In the late sixties, Chess drafted guitar Renaissance man Pete Cosey to hep up the sound of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. The result was deeply influential, and also deeply resented by both blues greats, which led to a classic and oddball bit of music marketing.
The mysterious magician who inspired Ray Bradbury on Labor Day in Waukegan, 1932—Cairo native, defrocked minister, and veteran of the Ardennes—remains lost in a nest of circuses that converged on the city that day.
On the agenda: Luna Negra’s heady, angst-driven dance . . . CSO musicians pair music with art . . . TBS brings some of America’s funniest folks to Chicago . . . Free blues . . . plus, the weekend plans of the Active Transportation Alliance’s Lee Crandell
From Michael Jordan battling his way through a Goose Island factory, to the WTO and Knights Templar leveling the city in a terrorist attack, to Al Capone’s army of mafia zombies: what Chicago looked like after the fall, then and now.
On your agenda: Phylicia Rashad and Paul Oakley Stovall team up at Goodman … Directors explore the fourth dimension—and more—at Chicago Underground Film Festival … Two Brothers Brewing Company throws a bash with bands and brews
THE SHORTLIST: Five musts from our June culture calendar
On your agenda: The CSO’s piano fest draws Danilo Pérez and some of jazz’s other big guns … Chicago says “aloha” to an inaugural celebration of Hawaiian culture … Kelly Hogan croons—no charge—in Millennium Park
SKETCH BOOK: What do you get when you combine Cloud Gate and the Chicago River? The El and Willis Tower? Our cartoonist has some ideas
TOO BIG TO FAIL? Chicago’s former media queen is struggling to save the network that bears her name. How things went so wrong—and how Oprah is handling the career challenge of her life
Songs for lounging in the sun or a lakefront drive, chosen by industry insiders and ordered for optimum impact
