Jazz’n On the South Side: Dee Alexander

Posted on 30. May, 2012 by citizen in Around Town

Dee Alexander is one of Chicago’s most gifted and respected female vocalist/songwriters. Her talents span every music genre, from Gospel to R&B, from Blues to Neo-Soul. Yet her true heart and soul are experienced in their purest form through her performance of Jazz music. From a soft, sultry traditional ballad, to a contemporary Jazz-Funk groove; from a high flying swing, to a scat-filled romp, Dee Alexander delivers each style with a passion and love of music that comes across in each and every note, and with a style and grace that is truly her own.

Date: May 30, 2012

Time: 7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Location: eta Creative Arts Foundation, 7558 S. South Chicago Ave., Chicago

Cost: $10

Contact: (773) 752-3955

Info: charlesheathpresents.com

World Music Wednesdays: Chicago Afro-Puerto Rican Ensemble

In 2011, SRBCC began the avant-garde and innovative project CAPRE — Chicago’s first Afro-Puerto Rican Orchestra. There are very few Bomba and Plena orchestras in Puerto Rico and abroad and most of them have fused these genres with the Salsa sound and orchestration and other Latin-American rhythms. Be ready for the true evolution of Bomba and Plena using familiar elements of genres like jazz, blues, rock, gospel, West African, and more, while the ancestral rhythms and songs of the island stand strong as the driving force of this new and historically innovative Boricua musical concept.

Date: May 30, 2012

Time: 8:30 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.

Location: Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N. Lincoln, Chicago

Cost: $5

Contact: (773) 728-6000

Info: oldtownschool.org

Bodies

The church is a place of faith and refuge, salvation and hope, support and nurturing. The religion oils the machine, but it’s the people—the Reverend, his wife, the deacons and the sisters–who makes sure that it runs. But, the New Light Missionary Baptist Church with church heads the Rev. Joseph Black and his wife Corena Black are different. When it comes to dealing with family, well it’s a bit more complicated. The reverend’s brother Calvin has encountered a few troubles. Ten Years ago his marriage ended abruptly leaving him to raise his young daughter alone. As questions of his sexuality begin to surface, Rev. Joseph thinks the answer is for his brother to marry a woman from the church, but Corena, begins to think there are other questions to be asked and she finds herself confronting the lengths she’ll go to maintain her niece’s well-being.

Date: May 31, 2012

Time: 8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Location: The Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago

Cost: $21-23

Info: mpaact.org

In the Continuum

Named by The New York Times as one of the top ten plays of 2005, In The Continuum follows the lives of Abigail and Nia, one from South Central LA and the other from Harare, Zimbabwe, as each one learns that they have contracted HIV. As the story unfolds, these two women take parallel and darkly comic journeys as they confront family and friends with their tragic news, learning to navigate the new course set before them.

Date: May 31, 2012

Time: 8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Location: Pegasus Players, 4520 N. Beacon, Chicago

Cost: $25

Info: pegasusplayers.org

The Tipping Point of Me and We

The Tipping Point of Me and We, the latest call-and-response exhibition from the Contemporary Arts Council, brings together seasoned and ascending artists and writers then asks them to speak to what they are seeing, living and experiencing in the tumultuous moments of the present human experience. Featurnig the Work of: Michael Dinges, EJ Hill, Honey Pot Performance, Peter Kepha, Nicolas Lampert & Paul Kjelland, Kenrick Mcfarlane, Mark Moleski, Sarah Ross, South Side Projections, and Jabari Zuberi. The Words Of: Allison Glenn, Joseph D. Jordan, Patrick Lichty, Jennifer Patiño, and Rebecca Zorach.

Date: June 1, 2012

Time: 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Location: Little Black Pearl Workshop, 1060 E. 47th St., Chicago

Cost: Free

Contact: (773) 285-1211

Info: contemporaryartscouncil.org

Hyde Park Community Art Fair

The Hyde Park Community Art Fair (CAF) is an annual arts and crafts fair that runs concurrently with the 57th Street Art Fair. CAF is part of the City of Chicago’s Neighborhood Festival Progam and is an integral part of the Harper Court Arts Council.

Date: SJune 2, 2012

Time: 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Location: Bixler Park, E 57th St & S Kenwood Ave., Chicago

Cost: Free

Info: communityartfair.org