Category: Music

‘What kind of noise is that!’ When Jazz Became Jazz

Chapter 12 of The Coolest Spot in Chicago: A History of Green Mill Gardens and the Beginnings of Uptown <— PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER —> Around 1915, some musicians from New Orleans and San Francisco arrived in Chicago, where they started playing something called jazz. Did they bring that word… Continue reading ‘What kind of noise is that!’ When Jazz Became Jazz

A Tribune Reporter Discovers Jazz and Blues

Chapter 11 of The Coolest Spot in Chicago: A History of Green Mill Gardens and the Beginnings of Uptown <— PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER —> The next three chapters are a bit of a detour, exploring the origins of jazz and blues (the musical genres as well as the words… Continue reading A Tribune Reporter Discovers Jazz and Blues

Miss Patricola, the Queen of the Cabaret

Chapter 10 of The Coolest Spot in Chicago: A History of Green Mill Gardens and the Beginnings of Uptown <— PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER —> When Green Mill Gardens opened in 1914, the headline entertainer was “The Queen of the Cabaret, Miss Patricola.” At that point, Isabella Patricola had already… Continue reading Miss Patricola, the Queen of the Cabaret

The Coolest Spot in Chicago

A History of Green Mill Gardens and the Beginnings of Uptown By ROBERT LOERZEL Photographs by Robert Loerzel (except historic images) (Jump ahead to the TABLE OF CONTENTS) INTRODUCTION When Green Mill Gardens opened in June 1914, an advertisement called it “the coolest spot in Chicago.” That was surely just a reference to the temperature… Continue reading The Coolest Spot in Chicago

Documentary in the works on Jay Bennett

Pioneer Press/Arlington Heights Post, September 21, 2017 — Two filmmakers are working on a documentary about Jay Bennett, the multitalented musician from Arlington Heights who died in 2009, eight years after leaving the Chicago band Wilco. … Read my story for Pioneer Press. Photo: Michael Walker/Chicago Tribune

Wilmette’s Robbie Fulks up for first two Grammy Awards on Sunday

Pioneer Press, February 9, 2017 — When Robbie Fulks began making his 12th studio album, he set a lofty goal for himself. The country-folk singer-songwriter-guitarist, who lives in Wilmette, recalls saying: “It’s boring doing the same thing over and over again. So how can we raise the game?” That’s when he decided he’d try to… Continue reading Wilmette’s Robbie Fulks up for first two Grammy Awards on Sunday