Hyde Park Jazz Festival

Hyde Park Jazz Festival The Hyde Park Jazz Festival is a collaborative platform dedicated to supporting the presentation and Hyde Park Jazz Festival took place September 26 & 27, 2020.

Programming continues this fall with the Jazz Kitchen series organized by Monica Hairston O'Connell! Visit hydeparkjazzfestival.org for dates and more information.

HPJF is publishing “20 Years of Radiance”, a book published commemorating the anniversary of the Festival. The book cele...
09/25/2026

HPJF is publishing “20 Years of Radiance”, a book published commemorating the anniversary of the Festival. The book celebrates the joyful spirit and remarkable community that has marked the event since its inception in 2006, featuring photography from Marc Monaghan, written pieces by historian Ayana Contreras and arts scholar Romi Crawford, and an oral history of the festival conducted by Alison Cuddy. Chicago artist Damon Locks supplies original illustrations, with book design from artist duo Sonnenzimmer.

Books will be sold tomorrow and Sunday, September 26th-27th at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival. Limited copies will be available for sale at the information tent for $50 each.

🎉Tomorrow, it officially begins! 🎉We’re kicking off the 20th Anniversary of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival, and we couldn’t...
09/25/2026

🎉Tomorrow, it officially begins! 🎉

We’re kicking off the 20th Anniversary of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival, and we couldn’t be more excited to celebrate this incredible milestone with you. 💙

This year, we’re bringing 38 FREE performances to unique stages throughout Hyde Park all weekend long! 🎶
Join us tomorrow and Sunday, September 26–27, as we celebrate 20 years of jazz, community, and culture on the South Side.

more information at hydeparkjazzfestival.org🎶

🗣️ ARTIST FEATURE!Joshua Abrams & Sharon Udoh: Wonder Wonder⭐ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26⭐ TIME: 2:15pm - 2:45pm⭐ VENUE: The ...
09/24/2026

🗣️ ARTIST FEATURE!

Joshua Abrams & Sharon Udoh: Wonder Wonder

⭐ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
⭐ TIME: 2:15pm - 2:45pm
⭐ VENUE: The Neubauer Collegium. 5701 South Woodlawn Ave.

Joshua Abrams and Sharon Udoh will be performing original composed music as part of the opening of artist Pierre Bismuth’s upcoming exhibition Love Bless America. The centerpiece of the exhibition is a long-form meditative film documenting the creative meeting between two leading figures from Chicago’s jazz and improvised music scene: Joshua Abrams and Sharon Udoh. Bismuth has tasked them with composing a 21st-century spiritual based on a lyrical hymn he wrote for the project. Bismuth’s double portrait traces both the magic and the workaday practice of “inspiration,” using the commingling of religious musical traditions as a point of departure for a multi-layered reflection on love, music, and the divine. In the fall of 2026, the Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society will present the exhibition.

🎶 More info at hydeparkjazzfestival.org

LISTENING SESSION: John Corbett, Ancient to the Future: Notes on Archives & Improvised Music⭐ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26⭐ TI...
09/24/2026

LISTENING SESSION: John Corbett, Ancient to the Future: Notes on Archives & Improvised Music

⭐ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
⭐ TIME: 4:30pm - 5:30pm
⭐ VENUE: Logan Center Screening Room. 915 East 60th St.

Listening Sessions include recordings, presentation, and discussion. The sessions explore narratives of Black music and cultural traditions, particularly those embedded in jazz, improvised, and creative music.

John Corbett is a writer, and curator and co-owner of Corbett vs. Dempsey, an art gallery and record label in Chicago. He is the author of several books, most recently Bullets for Dead Hoods (Sobercove, 2020), Pick Up the Pieces: Excursions in Seventies Music (University of Chicago Press, 2019), Microgroove: Forays into Other Music (Duke University Press, 2015), and A Listener’s Guide to Free Improvisation (University of Chicago Press, 2016). Corbett contributes to a regular column in Jazz Forum and has written extensively about contemporary art and improvised music. His first novel, “Want Listwill be published in October.

🎶 More info at hydeparkjazzfestival.org

LISTENING SESSION: Howard Reich and “The Majesty of Chicago Jazz”⭐ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26⭐ TIME: 1pm - 2pm⭐ VENUE: Logan...
09/24/2026

LISTENING SESSION: Howard Reich and “The Majesty of Chicago Jazz”

⭐ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
⭐ TIME: 1pm - 2pm
⭐ VENUE: Logan Center Screening Room. 915 East 60th St.

Author and former Chicago Tribune jazz critic Howard Reich offers a cinematic, guided tour of the artists featured in his newest book, “The Majesty of Chicago Jazz: Twenty-Five Visionaries Who Define the City’s Sound” (University of Chicago Press). The book, which gathers 35 years of Reich’s writings on Chicago jazz, amounts to a personalized history of the music, from the 1920s to today. Reich will screen film clips of Chicago innovators Louis Armstrong, Anita O’Day, Ahmad Jamal, Von Freeman, Patricia Barber, Orbert Davis and others and will reminisce on covering—and often getting to know–these masters. Reich will welcome attendees to share their memories of hearing these musicians and will sign copies of the new book.

🎶 More info at hydeparkjazzfestival.org

🗣️ ARTIST FEATURE!Tony Carpenter: ToCa! Live Trio⭐ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26⭐ TIME: 4pm - 5pm⭐ VENUE: Hyde Park Bank. 1525 ...
09/23/2026

🗣️ ARTIST FEATURE!

Tony Carpenter: ToCa! Live Trio

⭐ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
⭐ TIME: 4pm - 5pm
⭐ VENUE: Hyde Park Bank. 1525 East 53rd St.

Tony “Toca” Carpenter is an award-winning percussionist from Chicago, celebrated for his extraordinary skill and versatility. His musical journey began in the 1970s, when he mastered traditional West African rhythms before expanding to mambos, quaquaco, sambas, and more. Early in his career, he honed his craft with renowned African dance troupes Julian Swain’s Inner-City Dancers and the Najwa Dance Troupe, developing expertise in ethnic rhythms.

Since then, he has collaborated with Conga legends including Mongo Santamaria, Armando Peraza, and Giovanni Hidalgo, and performed and recorded with Jerry Butler, Ramsey Lewis, Pharaoh Sanders, Maurice White, Angela Bofill, and the late Bernie Mac, among others. His career includes performances with The Emotions, Soul Children of Chicago, Donald Lawrence, Sounds of Blackness, Judy Roberts, and Ramsey Lewis, and his work has been featured in commercials and jingles and on popular programs like the Tom Joyner Morning Show and Oprah Winfrey’s Get with the Program.

The musicians:
Roger Harris — keyboards
Just Steve — spoken word & percussion
Tony Carpenter — percussion

🎶 More info at hydeparkjazzfestival.org

🗣️ ARTIST FEATURE!PlainsPeak: Jon Irabagon/Russ Johnson/Peter Brendler/Dana Hall⭐ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26⭐ TIME: 2pm - 3p...
09/23/2026

🗣️ ARTIST FEATURE!

PlainsPeak: Jon Irabagon/Russ Johnson/Peter Brendler/Dana Hall

⭐ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
⭐ TIME: 2pm - 3pm
⭐ VENUE: Hyde Park Union Church. 5600 South Woodlawn Ave.

PlainsPeak is a celebration of longevity, the pursuit of a group sound and identity, and the city of Chicago itself. The group is co-led by saxophonist Jon Irabagon and trumpeter Russ Johnson, who have been recording and touring together for almost 20 years. In addition to being the top-call rhythm section, bassist Peter Brendler and drummer Dana Hall have also been performing with the co-leaders for decades, and the cohesion of the music reflects this familiarity. The mandate for PlainsPeak, however, is to use this camaraderie to take chances with every performance, exploring the possibilities and taking advantage of spur-of-the-moment instantaneous reactions. The group is searching for the sound of surprise at all times.

🎶 More info at hydeparkjazzfestival.org

🗣️ ARTIST FEATURE!Michael Davenport Quartet⭐ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26⭐ TIME: 6pm - 7pm⭐ VENUE: Hyde Park Bank. 1525 East 5...
09/22/2026

🗣️ ARTIST FEATURE!

Michael Davenport Quartet

⭐ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
⭐ TIME: 6pm - 7pm
⭐ VENUE: Hyde Park Bank. 1525 East 53rd St.

Michael Davenport, a vibrant saxophonist from Chicago’s storied South Side, blends the city’s deep jazz roots with a bold, modern sound. A graduate of Whitney M. Young High School and the Manhattan School of Music, he cut his teeth working with Chicago legends Bobby Broom, Mwata Bowden, and Willie Pickens—even sharing the stage with Pickens at the historic Green Mill while Davenport was still in high school. In 2009, he earned a Latin Grammy nomination as a member of Bobby Sanabria’s band for the live album Kenya Revisited Live.

A founding member of the Jazz Institute Student Council, Davenport is also a gifted composer whose original music has been featured on Starz and NPR and in The New York Times. After years performing in New York City and the Bay Area, he’s back in Chicago now, lighting up stages across the city and bringing his soulful energy to the Chicago Jazz Festival and Logan Center for the Arts.

The musicians:
Michael Davenport – saxophones
Elio Adriano – piano
Steven Bowman – bass
Macari Ramsey - drums

🎶 More info at hydeparkjazzfestival.org

🗣️ ARTIST FEATURE!Madd Vibes: Thaddeus Tukes Sextet + Members of MADD Rhythms⭐ SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27⭐ TIME: 5pm - 6pm⭐ VE...
09/22/2026

🗣️ ARTIST FEATURE!

Madd Vibes: Thaddeus Tukes Sextet + Members of MADD Rhythms

⭐ SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
⭐ TIME: 5pm - 6pm
⭐ VENUE: Pickens Stage. Midway Plaisance at South Ellis Ave.

MADD Vibes offers an energetic, exploratory meeting of tap dance and live jazz, celebrating dancers as musicians, improvisers, and essential collaborators in the sound of the ensemble.

MADD Vibes is a new jazz lab project created by Chicago vibraphonist, composer, and music director Thaddeus Tukes, born out of his love for tap dance and his ongoing work as music director for the Chicago Tap Summit hosted by M.A.D.D. Rhythms. Blending live band performance with percussive dance, MADD Vibes explores the many ways tap dancers function not simply as featured performers, but as full members of the band, shaping rhythm and musical conversation in real time.

The musicians:
Thaddeus Tukes - vibraphone
Dakarai Barclay - trumpet
Kevin King - Sax
Royce Harrington-Turner - Trombone
Joshua Ramos - bass
Charles Heath IV - drums

Tap dancers:
Star Dixon
Donnetta Jackson
Caleb Jackson
Andrew Carr

🎶 More info at hydeparkjazzfestival.org

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Midway Pliasance At The Corner Of S. Woodlawn
Chicago, IL
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