Chicago's live music is one of the finest and most diverse in the country. And it's big business, too. That's not simply my opinion, but the conclusion of a recent University of Chicago and Chicago Music Commission economic impact study (get a PDF of the study here).

Happily for me, jazz is alive and strong in Chicago. Since the founding of the AACM in the Sixties, Chicago has been home to immense innovation in what is called contemporary improvised music (or, by some, free jazz - a label which doesn't not apply well to the diversity of approaches to this music). Any jazz fan will know the soon-to-be reopened Jazz Showcase or the Velvet Lounge, but there's another resource I'd like to highlight: Umbrella Music.

Umbrella members curate weekly concert series at Elastic, the Hideout, and the Hungry Brain, and work together to produce the Downtown Sound Gallery concerts at Gallery 37. The also have held the Umbrella Festival in both 2006 and 2006. Chicago has a vibrant and innovative live jazz scene and Umbrella Music should be on your list of resources for concerts.

One of my must-see events this week is listed on Umbrella Music: two shows featuring cellist Daniel Levin>. One is a cello trio with the always mind-blowing Fred Lonberg-Holm, the second includes versatile bassist Nate McBride and towering hornman Ken Vandermark.

If your jazz taste is more traditional you can't go wrong by heading over to the Green Mill this coming weekend to see vocalist Dee Alexander. Or you could always go see both.

-Matt McDermott