Internationally renowned musician and composer Michael Zerang talks with Rachel Thorne Germond about his Chicago roots and involvement with the experimental dance, performance and theater scene here, including Links Hall.

By Eathan Janney

This article began as brief history of free jazz and the avant-garde but my investigations led me to the conclusion that a brief history would be inadequate. I hope instead the reader will be able to move beyond simple facts and dates and develop a sense of the trends and cultural currents to which these terms refer.

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By Matt McDermott

This interview is with Waseem Jafar, the central figure within the collective called the 5% Sessions. The group hopes to carry on the tradition of the New York loft jazz sessions which provided a platform for the creation of brilliant music by offering a unique atmosphere in which both the audience and the musicians felt part of the same energy.

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By Sally Magallanes

If you love the music of Bach, Handel, Purcell, Albioni or Vivaldi, there is no doubt you will be equally delighted with Garry Clarke and Baroque Band. In spring of 2007, Chicago's early music scene was enriched by this unique baroque ensemble, playing on period instruments.

By Matt McDermott

By Matt McDermott

Rob Mazurek discusses his 2007 Chicago Jazz Festival performance, a key artist's residency in France, plus his musical and visual aesthetics.

By Matt McDermott

In this interview, bassist Nathan McBride explains the bass's role in both the modern jazz context and the contemporary improvisational context.

By Matt McDermott

Bruce Adolphe discusses how painting has influenced his music and his composition, "The Tiger's Ear." The work was performed by Bruce Adolphe and the Chicago Chamber Musicians on Monday, April 30, 2007 as part of Artropolis.

Long a home to jazz and the blues, Chicago was first recognized as a Midwestern Mecca for rock and roll groups in the mid-1960s, when a number of young garage bands, inspired by the “British Invasion” sounds of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Kinks, had regional or national hits.

New York may be the undisputable birthplace of hip-hop, but Chicago was one of the first cities outside of the Five Boroughs to embrace and expand upon hip-hop culture.