Willie Pickens

Veteran Chicago pianist Willie Pickens will grace the stage of the Green Mill in Chicago with a stellar quintet featuring Willie Pickens on piano, Pharez Whitted on trumpet, Todd Herbert on sax,  Dennis Carroll on bass, and Robert Shy on drums on Friday, October 26th and Saturday, October 27th.

Willie Pickens turned 80 last year. His contributions to the world of jazz and music education have been immeasurable. The list of musicians with whom he has worked is a veritable who’s who of the industry: Elvin Jones, James Moody, Max Roach, Eddie Harris, Marian McPartland, Roy Hargrove, Bobby Hutcherson—the list goes on and on.

Corey Wilkes © Andrea Canter

AACM member Corey Wilkes has established himself as one of the best creative improvising trumpeters in the modern era. Having the skill set and maturity to approach mainstream repertoire of jazz standards of someone twice his age, while concurrently having the ability to approach contemporary hip-hop from the perspective of an MC – designates Corey Wilkes as a global musical ambassador. Cory brings his quintet to the Jazz Showcase in Chicago on Thursday, October 11th through Sunday, October 14th.

Benny Green © Andrea Canter

Gifted jazz pianist Benny Green possesses the history of jazz at his fingertips. Combine mastery of keyboard technique with decades of real world experience playing with no one less than the most celebrated artists of the last half century, and it’s no wonder Green has been hailed as perhaps the most exciting, hard-swinging, hard-bop, pianist to ever emerge from Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. His most recent recording is Source, released in 2011 [click here for a Jazz Police review].The Benny Green Trio will appear at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago on Thursday, October 4th throush Sunday, October 7th.