Not surprisingly, most venues have made changes to their entertainment calendars, with many clubs closing down altogether until further notice. Before you venture out for an evening of music, we strongly recommend that you call ahead to see if the venue is open.
March 26: Soul Message Band at Andy’s Jazz club in Chicago starting at 5 pm. CANCELLED (Andy's calendar shows them closed until March 31)
March 27: Steve Rashid live At Studio5 in Evanston 8 pm to 10 pm clickhere for tickets and more information. The Don Stiernberg Quartet with Andy Brown, Jim Cox and Phil Gratteau will be at the North Street Cabaret in Madison Wisconsin as part of the Sugar Maple Concert Series. For tickets and more information clickhere. (847) 328-6683
April 1: The Love at Tudor Wine Bar in Glencoe, 7 pm - 10 pm. (847) 786-4267
April 2: Soul Message Band at Andy’s Jazz club in Chicago starting at 5 pm.
April 9: Soul Message Band at Andy’s Jazz club in Chicago starting at 5 pm.
April 16: Soul Message Band at Andy’s Jazz club in Chicago starting at 5 pm.
April 18: Soul Message band at The Front Room in Chicago starting at 10 pm
April 23: Soul Message Band at Andy’s Jazz club in Chicago starting at 5 pm.
April 24: Don Stiernberg with Howard Levy at Studio5 “A joyous celebration of the music of Jethro Burns.” Clickhere for tickets and more information. The Soul Message Band will be at Crooners Lounge and Supper Club in Minneapolis, MN starting at 8 pm.
April 25: Soul Message band at Cafe Coda in Madison, WI starting at 7 pm.
April 30: Soul Message Band at Andy’s Jazz club in Chicago starting at 5 pm.
May 16: Soul Message Band at the Front Room in Chicago starting at 10 pm.
Always inspiring: the opening address to the 1964 Berlin Jazz Festival by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
God has wrought many things out of oppression. He has endowed his creatures with the capacity to create—and from this capacity has flowed the sweet songs of sorrow and joy that have allowed man to cope with his environment and many different situations. Jazz speaks for life. The Blues tell the story of life's difficulties, and if you think for a moment, you will realize that they take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph. This is triumphant music.
Modern jazz has continued in this tradition, singing the songs of a more complicated urban existence. When life itself offers no order and meaning, the musician creates an order and meaning from the sounds of the earth which flow through his instrument. It is no wonder that so much of the search for identity among American Negroes was championed by jazz musicians. Long before the modern essayists and scholars wrote of racial identity as a problem for a multiracial world, musicians were returning to their roots to affirm that which was stirring within their souls.
Much of the power of our Freedom Movement in the United States has come from this music. It has strengthened us with its sweet rhythms when courage began to fail. It has calmed us with its rich harmonies when spirits were down.
And now, jazz is exported to the world. For in the particular struggle of the Negro in America there is something akin to the universal struggle of modern man. Everybody has the blues. Everybody longs for meaning. Everybody needs to love and be loved. Everybody needs to clap hands and be happy. Everybody longs for faith. In music, especially this broad category called Jazz, there is a stepping stone towards all of these.
-Ken
Announcements
MUSICIANS: I regularly check out Facebook and your home pages to see where you all are playing, but often I miss or don’t get the information in time for the newsletter. If you’d like me to advertise your gigs, please let me know when and where you're playing.
