Festival Report: HYDE PARK
By Mark Keresman
November 2018—Issue 199
When it comes to jazz, Chicago is one of THE American cities, with a vibrant and varied local scene. It also has one of the nation’s great annual festivals, but there’s another, not as well known, deserving attention. The city’s Hyde Park section (home to the University of Chicago) hosts a two-day festival (Sep. 29th-30th) with varied talent of both local (The Chicago Yestet, DJ Sadie Woods, Kenwood Academy Jazz Band directed by Gerald Powell, Mike Reed, Maggie Brown) and national (Kris Davis, Ryan Cohan, Christian Sands) renown. Performance venues are both indoors and outdoors, all within a five-block radius and all performances are free (except one). It’s easily accessible by public transit and for those unfamiliar with the area, there are free shuttle buses to transport listeners to various venues. At a couple of points on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons it began to rain. A core of devoted listeners (perhaps as many as 80 or so), some with umbrellas, some not, waited it out and kept enjoying the outdoor concert at the time.