Corky Siegel Chamber Blues

The Jazz Showcase opened in 1947 and has survived several moves since. A “no frills” club, the focus has always been on the music and musicians, who have included everyone from Parker and Coltrane to Tyner and Marsalis (pick any!), to the current generation of stars like Eric Alexander and Nicholas Payton. You can get a drink from the bar but there’s no kitchen; the club takes no reservations, credit cards or checks—bring cash and line up at the door! Segal keeps it simple. And like the best clubs in New York, the only approved activity besides drinking is listening. Most artists are on stage from Tuesday through Sunday nights, two shows per night with a matinee on Sunday.

Fund Raiser With Corky Siegel

Corky Siegel © Howard A. Gitelson

Fans of the Jazz Showcase are invited to help support the relocation with a night of “Chamber Blues.” Corky Siegel, one of the world’s great masters of blues harmonica, is a versatile composer, pianist, singer and songwriter. A recent winner of the Lila Wallace/Reader's Digest/Meet the Composer's national award for chamber music composition, Siegel first ignited audiences as a founding member of the Siegel-Schwall Band, a headliner at 60s and 70s rock clubs. He got hooked on the blues playing for such legends as Willie Dixon, Little Walter, Muddy Waters, and Howlin' Wolf at the famed blues club, Peppers. Throughout his career, Siegel has composed for and appeared with numerous symphony orchestras, including Arthur Fiedler, the San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic. Siegel’s popularity has soared with his Chamber Blues project, a melding of his blues harmonica with the classical instrumentation of the West End String Quartet and the hefty percussion of Frank Donaldson. Noted the Chicago Tribune, “Gritty Chicago blues and rarefied classical chamber music might not seem like a match made in heaven --- until you've heard Corky Siegel bring the two together ... a crowning achievement." It might be hard to describe the music, but easy to describe its effect on audiences—mesmerizing, inspiring, even amusing are all apt.

Corky Siegel’s Chamber Blues with be joined for this special benefit by the renowned harmonica wizard/pianist Howard Levy. An early member of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Levy leads Chevere de Chicago (Latin jazz) and Acoustic Express, and has played with Ben Sidran, Paquito D’Rivera, Kenny Loggins, Dolly Parton and Bobby McFerrin. He appears on numerous recordings as performer and composer, and composed the first concerto for diatonic harmonica.

I’ve been going to Chicago for years to visit friends, and I always schedule my visits around the Showcase calendar. Memorable evenings have included the great late Ray Brown, the tireless Marian McPartland, and the sublime Kenny Barron. Throw in a stop at the nearby Jazz Record Mart and lunch or dinner at Shaw’s Crab House and it’s a perfect day. And from my home base in Minneapolis, I have also enjoyed performances by Corky Siegel and his Chamber Blues project. Putting Corky and company on the Jazz Showcase stage is a guaranteed evening of exciting and eclectic sounds in a perfect setting for live music. This is a special opportunity to help keep the music alive in Chicago.

Corky Siegel’s Chamber Blues with Howard Levy perform as a fundraiser for the Jazz Showcase at 8 pm on November 20^th at the Jazz Showcase, located for a few more weeks at 59 W. Grand in the Loop; (312)670-BIRD; www.jazzshowcase.com