Countdown to Chicago Jazz Festival

With the arrival of September it is now only a few more days until the Chicago Jazz Festival.  One of my personal favorites, William Parker, will be performing Saturday - afternoon on the Jazz & Heritage stage and evening at the Petrillo music shell.

Chicago Jazz!

I am here in Chicago and enjoying what the Windy City has to offer. I have already visited Andy's Jazz Club and will be exploring other options in the weeks to come. Please note the new jazz events listings for Chicago.

Helge Lien

My new favorite Nextbop.com has a profile on Norwegian artist Helge Lien. The clips of music available for free play have me hooked. It also supports my view that the Scandinavian countries are on jazz's cutting edge.

The Jazz Police

No. they aren't out to put bad performers in jail. The Jazz Police is a website with links to Twin Cities' jazz venues like the Dakota and The Artists' Quarter. I discovered this great new website while perusing the AQ site this morning and thought I would bring it to your attention. I will be adding a link to the site as well.

Back and Better Than Ever!

I have returned from a job transition during which I was focused on the more concrete aspects of life and living. I have thoroughly enjoyed the time off with my children and wife but it is good to be back in the land of the living/working. Most of my energies have been turned toward professional development, including the Minnesota Health IT Blog which although somewhat light on content was not completely ignored.

I have found an excellent new source for the latest on jazz for the newbie. Check out Nextbop.com for the traditional and the avant garde. I am a little disappointed in my inability to access some of the content via the new iPhone 3GS but what the site has to offer via my laptop more than makes up for this shortfall (which may be entirely Apple's or my fault).

Also, since my new work digs will be in St. Paul, MN I plan to update readers on jazz happenings there (see The Artists' Quarter!) as well as continue to provide you with the latest goings on at the Dakota and other venues.