Hyde Park Jazz Festival to offer a full day of free jazz

If you're a visitor in Hyde Park or a student settling into new UChicago digs on Saturday, Sept. 25, you'll be welcomed to the neighborhood with a big trumpeting "Hello." More than 150 jazz musicians will lay down the beats at 13 sites across Hyde Park, including five on the University of Chicago campus - all of it for free.

The 4th annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival will kick off on the Midway Plaisance at 1 p.m., rounding up later at International House Assembly Hall, where the Midnight Jam Session will feature Chicago's rising jazz vocalist Dee Alexander.

The University's own Jazz X-tet ensemble will fire up the James Wagner Main Stage at 1 p.m. while the U-High Lab Tet plays a half-hour set at DuSable Museum - starting the festival's 13 hours of non-stop music acts from Saturday afternoon to the early hours of Sunday morning.

"The Jazz Festival is an important partnership program for the University intended to strengthen the arts and culture in the community," said Michelle Olson, Director of External and Government Affairs in the Office of Civic Engagement. "It not only celebrates the great history of jazz music on Chicago's South Side, but also introduces tens of thousands of people to the many cultural organizations in our neighborhoods," she said. "The energy and cultural vitality expressed through music and community participation makes this a not-to-miss event," added Olson.

The 2010 Hyde Park Jazz Festival, produced by HyPa, (Hyde Park Alliance for Arts and Culture) and the Hyde Park Jazz Society, features 36 different performances on the main stage at Ellis Avenue and the Midway Plaisance, and at landmark cultural and artistic venues, including the Smart Museum of Art, Little Black Pearl, the Hyde Park Art Center, the Oriental Institute, Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, and the DuSable Museum of African American History.

More than 20,000 jazz fans are expected to attend the festival, which offers a first-rate performance lineup, featuring the Steve Flowers and Roger Harris Duet, the Willie Pickens Trio, the Charlie Johnson Quartet, and the Art Hoyle Quintet, to the Nicole Mitchell Black Earth Ensemble and the John Burnett Orchestra with Frieda Lee, among many others.

Performer, composer, conductor and educator Mwata Bowden has been directing the University's acclaimed Jazz X-tet student ensemble for 16 years. He said the Hyde Park Jazz Festival brings some of the city's best musicians to a community-based event that allows for older musicians to mentor young jazz artists.

"The organizers realize it's important to invite young high school and college musicians because it's motivational; they get to see and take part in the progression of the music scene in Chicago. Chicago has that great lineage in jazz," said Bowden.

Jazz X-tet will perform a tribute to the late Fred Anderson, one of Bowden's personal mentors and former owner of Chicago's Velvet Lounge. Jazz X-tet also will stray slightly from tradition and perform pieces that celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Muscians, of which Bowden is a member.

The Jazz X-tet ensemble's work, like Bowden's, explores the cutting edge of theory, improvisation and experimentation. "It's music beyond five lines and four spaces. Nothing new is ever discovered if you don't explore and experiment," the director said. The students' opportunity to play large festivals, said Bowden, reinforces both their theory and performance-based music studies at UChicago. "For our students, it's a great boost and affirmation of what we do on campus."

All festival performances are free, though people who wish to support the festival can purchase $125 Jazz Passes for access to preferred seating at select performances.

Festival performances are scheduled for venues located between 59th Street and 47th Street, with many of the locations within easy walking distance of each other. Free shuttles will be available between the Midway and distant venues, and some local vendors will be selling food and beverages near the James Wagner Main Stage.

Festival parking is free in all University of Chicago parking lots and the Metra Electric train and CTA buses stop near the Midway. For more transportation information, visit: http://hydeparkjazzfestival.org/transportation/.

The 4th annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival is made possible through the support of funders and sponsors, including the University of Chicago, the Chicago Park District, the Chicago Community Trust, Harper Court Arts Council and many other organizations and individual donors.

This grassroots event continues to be volunteer-driven with more than 300 people offering their time and talents. Complete information can be found at www.hydeparkjazzfestival.org.

-Laurie Davis