30th Annual Chicago Jazz Festival

[jimi089]

I'm surprised I'm the first to mention it, but maybe it popped up elsewhere - the headliners for the Chicago Jazz Festival have been announced. Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, commissions by Vijay Iyer, Dave Douglas, Gerald Wilson, and T.S. Galloway.

And, Ed Wilkerson is the artist in residence!

Looks like a great lineup, and I'm sure more to be announced in the near future.

www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-0228_festivalfeb28,1,456538.story

chicagotribune.com

Arts & Entertainment

Rollins, Coleman top jazz fest lineup

By Howard Reich

Tribune critic

February 28, 2008

Tenor saxophone icon Sonny Rollins and visionary composer Ornette Coleman -- two of the foremost names in jazz -- will headline the 30th annual Chicago Jazz Festival this August.

In addition, several leading jazz composers have been commissioned to create works to celebrate the 30th anniversary: trumpeter Dave Douglas, pianist Vijay Iyer and bandleaders Gerald Wilson and T.S. Galloway.

As it has for the last few years, Chicago Jazz Festival Week will stretch seven days, Aug. 25-31. The festival is produced by the Mayor's Office of Special Events.

The musicmaking will begin with a "Made in Chicago" concert featuring local luminaries at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.

The annual gala concert for the Jazz Institute of Chicago -- the non-profit organization that programs the festival -- will take place Aug. 26 in a still-to-be-named concert hall. And the annual club tour, which takes visitors on bus rides to several leading Chicago jazz venues, will unfold Aug. 27 across the city.

After these curtain-raising events, the Chicago Jazz Festival proper will commence Aug. 28 with Rollins in concert at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.

The proceedings will move Aug. 29 to the Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park, where Galloway will lead a tribute to legendary Chicago jazz instructor Capt. Walter Dyett. Galloway will conduct the world premiere of an original composition penned in Dyett's memory and performed by three generations of Dyett's former students.

The festival will continue Aug. 30 with new works by Wilson, Douglas and Iyer in Grant Park.

This year's artist-in-residence -- who will appear in various settings -- will be leonine Chicago tenor saxophonist Edward Wilkerson Jr. His 8 Bold Souls, one of the most enduring and widely admired experimental bands in jazz, will share the evening's bill Aug. 30 with Coleman, who will close the festival in Grant Park.

All the events in Millennium Park and Grant Park will be free. Admission will be charged for the Aug. 26 gala concert and for the Aug. 27 club tour. The complete lineup for the Chicago Jazz Festival Week, which will include dozens of soloists and bands, will be released later.

For more information, visit chicagojazzfestival.us or call 312-744-3315.

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hreich@tribune.com

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