Lounge to both cocoon and yet still enjoy great jazz music.
As for the band, well, according to information on the WDCB website:
“The Velvet Lounge presents Douglas Ewart and Inventions featuring: Baba Fred Anderson on tenor sax, Dee Alexander vocals and percussion, Duriel Harris on poetry and percussion, Edward Wilkerson woodwinds and percussion, Mwata Bowden woodwinds and percussion, Jeffrey Parker guitar, Darius Savage bass and Dushun Mosley on drums and percussion. “
So, check out that show and check out a classic club. Maybe it will feel like you’re back in the 1950s and jazz was all the rage and the musicians on the stage were high and there was smoke all over the club. I am not sure if those were really the “good ol’ days” but they were at least interesting.
