Mar 11
Before pianist Reginald Robinson’s Sunday performance at the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute, the crowd murmured about the lack of an actual piano. Onstage sat a small keyboard with an impressive amplifier behind it. Whispers went up that ragtime requires something with a little more wood and a few more strings. The room was muted in the dim golden light from the ceiling lamps, as its heavy curtains were closed against the gray rain outside. Large glasses, for fashion or necessity, seemed to be a prerequisite for attendance. The scene bore little resemblance to a swinging ragtime club of yore. Read the rest of this entry »
Mar 03
For a few decades at the beginning of the twentieth century, between the collapse of its fading colonial empire and the eruption of a civil war that led to 39 years of dictatorship, Spain saw a brief period of intense cultural revival. The painter Picasso and the philosopher Ortega y Gasset are internationally known, but other figures from this burst of Spanish modernism, including some of the most innovative composers of the twentieth century, have faded from popular memory. Their music and the contexts that produced it are the center of the festival, “Beyond Flamenco: Finding Spain in Music,” which takes the stage at the University of Chicago’s Mandel Hall this weekend. Read the rest of this entry »
Mar 03
As denizens of the neighborhood nurse their thirsty vehicles at the BP station on East Hyde Park Boulevard, just east of the Metra tracks, they can already hear it. Perhaps they are distracted by the hiss of the frothing pump or are inside buying a bag of Flaming Hot Cheetos; but if you pause and look around, they all appear to be swaying to a subdued bass line and a chilling croon with no ostensible earthly source. Around the corner, the street is showered from above with dense light. Clouds and skulls dance before the sidewalk on a monolithic screen, accompanied by a tune that has already become to local residents disarmingly familiar.
This nightly apparition that haunts the corner of East Hyde Park and Cornell every night from 4 to 10pm is only a peripheral component of “Notes to Nonself,” an installation that has been hosted at the Hyde Park Art Center for the past 21 days and will remain until May 2. Read the rest of this entry »
Feb 25
(Anna Gregaline/courtesy of ONO)
. And yet, for decades, issues of race have impeded the diffusion of artistic innovation across the South Side’s social and racial lines. Although the University of Chicago’s presence in Hyde Park has engendered cynicism from surrounding communities, a few years ago, several Woodlawn residents and UofC students joined forces in an effort to dismantle the boundaries that have been impeding productive musical and artistic dialogue. The result was the creation of Woodlawn Collaborative, a communal space for art and activism. This Friday, the space will encourage the larger South Side community to come together and make music by providing a smorgasbord of artistic forms and flavors.
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Feb 18
“Spiral Jetty” by Robert Smithson (David O. Stevens/flickr)
. An annual collaboration between WHPK 88.5 FM and the University’s Film Studies Center, the event features a sampling of four acts gleaned from the Midwestern avant-noise/free improvisation music scene. Each performer has chosen a short film to accompany their show, ranging from classics of experimental cinema to films produced specifically for the occasion. This year’s roster of musical acts includes Mist, Dog Lady, Trauma y Nate Wooley, and Brett Naucke.
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Feb 04
The Bad Plus (courtesy of the artists)
. Songs will move across different moods, rhythms, time signatures, and keys, traversing centuries-wide gaps between musical traditions. The Bad Plus is coming to play. The jazz trio of pianist Ethan Iverson, drummer Dave King, and upright bass player Reid Anderson, has made a name for itself as one of the most exciting groups in jazz today. The music is innovative, melodic, accessible, and difficult to classify, which is exactly how the group likes it.
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Jan 13
A salon performance by the Exponential (courtesy of Giovazkie Perez and Brian Murray)
. The evening will be an intimate gathering of both friends and strangers to Chicago’s ever-expanding experimental music scene, as the gallery’s atmosphere has the feel of a DIY space—so common to experimental and noise shows—combined with that of a more formal venue. Though the night is dedicated to celebrating the Exponential’s latest work, the stage will be shared by a number of artists. The CI Dance Troupe is first on the list, followed by Neon Sea, WUMMIN, and finally, the Exponential. At the end of the final set, all of the performers, accompanied by JSun Howard and Angela Gronoos, will congregate onstage for a grand finale group jam.
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Jan 13
Still from “Never Gonna Give You Up, iPhone” by John Paro (courtesy of John Paro)
. Compromising procedures and performances occur. There is little room for mimicry and things are often uncomfortable. But
“Med School Rock,” an album recorded and produced by University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine student John Paro, is not a work of sterile white rooms and bedside manners. While the album, divorced from context, has an effect similar to that of a steel medical tool on the skin, this knee-jerk reaction is drastically reduced upon considering the circumstances of the album’s conception.
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