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Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas mix grooves from Detroit, Havana, and Mexico City
Blessed with a dusky wail and a gift for raw, soulful phrasing, Jessica Hernandez has been serving up Motown-infused, retro-tropical sass with her band the Deltas since 2008. The group’s grooves...
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Wovenhand makes hauntingly beautiful rootsy rock
If you’ve never experienced Wovenhand live, I highly recommend taking this opportunity to remedy that. This Colorado-based roots-rock quartet, fronted by singer-songwriter David Eugene Edwards (who...
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Jay2 strengthens the Zero Fatigue collective’s grip on Chicago hip-hop with 4...
Saint Louis-born rapper-singer Smino taps two MCs from his Chicago-based Zero Fatigue collective, Bari and Jay2, for “Z4L,” the best song on his 2018 album, Noir. Jay2 appears at the end, caressing...
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The menu at Pink Salt is almost Isan
A Fulton Galley newcomer fills a Thai food void in the West Loop. The allure of street food for people who didn't grow up in a place where it flourished is largely psychological. For tourists it's not...
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Jon Spencer & the Hitmakers are here to rattle your skull
I remember a time in the 90s when certain critics just didn’t believe that Jon Spencer’s impassioned retro-rock stage presence wasn’t some sort of ridiculous gimmick. Though some derided his band the...
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The Camino Project combines pilgrimage and theater
Theatre Y's ambulatory production stretches over six hours and five miles—and it's worth your time and effort. In 2017, members of Chicago's Theatre Y made an extraordinary excursion, walking across...
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Into the Woods hews a fresh, intimate path into Stephen Sondheim's musical
At Writers Theatre, Gary Griffin stages a rich and rewarding revival of the popular fairy-tale mash-up. In Look, I Made a Hat, the second volume of his lyrics and musings about his work, Stephen...
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Cross-dressers and gay men meet at Harvey Fierstein's Casa Valentina
A gender-bending Catskills resort in 1962 takes center stage at Pride Films & Plays My favorite question as an arts journalist is "Why now?" When Harvey Fierstein's Casa Valentina first hit New...
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Instigation Festival connects the musical traditions of Chicago and New Orleans
It’s not hard to tell the difference between New Orleans and Chicago: open a window in the wintertime, or take back-to-back bites of gumbo and a hot dog. Each city has its own proud and particular...
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The music of Alison Sudol is no longer a sweet walk in the park
In 2013, Alison Sudol put aside her band A Fine Frenzy to focus on her acting career, which has included roles in the television show Transparent and the film franchise Fantastic Beasts. In the past...
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Florida rapper Dominic Fike makes Soundcloud rap for people who don't like...
Last year Florida rapper Dominic Fike landed a multimillion-dollar deal with Columbia Records on the strength of a string of songs totaling just shy of 15 minutes. The label wasn’t wrong to see Fike...
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Burn the floor at Kizin Creole
Six years along, the city's only Haitian restaurant is going strong. This Saturday night after he closes the kitchen, chef Daniel Desir will clear the back dining room and burn the floor at his West...
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Sávila and Ida y Vuelta take Latinx diasporic beats across the centuries
Portland trio Sávila explore their Mexican roots through the venerable style of cumbia, which spread among popular big bands in the 1950s and remains a staple of family celebrations and weddings...
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Bailey Dee lights a fire in Chicago’s rockabilly scene
The Chicago rockabilly scene has been fairly dormant for the past several years, though touring acts such as Big Sandy and Deke Dickerson still attract huge local audiences. Along with Tammi Savoy,...
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Two decades later, Massive Attack's Mezzanine retains its paranoid power
When a band hit the road to celebrate a milestone anniversary of a monumental album, they’re of course trafficking in nostalgia—and the musicians usually share in that rosy glow with their fans. This...
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Chicago’s Cardinal Harbor dip their toes in experimental indie rock with...
The six members of Chicago’s Cardinal Harbor formed an indie-rock band in 2011, after meeting as students at Wheaton College. On their 2013 debut, Faces on Parade, they made popped-collar roots rock...
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King Crimson return to Chicago for their 50th anniversary tour
A few years ago I was lucky enough to see one of the greatest shows of my lengthy concertgoing life: King Crimson at the Chicago Theatre. Clearly the band thought it was a good one too, as they...
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Lingua Ignota seeks vengeance against the abusers of the world on the...
In another time and place, Kristin Hayter might have been opera’s darkest diva, but in this universe opera companies shy away from harsh noise, guttural growling, and samples of interviews with...
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Big Business bring it back to beastly basics on The Beast You Are
Los Angeles-based sludge outfit Big Business have taken a lot of forms over their 15 years of existence. Started in Seattle as the dirgey metal duo of Karp bassist Jared Warren and Murder City Devils...
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Seratones morph their garage fuzz into smart, sophisticated soul-pop on Power
When Seratones released their 2016 debut album, Get Gone, it seemed they were on to something special: though they’re from Shreveport, Louisiana, their soulful punk sound came across like it had grown...
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