Who to see as the 39th Chicago Jazz Fest

Though this city is alive with jazz 365 days a year, the intensity level goes up a few notches during the week of the Chicago Jazz Festival.

The festivities unofficially begin with sets Monday and Tuesday evenings at PianoForte Studios, on South Michigan Avenue, both broadcast live on WDCB-FM 90.9.

The music continues with the Jazz Club Tour curtain-raiser on Wednesday evening.

And the 39th annual Chicago Jazz Festival officially launches at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St., during the day on Aug. 31, then moves to Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph St., that evening.

The action remains focused at Millennium Park through Sept. 3, with After Fest shows bubbling up across city.

WDCB-FM 90.9 will broadcast Jazz Festival shows featuring the George Freeman/Mike Allemana Quartet at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 31, Dr. Lonnie Smith Trio, 7 p.m. Sept. 1, and an Ella Fitzgerald tribute, 8:30 p.m. Sept. 2.

Following are suggestions for promising sets (we’ll have more recommendations next weekend). All Millennium Park and Chicago Cultural Center sets are free. For additional information on the fest, which is presented by the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and programmed by the nonprofit Jazz Institute of Chicago, visit www.chicagojazzfestival.us or www.jazzinchicago.org.

Monday

Sarah Marie Young and Stu Mindeman, 6-7 p.m. The singer and pianist, both Chicagoans, launch the week’s activities in an intimate setting, presented by WDCB-FM 90.9, which will broadcast the performance live. PianoForte Studios, 1335 S. Michigan Ave.; www.pianofortechicago.com or 312-291-0000.

Tuesday

John Campbell: Former Chicago pianist Campbell makes a rare return for a solo set, broadcast live on WDCB-FM 90.9. PianoForte Studios, 1335 S. Michigan Ave.; www.pianofortechicago.com or 312-291-0000.

Wednesday

Jazz Club Tour: If you’ve never visited Chicago’s many music rooms and would like to check them out in the company of others, the annual Jazz Club Tour offers a comparatively easy way of doing so. Trolleys shuttle among the rooms, giving listeners an opportunity to jump aboard at any venue to get a ride to any of the others. The music runs from 6 p.m. to midnight; the trolleys start at 7 p.m. and circulate to each stop approximately every 30 minutes. Still, the listening experience is far from ideal, with participants constantly churning in and out of the rooms, to distracting effect. The Loop route will include Andy’s Jazz Club, 11 E. Hubbard St.; Jazz Showcase, 806 S. Plymouth Court; M Lounge, 1520 S. Wabash Ave.; Reggie’s, 2105 S. State St.; Winter’s Jazz Club, 465 N. McClurg Court (on the promenade). The South Side route will visit Norman’s Bistro, 1001 E. 43rd St.; Red Peppers Lounge, 428 E. 87th St.; City Life, 712 E. 83rd St.; Some Like It Black, 810 E. 43rd St.; V75, 125 W. 75th St. The North route will cover the Green Mill Jazz Club, 4802 N. Broadway; Constellation, 3111 N. Western Ave.; Hungry Brain, 2319 W. Belmont Ave.; and Rosa’s Lounge, 3420 W. Armitage Ave.; the list is subject to change. Tickets are $40-$50; www.jazzinchicago.org.

Thursday

Chicago Cultural Center: The festival proper kicks off at the Cultural Center, with daytime activities from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Among the highlights:

A Jazz Village: Picking up on the Jazz Fair that the Jazz Institute used to present each winter, A Jazz Village will feature a bazaar of booths representing Chicago’s jazz community. 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Cultural Center’s Grand Army of the Republic Rotunda.

Claudia Cassidy Theater: “The Evolution of Afro-Cuban Jazz: A Talk with Ignacio Berroa” will give listeners a rare, close-up perspective on the Cuban drummer’s art, 11 a.m.-noon. Thaddeus Tukes Quintet features the deeply musical, technically fluent young vibraphonist, 12:15-1:15 p.m. Dave Rempis Quintet revisits alto saxophonist Jackie McLean’s album “Action,” 3:15-4:15 p.m.

Randolph Square: Curtis Prince Band will cast a spotlight on saxophonist Ari Brown, an exemplar among Chicago tenor saxophonists, noon-1 p.m. “Southport Records Celebrates 40 Years of Sparrow” will feature Bradley Parker-Sparrow, Joanie Pallatto and others marking the record label’s anniversary, 3-4 p.m.

Preston Bradley Hall: “What Is this Thing Called Jazz,” a popular annual offering, will showcase Chicago pianists Willie Pickens and Miguel de la Cerna illuminating the art form in words and music, 12:30-1:30 p.m.

Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park

George Freeman’s 90th Birthday Celebration, 6:30-7:30 p.m. The outdoor portion of the Jazz Festival kicks off with a welcome tribute to Chicago guitarist Freeman, who in recent years has enjoyed a career renaissance. He’ll share the stage with guitarist Mike Allemana, who has been instrumental in that resurgence, organist Pete Benson and drummer Mike Schlick. Expect music from Freeman and Allemana’s newly released album “Live at the Green Mill.”

Dizzy Gillespie’s Centennial Celebration, 8-9:30 p.m. Who better to a lead a centennial tribute to bebop genius Gillespie than Jon Faddis, whose trumpet hyper-virtuosity echoes that of his mentor? Faddis will front the Chicago Jazz Festival Big Band, a gathering of first-rate Chicago instrumentalists plus guests Ignacio Berroa (a Gillespie alum) on drums and Antonio Hart on saxophone.

Sept. 1

Von Freeman Pavilion (South Promenade) in Millennium Park

Steve Gibons’ Gypsy Rhythm Project, 1:10-2:05 p.m.: Violinist Gibons will share the stage with a Chicago treasure, cimbalom wizard Nicolae Feraru, in music that joyously blurs lines between gypsy folkloric music and jazz.

Jazz and Heritage Pavilion (North Promemade) in Millennium Park

Joe Policastro Trio, 12:30-1:30 p.m.: Chicago jazz listeners have heard bassist Policastro providing the low notes for uncounted ensembles, but this time he leads his own band — with guitarist Dave Miller and drummer Mikel Patrick Avery— in music from their new album “Screen Sounds” (which reimagines music from the movies).

Stu Katz: Shearing Redux, 3:30-4:30 p.m.: Pianist and vibraphonist Katz has been upholding the highest standards of bebop playing in Chicago for more than half a century. This time he pays homage to pianist George Shearing, leading a band staffed by guitarist Bobby Broom, pianist Dan Trudell, bassist Dennis Carroll and drummer George Fludas.

Pritzker Pavilion

Dana Hall’s Spring, 5-5:50 p.m. For this ensemble, Hall has built on the precedent of Tony Williams’ 1965 Blue Note album “Spring,” which featured saxophone giants Wayne Shorter and Sam Rivers, plus pianist Herbie Hancock and bassist Gary Peacock. Hall will share the stage with trumpeters Etienne Charles and Victor Garcia, saxophonist John Wojciechowski and bassist Clark Sommers.

Jason Moran presents “In My Mind: Monk at Town Hall 1959,” 8:30-9:30 p.m. When pianist and MacArthur Fellow Moran presented this project in Orchestra Hall in 2007, his ingenious reconceptions of Hall Overton’s arrangements of Monk’s music proved more effective than the multimedia elements that accompanied them.

Sept. 2

Roof Top Jazz: Young Jazz Lions (Harris Theater Rooftop Terrace)

Kenwood Academy Jazz Band, 2:55-3:35 p.m.: For those who didn’t get to hear the high school ensemble storm the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., earlier this year, here’s a chance to find out what all the fuss was about.

Roosevelt University Jazz Ensemble, 3:50-4:30 p.m.: The young musicians will take on John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme.” At the very least, they deserve points for bravery.

Von Freeman Pavilion

Mary Halvorson Octet, 3:30-4:30 p.m.:. Any opportunity to hear the inventive work of guitarist Halvorson must be seized, all the more on this occasion, when she’ll collaborate with several like-minded adventurers, including pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn, saxophonists Jon Irabagon and Ingrid Laubrock and trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson.

Jazz and Heritage Pavilion

Typhanie Monique, 12:30-1:30 p.m.: The Chicago singer sounds best in bona fide jazz idioms, which she explores periodically on her new album “Call It Magic” and quite effectively on colleague Jeannie Tanner’s recent “Words & Music” double album. Here’s hoping Monique stays true to her gifts.

Pritzker Pavilion

Dr. Michael White Quartet, 5-5:50 p.m.: Few musicians champion early jazz traditions as nobly, authentically or vibrantly as New Orleans clarinetist White. Though pre-bebop traditions don’t get much respect in the jazz world these days, White shows why they ought to.

“Ellabration! 100 Years of Ella Fitzgerald,” 8:30-9:30 p.m.: To mark this year’s Fitzgerald centennial, the festival has put together a roster of stylistically far-flung vocalists: Sheila Jordan, Dee Alexander, Frieda Lee Spider Saloff and Paul Marinaro. Why isn’t Chicago vocal powerhouse Tammy McCann in this lineup?

Sept. 3

Roof Top Jazz: NextGenJazz (Harris Theater Rooftop Terrace)

Chosen Few, 3:30 p.m.-4:15 p.m.: The prodigious Chicago saxophonist Isaiah Collier leads the band.

Von Freeman Pavilion

Josh Berman Quartet, 2:20-3:15 p.m.: A poet of the cornet, Berman ingeniously transcends time, finding places where the past, present and future of jazz converge. He’ll be joined by alto saxophonist Darius Jones, drummer Michael Vatcher and Chicago bassist Jason Roebke.

Jazz and Heritage Pavilion

JoAnn Daugherty, 2-3 p.m.: When pianist Daugherty chooses to drive hard, which she does best in reedist Victor Goines’ band, she’s a formidable soloist-improviser. Can she match that fervor leading her own quartet?

Pritzker Pavilion

Roscoe Mitchell Quartet, 5-5:50 p.m.: Iconoclastic reedist Mitchell will lead a tribute to the 50th anniversary of Nessa Records, which has been indispensable in documenting new music that otherwise would have been unjustly neglected. Mitchell will front two quartets: one with drummer Alvin Fielder, trumpeter Fred Berry and bassist Junius Paul; the other with cellist Tomeka Reid, drummer Vincent Davis and bassist Paul.

Sheila Jordan, 6-6:55 p.m.: The eternally young, 88-year-old vocalist stretches melody and rhythm like taffy, no two performances of any tune remotely alike. She’ll be accompanied by longtime collaborator Steve Kuhn on piano, with drummer Billy Drummond and bassist David Wong.

Matt Wilson, 7:10-8:10 p.m.: A lyrical and understated drummer, Wilson will play music from his new recording “Honey and Salt,” a tribute to poet Carl Sandburg.

After Fest sets

Among the offerings (prices vary):

Jazz Showcase, 806 S. Plymouth Court: Multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan and guests, 9 p.m. Aug. 31 through Sept. 3; 312-360-0234 or www.jazzshowcase.com.

Winter’s Jazz Club, 465 N. McClurg Court (on the promenade): Sarah Marie Young Trio, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Aug. 31; Victor Goines Septet, 8 and 10 p.m. Sept. 1; Victor Goines Quartet, 8 and 10 p.m. Sept. 2; George Fludas Trio, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Sept. 3; 312-344-1270 or www.wintersjazzclub.com.

Constellation, 3111 N. Western Ave.: Kidd Jordan, Alvin Fielder and guests, 9:30 p.m. Sept. 1 and 2; www.constellation-chicago.com.

Chicago Athletic Association Hotel, 12 S. Michigan Ave.: Marquis Hill Quartet, 9 p.m. set, 10 p.m. jam session, Sept. 1; www.chicagoathletichotel.com.

Alhambra Palace, 1240 W. Randolph St.: HotHouse presents James Sanders, Tatsu Aoki, Mwata Bowden and others, 9 p.m. Sept. 1; 312-666-9555 or www.alhambrapalacerestaurant.com.

from www.orlandosentinel.com