Chicago’s Jazz Festival promises an impressive line-up this Labor Day weekend

This weekend’s 31st annual Chicago Jazz Festival is a Labor Day favorite at the city’s historic Grant Park. The free festival runs through Sunday, September 6, and promises an impressive line-up of some of the music industry’s most talented jazz performers.

Headliners include Gonzalo Rubalcaba Quintet, bassist Dave Holland, and The Arthur Hoyle Orchestra.

The following is an annotated schedule for Sunday’s performances, compiled by the Chicago Tribune. “Unless otherwise noted, all the stages are in Grant Park, near Columbus Drive and Jackson Boulevard. For details, call the Mayor’s Office of Special Events at 312-744-3315 or the Jazz Institute of Chicago at 312-427-1676.”

Tip: Grab a blanket and a picnic and turn the festival into an all-day affair. Or, afterwards, get dinner at the Park Grill at Millennium Park.

Sunday

Jazz on Jackson Stage

Noon: Mike Allemana’s Come Sunday. Chicago guitarist Allemana leads a septet with spiritual overtones.

1:10 p.m.: Solo piano featuring Ben Paterson and Yoko Noge. Paterson is an emerging Chicago musician who has been generating buzz as pianist and organist; Noge is best known as a singer-pianist-bandleader but rarely steps out with a solo piano set.

2:20 p.m.: James Falzone’s KLANG: The Goodman Project. The classical clarinetist-composer celebrates the Goodman centennial.

Jazz & Heritage Stage

12:30 p.m.: Kevin Nabors Quintet. Nabors belongs to the next wave of Chicago musicians equally at home in mainstream and avant-garde settings.

2 p.m.: Percussion discussion with Art “Turk” Burton. Does anyone really go to an outdoor jazz festival to hear a discussion?

3:30 p.m.: Kelly Brand Quintet. The seasoned pianist last year released the CD “The Door” (Origin Records).
Petrillo Music Shell

5 p.m.: Archie Shepp Quartet. The saxophone iconoclast will be joined by pianist Willie Pickens, bassist Avery Sharpe and drummer Ronnie Burrage.

6 p.m.: Tribute to Art Tatum featuring Buddy DeFranco and Johnny O’Neal. O’Neal portrayed Tatum in the Ray Charles film bio “Ray”; he’ll be joined in this Tatum homage by a musician of Tatum’s stature, clarinetist DeFranco.

7:10 p.m.: Dee Alexander. The nearly ubiquitous Chicago vocalist has enjoyed extraordinary career momentum in recent years, and the sumptuousness and alacrity of her instrument explains why.

8:30 p.m.: Muhal Richard Abrams. The groundbreaking pianist-composer offers the world premiere of “SPIRALVIEW,” which was commissioned for the occasion and will be performed by Abrams and the Art Hoyle Orchestra, featuring trombonist George Lewis, bassist Harrison Bankhead and reedists Ari Brown and Roscoe Mitchell.

For more information on the Chicago Jazz Festival, go here.

Map Grant Park, Chicago

Photo credit: http://www.explorechicago.org/