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Music

How Stereo Was Sold To A Skeptical Public

By Jonathan Schroeder and Janet Borgerson/The Conversation

When we hear the word “stereo” today, we might simply think of a sound system, as in “turn on the stereo.”
But stereo actually is a specific technology, like video streaming or the latest expresso maker.
Sixty years ago, it was introduced for the first time.
Whenever a new technology comes along – whether it’s Bluetooth, high-definition TV or Wi-Fi – it needs to be explained, packaged and promoted to customers who are happy with their current products.
Stereo was no different. As we explore in our recent book, Designed for Hi-Fi Living: The Vinyl LP in Midcentury America, stereo needed to be sold to skeptical consumers. This process involved capturing the attention of a public fascinated by space-age technology using cutting-edge graphic design, in-store sound trials and special stereo demonstration records.

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Posted on December 14, 2018

Ald. Cardenas Says Spring Awakening Is Getting A Wake-Up Call!

By The Office Of Ald. George Cardenas

Alderman [George] Cardenas was shocked to learn that React Presents recklessly announced grand plans for a music festival that draws 30,000 to 40,000 people a day at Douglas Park in the summer of 2019. This group never consulted him, or any of the many important local organizations and resident groups that make up the vibrant community surrounding Douglas Park.
“I am not against music, and I am a big fan of other festivals, but this group did this without my consent and more importantly, without the community in mind,” Cardenas said.

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Posted on November 12, 2018

Horn From The Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story

The South Side White Kid’s Blues

“Chicago filmmaker John Anderson’s 2018 documentary Horn from the Heart: the Paul Butterfield Story is a detailed and passionate tribute to the life and career of Chicago vocalist and harmonica player Paul Butterfield,” Daniel Patton writes for Reel Chicago.
“Known to most fans as an incomparable musician, Butterfield was also an influential bandleader, a charismatic performer, a fierce civil rights advocate and a cultural revolutionary.
“While documenting the life of the Hyde Park native, Anderson recounts a bluesy chapter of Chicago history, explains an evolution of American music, and describes Butterfield’s commitment to desegregation.
“With an endless supply of first-hand accounts, vintage clips, historic photos, and old concert posters, he amplifies the harmonica player’s influence on the nation’s cultural transformation from acoustic folk to psychedelic improvisation during the 1960s.”

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Posted on November 7, 2018

Holiday Hullabaloo

By The Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus

The Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus celebrates 35 years of making music with their upcoming 35th Anniversary Holiday Hullabaloo.
The chorus will be joined by 11 additional Chicago-based LGBTQ+ performing arts organizations, including About Face Theatre, Allegrezza, Artemis Singers, Chicago Pride Guard, Chicago Spirit Brigade, Chicago Tap Theatre, GayCo, Lakeside Pride Music Ensembles, Lakeview Orchestra, Pride Films & Plays, and Windy City Gay Chorus.
With 22 musical numbers performed by members of 12 organizations, CGMC will contribute 150 singing voices with 20 dancers. Holiday Hullabaloo will be performed November 30 – December 2 at three different venues in the Chicagoland area. Visit cgmc.org/holiday for more information and tickets.

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Posted on October 18, 2018

Lyric Musicians Ratify Contract

By The Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra

The musicians of the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra ratified on Sunday the tentative agreement reached Saturday evening with Lyric management.
The musicians of the orchestra went on strike on October 9 for one reason: to preserve the Lyric Opera that generations of Chicagoans have built over the past 65 years. A world-class opera company needs a world-class orchestra. The musicians will never stop fighting for that ideal, but at this time, the music needs to return to the Civic Opera House. Further cancellations by Lyric management were threatened, and the result would have been destructive for everyone – Lyric, the musicians and other Lyric employees, and Lyric’s loyal patrons.

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Posted on October 14, 2018

Lyric Opera Strike | A View From The Pit

By The Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra

As the strike continues, we must turn our attention to where so many of Lyric’s problems lie: the management of Lyric Opera of Chicago and, in particular, Anthony Freud.
A Familiar Story: The CEO Gets a Big Raise While Cutting Workers’ Pay
It is undisputed that Freud and Lyric’s upper management have exploded the budget from $60.4 million in 2012 to $84.5 million in 2017. Where has that $24 million gone? Certainly not to the orchestra. As we’ve pointed out, the orchestra’s share of the budget shrank from 14.6 percent to 11.9 percent during that time.
Here’s one clue: While the musicians’ salaries have stagnated, Freud’s has not. He saw a compensation increase of 18 percent from 2014 to 2017. In 2016 alone, right after the orchestra musicians agreed to a wage-neutral contract with health care cuts, Freud got a 16 percent raise. His annual salary last year was a staggering $784,387 – roughly 12 times a musician’s base salary of $65,912 this year.

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Posted on October 11, 2018

Chicago Neonatologist To Release Second Record

By Kim Grant/KG Music Press

What album do you know features Gary Lucas (Cap’n Beefheart), Robbie Fulks, Peter Stampfel, John Fulbright, Sarangi Celtic, Mexican harps, tuba, theramin, dogs, horns, Mariachis, and great songs? And what do the themes of love, Wittgenstein, Cook County Jail and trapeze artistry have in common? The answer to both questions is Rich Krueger’s newest release, NOWThen.
Rich Krueger jumped into the spotlight in 2017 after releasing his first album, Life Ain’t That Long, to worldwide critical acclaim, and non-commercial Triple A radio play around the world. Since then he has done numerous interviews in the U.S. and UK and was a finalist in the Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition in 2017 and 2018, which he went on to win in 2018.

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Posted on September 11, 2018

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