By The Beachwood Rock Local Affairs Desk
You shoulda been there.
1. The Dyes at the Cobra Lounge on Tuesday night.
Posted on August 24, 2012
Meet Hannah Ford
Chicago Drum Goddess
“Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Hannah had the privilege of studying with some of the world’s greatest drummers and teachers, including Diane Downs, Louie Bellson, Ruben Alvarez, Jerry Steinholtz and Ndugu Chancler,” Drummerworld reports.
“After moving to Chicago when she was 12, Hannah took advantage of new opportunities to study and perform with mentors such as Peter Erskine, Stanton Moore, Danny Seraphine and Johnny Rabb . . .
“Following high school, Hannah accepted a scholarship to attend the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University where she continued her studies with multiple Grammy winner, Paul Wertico.
“Hannah credits college with helping to expand her knowledge of music and allowing her to become a better, more versatile musician. At the same time she was playing in the school orchestral, percussion and jazz ensembles, Hannah was also fortunate to work with major touring musicians like Ignacio Berroa, Wynton Marsalis, Butch Miles, Jeff Berlin and others.
“Now, with college behind her, Hannah maintains a calendar full of live and studio sessions for top pros as well as her own projects, Pandorum, The Hannah Ford Band – and her new rock band Bellevue Suite – yet still manages to find time to do a bit of writing and teaching.”
Ford stopped by Vic’s Drum Shop in Chicago recently. Here’s a look-see.
Posted on August 23, 2012
Local Music Notebook: From The Boy Illinois To Billy Branch
By The Beachwood Rock Local Affairs Desk
A loose collection of whatnot.
1. The Boy Illinois.
Posted on August 21, 2012
The Weekend in Chicago Rock
By The Beachwood Rock Local Affairs Desk
You shoulda been there.
1. The Brian Jonestown Massacre at the Metro on Saturday night.
Posted on August 20, 2012
The Week in Chicago Rock
By Steve Rhodes
You shoulda been there.
1. System of a Down at the arena in Rosemont on Wednesday night.
Posted on August 17, 2012
Remembering Vonski
A Tribute To Iconoclastic Sax Man Von Freeman
“They said I played out of tune, played a lot of wrong notes, a lot of weird ideas. But it didn’t matter, because I didn’t have to worry about the money – I wasn’t making (hardly) any. I didn’t have to worry about fame – I didn’t have any. I was free.”
Chicago jazz legend Von Freeman died Saturday of heart failure. Here’s a roundup of some beautiful remembrances and some essential video.
*
“Revered around the world but never a major star, worshipped by critics and connoisseurs but perpetually strapped for cash, the towering Chicago tenor saxophonist Von Freeman practically went out of his way to avoid commercial success,” Howard Reich writes for the Tribune.
“When trumpeter Miles Davis phoned Freeman, in the 1950s, looking for a replacement for John Coltrane, Freeman never returned the call.
“When various bandleaders – from Davis to Billy Eckstine to King Kolax – tried to take him on the road, where his talents could be heard coast to coast, Freeman regularly turned them down. His refusal to leave Chicago during most of his career, except for the briefest out-of-town engagements, cost him incalculable fame and fortune but also enabled him to create some of the most distinctive, innovative work ever played or recorded on a tenor saxophone . . .
“Von Freeman always considered his relative obscurity – which lasted nearly until the final years of his career, when the world started to recognize his genius – a blessing. It enabled him to forge an extremely unusual but instantly recognizable sound, to pursue off-center musical ideas that were not likely to be welcomed in the commercial marketplace.”
Posted on August 14, 2012
The Weekend in Chicago Rock
By The Beachwood Rock Local Affairs Desk
You shoulda been there.
1. Guided by Voices at the Metro on Saturday night.
Posted on August 13, 2012
The Week in Chicago Rock
By The Beachwood Rock Local Affairs Desk
You shoulda been there.
1. Jason Ringenberg and Robbie Fulks at the Hideout on Monday night.
Posted on August 10, 2012
Local Music Notebook: Marshall Tucker Man, Mick & Muddy, Seraphine And The Fuzz
By The Beachwood Rock Local Affairs Desk
A loose collection of whatnot.
1. Longtime Marshall Tucker Band member Stuart Swanlund died in his sleep of natural causes at his Chicago home on Saturday. The band’s statement:
Swanlund joined The Marshall Tucker Band in 1985 where his slide guitar work added a new dimension to the band – on newer material as well as standards like “Searchin’ For A Rainbow,” “Can’t You See,” and “Fire On The Mountain.”
“Stuart, or ‘Stubie’ as we called him, was the longest standing member of The Marshall Tucker Band from 1985, onward,” says Marshall Tucker Band founding member Doug Gray. “He recently took a hiatus from the road due to health problems and even with those issues, Stuart’s enthusiasm onstage never wavered. Our thoughts and prayers are with Stuart’s family and those who knew him. We have lost a great friend.”
Posted on August 8, 2012
Lolla Got Lucky
By Steve Rhodes
“‘We got lucky with the weather tonight, didn’t we?’ Jack White asked from the stage Sunday night as he closed out Lollapalooza 2012, the eighth edition of the giant corporate concert that’s become Walmart on the Lake,” Jim Derogatis reports on his WBEZ blog.
“In fact, Austin, Texas-based concert promoters C3 Presents and city officials are the ones who should be counting their blessings after a severe-weather evacuation Saturday afternoon shunted more than 60,000 people out of Grant Park on to Michigan Avenue as a torrential downpour, intense lightning and winds up to 60 miles per hour descended on the lakefront. As WBEZ’s Kate Dries observed, ‘It’s pure luck that things went as smoothly as they did.'”
Indeed.
Posted on August 7, 2012