Rudresh Mahanthappa

One of the most accomplished innovators on alto saxophone, Rudresh Mahanthappa leads his exciting quartet in performance at the Green Mill in Chicago, on Saturday, October 20th. Joining him on the bandstand will be one of the keyboard sensations of the new Millennium, long-time collaborator Vijay Iyer, along with acclaimed French bassist Francois Moutin and fast-rising star drummer, Damion Reid. 

Rudresh Mahanthappa earned degrees from Berklee and from Chicago’s DePaul University and currently teaches at the New School in New York City. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, currently he leads or co-leads seven ensembles in addition to his ongoing work with Vijay Iyer. His quartet recording, Mother Tongue (Pi) was named a “Top Ten” Jazz CD of 2004 by the Chicago Tribune, Jazz Times, Coda, All About Jazz, and Jazzmatazz as well as one of the top jazz albums of 2005 by several European publications including Jazz Review. He released Code Book in 2006, with Iyer and Moutin, along with drummer Dan Weiss. Also in 2006, Rudresh and Iyer released a highly regarded duet recording, Raw Materials. As a sideman, Mahanthappa has worked with David Murray, Steve Coleman, Jack DeJohnette, Von Freeman, Tim Hagans, David Liebman, Greg Osby, and Dr. Lonnie Smith, among others. Like Iyer, he is a 2006 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow and has received numerous grants for composition. Notes the Chicago Tribune, "Mahanthappa creates a music that is at once technically brilliant yet musically cogent, harmonically adventurous yet expressively straightforward. Mahanthappa takes listeners into fascinating Eastern Idioms that are otherwise virtually unheard in jazz today."  

Ramsey Lewis

Closed nearly a year, the internationally renowned Jazz Showcase will relocate to Dearborn Station early in 2008, thanks in part to a benefit featuring the famed Ramsey Lewis Trio. Set for Sunday, October 21st (7 pm) at the Chicago Cultural Center in Preston Brady Hall (78 E. Washington), Chicago jazz fans can help support the relocation costs for the Showcase while enjoying one of the premiere trios in modern jazz. 

“Without boogie woogie, American music as we know it, would not be....as we know it! Just ask the Rolling Stones!” – Lila Ammons

Albert Ammons,courtesy of Lila Ammons

Albert Ammons

Born in Chicago on September 23, 1907, Albert Ammons was taught by his father to play the pianola, and also studied with future compatriot Meade Lux Lewis. With Lewis he played piano in Chicago clubs of the 1920s while also working as a cab driver, later taking gigs entertaining passengers on trains running between Chicago and the South.