Hyde Park Jazz Festival

This year Chicago Magazine named the Hyde Park Jazz Festival the Best Neighborhood Music Festival saying “this precocious five-year-old festival swings like mad!”  We will swing again on September 29 and 30, 2012.

There were so many more “bests” in and around the Hyde Park neighborhood this year beyond the Jazz Fest.  Whether it was for museum exhibitions, art, music, architecture or food … the awards and accolades are shining on the Chicago Culture Coast.

In performances the Court Theatre stole the show.  This year the Court earned prestigious Jeff Awards for Director Charles Newell and Music Director Doug Peck in the “Large Musical” category for their new look at “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.”  Chris Jones, theater critic for the Chicago Tribune included An Iliad as one of the top 10 best shows of 2011.  And TimeOut Chicago featured both shows in their 2011 top 10 list.
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You are here for the official debut of the 2011 Hyde Park Jazz Festival video release.  Okay, so it is hard to hold a party on a web site, but we are celebrating the new video!  For those that were at the 2011 Jazz Fest it will bring back the excitement of the music and crowds.  For those that did not make it this year, it is a taste of the hot jazz and cool crowds that you missed.  It includes the music of Bossa Tres, Willie Pickens Trio, Marquis Hill, and Dee Alexander.   Enjoy the sights and sounds of the 2011 Jazz Fest and then mark your calendars for September 29 & 30, 2012 for the 6^th annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival.  And please help us keep Jazz alive in Hyde Park through a contribution to the Jazz fest.  Thank you!

HyPa (Hyde Park Alliance for Arts & Culture)  and the Hyde Park Jazz Society are excited to announce that the 6^th annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival is all set for Saturday and Sunday, September 29 and 30, 2012!

This year’s Jazz Fest was a huge success by any measure. Thousands of jazz fans listened to more than 150 musicians playing in 13 venues throughout the Hyde Park neighborhood. The center of the Jazz Fest was on the Midway Plaisance surrounded by the University of Chicago campus. The 2012 Hyde Park Jazz Festival  will continue to feature some of Chicago’s best jazz musicians like Ari Brown, CALJE (Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble), Corey Wilkes,  Dee Alexander, Edwin Sanchez, Orbert Davis, Paulhino Garcia, Tomeka Reid, and Willie Pickens. Enjoy the 2011 photos here. 

Please don’t wait until next year to come back to Hyde Park.  We have more arts and cultural organizations here than any other neighborhood in Chicago, outside of downtown! Visitors come from all over the world to see Museum of Science and  Industry, the DuSable Museum of African American History, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House, the Renaissance Society, the Oriental Institute’s Museum and so many more. Look for your favorite arts and culture organizations  and then start to plan your visit. The calendar of events will provide new ideas of things to do all year long.

So we look forward to seeing you in Hyde Park SOON and for the next Jazz Fest – September 29 and 30, 2012!

Over 25,000 jazz fans helped to make the 2011 Hyde Park Jazz Festival an incredible weekend to remember.  In the words of the Chicago Tribune’s Howard Reich:

“What makes a great jazz festival?  Certainly you need top musicians, superb venues, creative presentations, engaged audiences and a sense of constant reinvention and surprise. By those criteria, the fifth annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival – which ended Sunday – qualified as the most artistically satisfying fest on Chicago’s jazz calendar.”  (Chicago Tribune 9/26/11)

Even Mother Nature smiled on the Jazz Fest with surprisingly sunny skies.   On Saturday the music could be heard all over the Hyde Park neighborhood with jazz fans packing all the venues.  A sample of the festive atmosphere included people dancing on the sidewalk outside of the Robie House to the sounds of Bossa Tres while others were sitting in the middle of the ruins of ancient Persia, at the Oriental Institute, relishing the sounds of the Tomeka Reid Trio.
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It is time! The 5th annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival is THIS WEEKEND, September 24 and 25. This year the James W. Wagner Main Stage is taking over the STREET in the Midway Plaisance South for a larger stage, better sound, and more seating (bring lawn chairs) with entrances at Woodlawn and Ellis. All of the information you could possibly need to plan a great festival weekend is right here! At the top of the web site the ABOUT tab will not only tell you what is new (and old) about the festival it also includes information on hours, Jazz Pass preferred seating, transportation, family programming, and special needs access.
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The Fifth Annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival is aiming to please a younger crowd this year: Kids. We’re happy to announce the full line-up for our Family Tent, a place for parents and children to come hang out and have fun!  The Family Tent will be located on the Midway, near the main stage, and will offer programming on Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 pm until 6:30 pm. There will be interactive activities and performances including singing, craft projects, circus arts, comedy, and even dress-up! We are happy to host a number of HyPa members, as well as other kid-friendly organizations from the Hyde Park community.
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The great news about the 5^th annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival is all about amazing choices.  There will be 41 jazz performances featuring over 150 musicians playing in 13 venues, on 15 different stages over 2 days, September 24 and 25.  How does one decide where to go first?  Download and print off the Official 2011 Jazz Festival Programming Schedule.  Information about all of the performers can be found here.  There will be a free Festival shuttle bus to help get you to the different venues.  Many of the stages are within walking distance of each other.  So start planning your day today.  You may also want to consider purchasing a Jazz Pass which will provide you with access to preferred seating at most indoor venues.
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The 5^th annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival is excited to present 2011 Grammy-nominated Freddy Cole as the featured performer at this year’s Gala at the Museum of Science and Industry.  This one-time South-Sider jazz great was described by the New York Times as “the most maturely expressive male jazz singer of his generation, if not the best alive.”

In the Chicago home of his youth, visitors included Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Lionel Hampton. He also credits Billy Eckstine as a major influence.  Freddy has been a recording artist since 1952, when his first single, “The Joke’s on Me”, was released on an obscure Chicago-based label.  According to his web site, Cole doesn’t apologize for sounding like his older brother, Nat “King” Cole. There are certain unmistakable similarities. He plays piano and sings and performs live with guitar and upright bass, just like Nat. Yet his voice is raspier, smokier, jazzier even.

Enjoy cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and great jazz in a spectacular setting while supporting the Hyde Park Jazz Festival.   The Gala on Thursday, September 22nd will be from 6:00 – 8:30pm.  Freddy Cole’s concert begins at 7:00pm.  Tickets are available here.

The best way to enjoy the Hyde Park Jazz Festival is to be part of the Jazz Festival – join us today as a volunteer.   We are expecting almost 20,000 jazz fans and over 150 musicians and the only way this can be successful is through the help of about 400 voulunteers.   There are so many different areas that we need your help including greeters, ushers, set up, info booths, data entry, drivers … and the list goes on.

Sign up on your own, with a friend or bring along a group such as your book club or work collegues.  We can promise you it will be fun, you will make new friends, and you will receive a cool Jazz Fest volunteer t-shirt.

You can indicate what times you would prefer to volunteer along with specific things you would like to help do and we will do our best to accommodate your requests.  Please sign up on line today and be part of the “Best Neighborhood Music Festival” in Chicago.

Chicago Magazine’s 2011 Best of Chicago August issue, p.104, declares the Hyde Park Jazz Festival to be the best Neighborhood Festival this year.  “This precocious five-year-old festival swings like mad: The staggering lineup is almost completely homegrown, including notables such as veteran tenor saxman Ari Brown, thundering pianist Willie Pickens, and harmonica virtuoso Howard Levy with the Latin powerhouse group Chevere.  Performances ring out day and night throughout the neighborhood.”

Thanks Chicago Magazine!  And thanks to all of our members, volunteers, sponsors,  and supporters who made this possible.

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